New prison for the Highlands remains on schedule despite Brexit woes and the Covid-19 pandemic
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A NEW prison for the Highlands remains on schedule despite the pandemic and Brexit potentially causing delays, the Inverness Courier can reveal.
But the Scottish Government has been criticised for an anticipated funding shortfall of nearly £40 million required to develop the site between Inverness Campus and Inverness Shopping Park.
According to a freedom of information (FOI) request, the main construction of the site will not get started until this autumn – when the design and build contract should be awarded.
The new prison will open in spring 2024 according to plans from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), with inmates expected to arrive in the summer of the same year. The project is expected to cost up to £110 million.
However, according to the Scottish Conservatives, who submitted the FOI request, only around £500,000 has been spent on the development between April and November last year.
The SPS has a capital budget of £72.8 million.
Regional Tory MSP Edward Mountain said the figures cast fresh doubts over the Scottish Government’s willingness to fund the project sufficiently to ensure it is delivered to the current timetable.
Mr Mountain said: “I am pleased that the SPS have confirmed that the delivery date for the new prison remains unchanged.
“However, I am disappointed that we will have to wait until autumn this year for the construction contract to be awarded.
“I also question whether the Scottish Government is fully committed to delivering this project on time given that yet again SPS will only be provided £72.8 million for capital projects.
“This falls far short of the £110 million required to build HMP Highland.
“I understand that groundworks for the new prison are currently under way and I will continue to press the Scottish Government to fast-track the delivery of this facility.
“There can be no more delays to the building of a modern prison, which the Highlands was promised back in 2011.”
Inverness’s existing Porterfield prison has a history of overcrowding.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are committed to the modernisation of the prison estate which includes progressing a replacement for HMP Inverness as a priority and the provision of the allocated budget as required by the programme.
“The anticipated operational date for HMP Highland remains 2024 despite the challenging construction environment, which continues to experience delays and supply chain shortages attributable to the pandemic and Brexit.”
