Prison officers call on Scottish Government to tackle ‘crisis’ ahead of conference

Prison officers are calling on the Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service to take action on overcrowding, understaffing and growing pressures.

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) will hold its annual conference in Peebles on October 28 and 29, with the ongoing prison crisis expected to dominate discussions.

A spokesperson for the union said that Scotland’s rising prison population has placed increasing pressure on facilities and the staff responsible for running them, warning that officers are facing “significant physical and mental strain”.

The Scottish Government introduced an early release scheme to ease overcrowding, which has seen more than 600 prisoners released before the end of their sentences since November 2025.

However, the POA says many of the spaces created have quickly been filled by newly sentenced offenders.

The union’s assistant secretary, Phil Fairlie, said prison officers are working on the front line of the crisis under increasingly difficult conditions.

He has called on the Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to take action to reduce the pressure on staff.

“Our members are on the frontline of Scotland’s prisons crisis”, he said. “They do remarkable work in extraordinary circumstances, which often goes unnoticed.

“POA members are expected to work in this pressure cooker atmosphere every single day. It takes its toll on them both physically and mentally.”

The call for action comes amid wider concerns over conditions in Scotland’s prisons.

Earlier in October, inspectors highlighted ongoing inadequacies at HMP Barlinnie, describing the Glasgow jail as an ageing institution amid continuing overcrowding across the prison estate.

Prisoners at Scotland’s largest jail were left without running water for four nights after a leak was identified within the estate on October 8.

Mr Fairlie added: “As our conference begins, we are calling on the Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Government to ease the pressure on our members, either by investing in the recruitment of more staff and accommodation or creating a genuine seachange in the use of prisons in this country, and bringing our population more in line with the other nations across Europe.

“A good starting point would be in our remand population, which continues to sit at intolerable levels.

“If the Government and SPS want to resolve the crisis in our prisons, they must act on the concerns being raised by our members.”

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.