Peterhead Prison was the subject of many complaints

The Scottish Prisons Complaints Commission said many facilities were "desperately in need of upgrading", with overcrowding the biggest problem.

The increase in prisoner numbers has brought an increase in complaints.

The SPS took too long and did too little to tackle the issues being raised by inmates, the report said.

'Alarming rate'

In his annual report, commissioner Vaughan Barrett criticised the SPS for not accepting enough of his recommendations.

He also said it was unfortunate that the SPS took "lengthy periods of time" to respond to issues raised.

However Mr Barrett accepted a number of factors which had put the SPS under strain.

In his report, which covers the period between 1 April, 2003, and 31 March, 2004, he said the prison population had continued to grow "at an alarming rate".

Overcrowding has arguably become the single most problematic factor in maintaining order and security in Scottish prisons Vaughan Barrett SPCC

The average daily prisoner count reached a "staggering" record 7,074 inmates across Scotland's 17 prisons in March 2004, he said.

"Overcrowding has arguably become the single most problematic factor in maintaining order and security in Scottish prisons," Mr Barrett said.

"It places enormous stress on the prisoner population and the finite resources of the SPS."

The report showed the number of complaints received by the commission had more than doubled from the 217 made in 1995 to the 441 received in the year 2003/04.

The SPCC provides an independent review for prisoner complaints that have not been resolved through the internal SPS complaints system.

If the commission accepts a complaint, efforts are made to resolve the issue at a local level.

Human rights

In cases where the complaint remains unresolved, the SPCC will make a formal recommendation to the chief executive of the prison service that remedial action be taken.

The report noted an "increased prisoner awareness" of human rights issues as being partly responsible for the increase in complaints, with the "large number" of complaints citing violations of the European Convention on Human Rights placing a further strain on prison resources.

Among the topics for complaint among Scottish prisoners were treatment by staff, visiting issues and bullying and victimisation.

The report also singled out Peterhead Prison for particular criticism, revealing the commission had received an "inordinate" number of complaints from its prisoners.

There was an increased awareness of rights

Almost a third of the total number of complaints came from Peterhead Prison, the report showed.

"The volume of complaints suggest that Peterhead's circumstances create unique and difficult problems for prisoners," Mr Barrett said.

He noted that, until recently, many cells at the Aberdeenshire prison had been without power and also detailed several incidences of two prisoners sharing a cell designed to hold just one person.

The report highlighted a shortage of trained staff to provide specialised programmes to long-term sex offenders being held at Peterhead.

And, condemning the sanitary regime at Peterhead, he noted "the facility itself is in need of dire upgrading".