Scottish prison officers' union 'to call for strike action' - BBC News
The move comes as the number of inmates at Scottish jails approaches record levels.
In some prisons, inmates are being forced to double up in cells designed for one

The prison officers' union is to call for strike action as the number of inmates in Scotland's jails approaches record levels, BBC Scotland understands.

There are now about 700 more prisoners than a year ago.

Some inmates have been forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor due to a lack of beds.

The union has also said violence inside prisons is increasing, along with the number of sick days taken by staff.

Prison officers at a special delegate conference in Perth on Friday are likely to vote for a ballot on industrial action to highlight the problem. It would be their first strike for seven years.

Phil Fairley, chairman of the Prison Officers' Association in Scotland, said that prisoner numbers ought to be decreasing as a result of current government policy and falling crime figures - but that other factors were putting pressure on the system.

"One of the factors we can point to is that we've got life sentence prisoners who are doing twice as long as they did for a life sentence 20 years ago," he told BBC Scotland. "But it doesn't explain the whole growth in numbers.

"Today we've got nine out of 15 prisons (including two private prisons) that are overcrowded."

Phil Fairley said the prison service was not far away from reaching record numbers

The BBC understands that prisoners at Perth - Scotland's oldest prison - have been sleeping on mattresses on the floor.

And at Low Moss in East Dunbartonshire, the governor has been asked to take in another 100 prisoners, despite being at capacity.

"They have been asked to consider bunk beds for 100 prisoners in cells that are not designed for two to be in them," Mr Fairley said. "We can't just sit back and watch it go in the direction it's going.

"We are not far away from reaching record high numbers."

He said the increase in prisoner numbers had an impact on staff being able to go about their daily jobs.

"The bit that matters to the public, to society, is the work that transforms individuals - challenging and tackling offending behaviour," he said.

"That will become the first sacrifice in terms of the time that's available to prison officers to do their jobs."

He said this would start to affect the mood in the prisons.

"There is always the potential for violence," he said. "Violence is on the increase - both prisoner on prisoner and prisoner on staff is increasing."

Mr Fairley said the prison service last year lost 17,000 days to sick leave, involving stress and mental health issues.

"This isn't just a problem for prisoner officers, it's a problem for the whole of society," he said, adding that it made a "huge difference" to the rehabilitation of prisoners.

"The fact that we're in behind closed doors and high walls shouldn't let the public get complacent or turn a blind eye to what's going on inside our prisons. It matters to them as much as it matters to us."

Wendy Sinclair-Gieben said she was worried about the pressures of overcrowding

Chief Inspector of Prisons Wendy Sinclair-Gieben said the reasons for the rising prison population were complex, but included the length of life sentences.

She said: "About 12-15 years ago the average was about 10-12 years - it's now about 19-23 years."

She also said there had been considerable success in tracking down and convicting legacy sex offenders who were also given long sentences.

Another factor was a review of home detention curfews which had led to reduction in such curfews being used, she added.

Ms Sinclair-Gieben said the removal of automatic release at the half way point of sentences had also added to the numbers in prison.

She said there were now about 700 more prisoners than a year ago - the equivalent of a large prison.

"It's quite pressured at the moment which is really concerning," she said, adding that inmates being forced to share cells led to increased tensions and the extra numbers put a strain on resources.

"One of the things that worries me about the pressure of overcrowding is that inevitably the whole thing degrades slightly," she said.

Tom Fox said high prison numbers had an impact on the prison regime

Tom Fox, of the Scottish Prison Service, said: "Numbers have risen fairly steeply over the past 12 months and that does have an impact on the entirety of the prison regime.

"The more people we have, the more pressure it places on the system, and I think it's fair to say the staff are doing a remarkably good job of coping with the pressure brought about by these numbers.

"But the more people we have, the less time we have to devote to working closely with individuals to make sure they receive appropriate support in rehabilitation before re-entering society."

He added: "We're not complacent about violence but we haven't seen high levels of violence in our prisons for many years and I think that's a tribute to the way in which staff work with prisoners and the relationships they develop.

"I would hope that we could maintain that stability and that environment going forward."