Scotland's New High-Security Prison Replaces Traditional Bars, Sparks Guard Concerns
Furious prison guards are raising safety concerns over the removal of barred doors in HMP Glasgow, a high-security facility intended to house dangerous offenders.
Traditional barred doors have been removed from Scotland's controversial new high-security jail, HMP Glasgow, sparking fears among guards that their safety is being compromised. The prison, which is replacing the historic Barlinnie jail, is designed to hold some of the country's most dangerous individuals, including those convicted of rape and murder.
Critics have previously described the new facility as a "five-star luxury resort" due to its planned landscaped gardens, fruit orchard, and polytunnels. The Scottish Mail on Sunday has now revealed that security doors with bars, known as grille gates, have been deliberately omitted from the cell blocks, a move understood to be intended to create a less oppressive atmosphere.
The Scottish Prison Officers Association (POA) has expressed deep concerns that this decision will jeopardize security within the jail. The issue is scheduled for discussion at the POA (Scotland) annual conference this week, with the association planning to "engage urgently with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to raise its deepest concerns at plans to open HMP Glasgow without any provision of grille gates within the residential areas of the prison."
According to SPS data, there were 342 attacks by inmates on prison staff last year. Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Stephen Kerr criticized the decision, stating, "While ministers splash out on landscaped gardens at a high-security prison, officers are warning that basic security measures are missing. The SNP’s prison crisis is spiralling out of control."
Grille gates have historically been used in prisons to divide areas, control prisoner movement, and segregate groups, playing a role in incidents such as a riot at HMP Grampian in 2014. HMP Glasgow is set to cost £998 million and is slated to open in 2028, three years behind schedule. It will be Scotland's largest prison, accommodating 1,344 inmates.
In contrast to the Victorian-era cells at HMP Barlinnie, the new jail will feature "residential houseblocks." Government documents indicate the prison aims to "ensure people are accommodated in a way which supports them and their rehabilitative journey, reducing their risk of reoffending, and helping build safer communities."
The SPS stated that HMP Glasgow will comprise small "communities" of 22 inmates within secure "levels" of 66, intended to reduce the need for grille gates for segregation. A spokesman affirmed that "the safety and security of people in our care and our staff is always paramount."