MSP Edward Mountain 'cautiously optimistic' of progress on new HMP Highland

A HIGHLANDS and Islands MSP is “cautiously optimistic” that the construction of the long-delayed HMP Highland is making significant progress, following a recent meeting with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS).

Conservative member Edward Mountain has long been critical of the Scottish Government due to the slow pace of the project and has condemned the delays and rising costs of the project, which have grown exponentially.

In 2011 the budget for the new-build, which would replace Inverness’s outdated Porterfield facility, was around £52 million.

In 2016, the price went up to about £66 million but then delays revealed in February 2021 saw the construction bill rise to anywhere between £98 million and £110 million.

Content:

• Work by contractor Balfour Beatty starts at new Inverness prison site next to Inverness Shopping Park after more than a decade of delay

• The cost of the new Highland prison rockets again to £110 million while the Scottish Government stops short of guaranteeing its completion date

• New prison for the Highlands remains on schedule despite Brexit woes and the Covid-19 pandemic

In April 2021, Mr Mountain questioned the Scottish Government’s commitment to getting the prison operational by 2024 because the draft budget then only made £72.8 million available to the SPS for capital projects across the whole of the prison estate.

As at November last year £13 million had already been spent on pre-construction work, which started in September 2021 at a site near Inverness Shopping Park.

Total costs are now expected to reach almost £140 million for the highland project alone.

Previously expected to be operational by August 2020 the new prison is now timetabled to be constructed by “late 2024” – but there is no date currently for when it can expect to be actually operational.

Despite this, for the first time, Mr Mountain has seen some cause for optimism.

The purchasing of key construction materials for the substantive stages of the project is well under way, he said, with an initial order for concrete now signed off.

Since he was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016 Mr Mountain has repeatedly called for the project to be accelerated to avoid spiralling construction costs and to provide the region with a long overdue improvement to its prison estate.

He said: “I was delighted to meet with Lorraine Roughan, the project lead for HMP Highland, and learn about the progress SPS are now making with construction.

“Given a significant sum has been spent on purchasing concrete supplies for the new prison, I think we can be cautiously optimistic that the project is going ahead.

“During the meeting we also discussed the modern facilities that would be provided at HMP Highland, including additional staffing and educational offerings for the prison population.

“Ultimately, this is good news for our region.

“A new prison has been long overdue since it was first promised over a decade ago and now it is just a case of when it will be completed.”