A “hunger crisis” over shrinking food portions in Scots prisons will spark a “dangerous” backlash, jail insiders have warned. An angry letter penned by one HMP Addiewell prisoner has hit back at criticism that more is being spent on meals for many prisoners than for some NHS patients, while a jail source told the Record that over-squeezed meal budgets can lead to “indiscipline” and violent prisoners “lashing out”.
The inmate said the reality of a £10million annual food budget – last reported as £4.27 per prisoner per day – was being “devoured by food inflation” amid a stagnation in prisoner wages. The letter, penned to Inside Time magazine, said: “For those of us actually eating off the plastic trays, these numbers tell a very different story – of a growing hunger crisis for prisoners.
“Rising costs of staples like tuna, oats, and coffee mean that while the budget looks better on paper, the portions on the servery are shrinking. The real crisis isn’t a comparison with the NHS; it is the stagnation of the prison wage against the explosion of canteen prices.
View 3 ImagesPrisoners working in a wing servery (Image: Getty)
“A man’s daily pay covers less than it did five years ago. The kitchens are raiding other budgets to keep the lights on.
“The hunger crisis then becomes a safety issue. Where a tray of gluey gravy and lukewarm tea is the highlight of the day. Where a hungry wing is a dangerous wing.”
Last year the Scottish Tories revealed a prison service food budget of almost £10.5 million, allowing prisoners in Scotland can have three meals per day plus a dessert. The Scottish Prison Service’s food budget for 2023-24 was £10,474,444.
The menu showed that prisoners can have things like roast turkey, chicken leg, steak and sausage pie, chocolate brownie with custard, and ice cream. The Scottish Tories compared the budget to the average then being spent on hospital meals by two Scottish health boards – NHS Highland (£3.01 per day) and NHS Ayrshire & Arran (£3.69 per day).
The jail budget was only 5p cheaper than the £4.32 average cost of meals at Scotland’s largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde but the average daily cost of meals across Scotland for hospital patients was £6.23. The figures, released in January last year, showed Scotland was paying far more to feed prisoners in 2023/24 than the equivalent spending in England and Wales, where prison meals cost approximately £2.70 per day.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said it was “outrageous that many prisoners seemed to be better fed than some hospital patients.” But prison insiders said anger over what’s being served up in jail canteens could spark “indiscipline” from prisoners, posing a threat to staff.
View 3 ImagesScottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton (Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)
A prison insider said: “Aside from visits and maybe the gym, the next thing on the agenda for prisoners is food, so if you’re getting to the stage where that is being squeezed and what’s on offer is not good enough, or not healthy enough, then that is going to lead to problems.
“A large proportion of people in prison are there for some sort of violent reasons and some just don’t have the cognitive ability to consider there might be a reason for why that is happening – they just lash out – and that could absolutely become a problem for staff. There’s a strong likelihood that a food issue like this, if not addressed, could lead to more indiscipline in jails.”
Privately-run Addiewell is contracted by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and managed by Sodexo Justice Services.
A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said: “The health, safety and well-being of those in our care are key priorities. We work hard to ensure that a varied and nutritious diet is available, while also ensuring value for money.”
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