SCOTLAND'S two leading prisoners' charities have united in condemning plans to create a new "super prison" in the north east of Scotland.
They claim that the creation of a single jail at Peterhead, replacing the town's Victorian jail and Aberdeen's Craiginches prison, could lead to the break up of inmates' families of because of travel problems. They warn this could lead to increased
suicides in the new jail.
The new "community facing" prison at Peterhead, the first of its kind in Scotland, is to be named HM Prison Grampian. It is expected to take at least four years to build at an estimated cost of £100 million.
The capacity will be about 500, combining the number of inmates at Craiginches and Peterhead, which is currently used to house sex offenders.
The Aberdeen Prison Visiting Committee is leading the campaign to have the Scottish Prison Service decision reviewed in a petition to the Scottish Parliament.
And the campaigners have now secured the support of the charities Families Outside, which supports families of people involved in the criminal justice system, and Sacro.
Dr Nancy Loucks, chief executive of Families Outside, said in a submission to MSPs: "The Scottish Prison Service is clearly committed to encouraging family contact and engagement where possible, and we are working closely with the SPS to support this.
"Despite these encouraging efforts from the SPS, we are gravely concerned about its proposals for the closure of HMP Aberdeen. At 32 miles north of Aberdeen and with no suitable links for public transport, classifying HMP Grampian as a 'community facing prison' for Aberdeen is frankly ludicrous."
She added: "The proposed closure of HMP Aberdeen would result in the transfer of well over 250 prisoners to a prison over 30 miles away from home in an area difficult to reach even by private car.
"This has serious implications for family contact and for overall support for prisoners' transition to the community upon release. Relocation of prisoners to HMP Grampian benefits no-one other than the Scottish Prison Service."
Keith Simpson, the head of development and research at Sacro, which works with offenders to cut crime, said: "The current locations of many Scottish prisons make prison visiting very difficult for many families."
Kenny MacAskill, Scotland's justice minister, has been asked to appear before the parliament's petitions committee to address the concerns raised.
