Conditions at Castle Huntly were described as dirty and dingy

Dr Andrew McLellan said a lack of proper work opportunities at Castle Huntly prison, Dundee, meant prisoners spending long periods locked up.

He also said the social work units at both Castle Huntly and Noranside open prison, Angus, were under-resourced.

However, he praised arrangements for outside work placements at both jails.

Dr McLellan also gave a positive report on their healthcare and catering facilities and said staff and inmates at both prisons felt safe.

He welcomed plans to introduce accredited vocational courses by March 2006, the current absence of which he said was a major weakness.

It is no surprise that prisoners regularly speak of a move to the open estate as a step back Dr Andrew McLellan Chief Inspector of Prisons

However, noting that some of Castle Huntly's dormitories housed up to five people, Dr McLellan raised concerns about the jail's readiness to cope with plans by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to expand its inmate capacity from 156 to 297.

Open prisons are designed to prepare inmates, especially those who have served long sentences, for a return to the community by offering a more relaxed regime, including home leave for some.

But after visiting both prisons in May, Dr McLellan said it was not unusual for inmates to spend more time locked up at Castle Huntly than they had in a closed prison.

New inmates would also be used to their own cell or in some cases two-person accommodation while in closed prisons.

"Once they come to Castle Huntly they live in a dormitory where conditions are miserable," Dr McLellan said.

Dormitory conditions

"It is no surprise that prisoners regularly speak of a move to the open estate as a step back.

"But the dormitory conditions are more serious still, when prisoners regularly spend hours of the working day locked inside them.

"Prisoners, prison staff, and prison management all indicated that that was a recipe for drug taking."

According to Dr McLellan's report, the proportion of failed routine drug tests in 2004-05 was 28% for Noranside and 29% for Castle Huntly compared with 18% across all Scottish prisons.

Dr McLellan was concerned about drug taking at both prisons

He found that three-quarters of failed tests involved heroin that had been smoked and 42% found traces of cannabis, while drugs such as amphetamines (8%) and cocaine (7%) were also being used.

Dr McLellan cited the 2003 inspection report which complained that an employment centre that was once "gainfully employing over 40 prisoners every day" had since been left empty.

'Unhappy consequences'

"It is shameful that this sentence should be as true in 2005 as it was in 2003," he added.

"The absence of work for prisoners to do appears to be the primary reason that prisoners in an open prison spend long periods locked up, with the unhappy consequences already referred to."

Dr McLellan said the rise in the number of positive drug tests could be attributed also to a change in policy that no longer automatically excluded from open prisons those found to have used drugs.

He suggested that while this may represent a sensible recognition of the extent of drug problems among inmates, this was only true if accompanied by adequate support for those who wanted to quit drugs.

"The report shows that such support is not sufficiently available," he said.

'Matter of urgency'

Dr McLellan added that extended time locked in cells and five-bedded dormitories were features only of Castle Huntly and were not found at Noranside.

Managers had spoken of integration between the two prisons since 2001, he added, yet they did not provide the same conditions and treatment of prisoners on both sites.

The performance between both prisons in sentence management was "frustratingly different" with an improvement at Noranside and a decline at Castle Huntly.

He called for a planned Links Centre, offering inmates access to community-based agencies offering help with employment, housing and benefits, to be completed as a matter of urgency at Castle Huntly.