Fallout from the Noranside Prison closure decision intensified amid growing frustration over its loss to Angus and fears for the future of buildings at the site near Forfar.
As staff and locals continued to digest the feared confirmation the jail will close at the end of October, having been declared surplus to requirements by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), there was mounting criticism of prison chiefs and the Scottish Government over the “cynical” handling of the matter.
Some eight months after Noranside’s future was thrown into doubt, this week brought official confirmation the jail is to be axed, making Castle Huntly, near Dundee, the last open prison.
Talks are now under way with the staff of around 50 to discuss relocation or voluntary severance options, with the SPS emphasising there will be no compulsory redundancies.
SPS officials said the move was made on best value grounds, but that thinking was questioned by campaigners who accused managers of making bad decisions in the running of Noranside and voiced worries there will be more re-offending by inmates ill-equipped for release.
Kirriemuir Landward East Community Council chairman Ivan Laird said the decision was a bad blow for the area.
“It is very disappointing from a community perspective,” said Mr Laird, a member of the Noranside visiting committee for more than a decade.
“There are local people employed at the prison, and local services benefit from it being there, so it is those staff and the plumbers, electricians and different trades who will definitely be affected by this decision.
“The prison was never a problem in the community and it brought a lot of benefit through the many work placements which were carried out across the area.
“Noranside has been the open estate prison with the best track record and I am also now fearful for the community at large because I feel prisoners will inevitably go out into society who are not prepared for release as well as they would have been at this facility.
“Wearing another hat as the chairman of the Jock Neish Scouting centre, we have a prisoner who would be there two days a week carrying out general maintenance and that is valuable help which is now going to be lost.
“There are many other organisations in the area who will feel the same way about losing prisoners who did very good work on placements.
“The community will be the losers here. I suppose it is too late for a U-turn, but I have expressed my views to (North Tayside MSP) John Swinney and the community council will be discussing the Noranside decision after the summer break.”
He continued, “It is also very difficult to see what these buildings could be used for. The property is in a very good state of repair but in the current climate I worry that they will just be left.”
Angus councillor Iain Gaul, who tagged the decision as “criminal,” said, “The ethos of the prison service is that those in the criminal fraternity who have carried out a crime with others should not serve their sentences together.
“If there is only one open prison, does that open up the prospect of some prisoners seeking compensation because they have not been allowed to go there?
“Decisions taken by senior managers were a disgrace. They should revisit this and look at senior management, not the open estate.”
Liberal Democrat councillor David May said a move by Scots Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to delay the Noranside decision until after May’s Holyrood elections by calling for a mini estates review had been “nothing more than a cynical ploy.”
“The so-called consultation process was purely and simply a way of trying to dupe the Angus electors,” he said.
He added, “It appears that Noranside has been deliberately under-used as other prisons have been given extra payments to exceed the numbers they are supposed to have.”