Scotland’s soft-touch justice system is under fire again as it emerged that more is being spent on meals for many prisoners in jail than for NHS patients in hospital.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton was furious and said it was “outrageous that many prisoners seemed to be better fed than some hospital patients.”
Meals at Scottish prisons cost £4.27 per day, on average. This is more than the average spent on hospital meals by two Scottish health boards – NHS Highland (£3.01 per day) and NHS Ayrshire & Arran (£3.69 per day). In addition, it is only 5p cheaper than the £4.32 average cost of meals at Scotland’s largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Prisoners in the SNP’s new Community Custody Units – low-supervision centres for women and young people – enjoy the most expensive meals. The average at the Lilias Centre CCU in Glasgow’s Maryhill is £5.30 and at the Bella Centre CCU in Dundee’s Hilltown is £5.26.
READ MORE: Just one-in-eight criminals are sent to prison under the SNP’s soft-touch regime
For hospital patients, the average daily cost of meals across Scotland is £6.23. The cost varies hugely from the lowest (NHS Highland) to the highest, NHS Borders, where meals cost a pricey £17.55 per day.
Under the SNP, Scotland is paying far more to feed prisoners than the equivalent spending in England and Wales, where prison meals cost approximately £2.70 per day.
Prisoners line up at the canteen for lunch
(Image: Getty)
With a food budget of almost £10.5 million, prisoners in Scotland can have three meals per day plus a dessert. The Scottish Prison Service’s food budget for 2023-24 is £10,474,444. The menu shows that prisoners can have things like roast turkey, chicken leg, steak and sausage pie, chocolate brownie with custard, and ice cream.
The figures were obtained by the Scots Tories and Ms Hamilton said: “It is completely outrageous that many prisoners in Scotland seem to be better fed than some hospital patients. Scots will be wondering why more money is being spent per prisoner here compared to what is being spent in England and Wales.
“Complaints about the food served up in Scotland’s hospitals is sadly all too common so it is appalling that prisoners seem to be getting better treatment. It is common sense that more should be spent serving up healthy and nutritional dishes to poorly patients.
Inside one of the ‘cells’ at the new Lilias Centre in Glasgow
“The public and victims of crime will rightly question why criminals behind bars receive better quality meals than patients stuck in Scotland’s hospitals. SNP ministers should urgently look into this spending disparity and ensure patients are prioritised over prisoners.”
Sources at the Scottish Prison Service pointed out that the two CCUs hold 16-24 people, so the comparison with prisons such as Barlinnie, which holds 1400, was “not reasonable”.
A spokesman said: “Our staff work hard to serve a varied and nutritious diet to people in our care, while also ensuring value for money.”
The Scottish Government said: “Prison food is the responsibility of the Scottish Prison Service, who have a responsibility to provide healthy and nutritious meals for everyone in their care and Health Boards are responsible for patient food.”
Read more from the Scottish Daily Express. Click here for Scottish News, click here for Politics and click here to return to the Home Page.