The contractor said it will utilise its extensive experience within the justice sector to provide a high specification, safe and secure facility that is focused on reducing reoffending and creating a safe working environment for staff. 

HMP Glasgow will have a capacity of 1344 and will be completed in 2028. Kier has been on site since October 2023 carrying out early works to remediate the complex brownfield site, which once housed a gas works, for the main construction process.

The total cost of the project is £998.4m which includes the cost of land acquisition, VAT and a construction contract cost of £683.8m.

The use of this site, close to the centre of Glasgow, will see a disused parcel of land being put to good use, while bringing maximum economic benefit to the city through the use of local labour and businesses. 

The existing HMP Barlinnie was constructed in 1880 and is in urgent need of replacement. The prison’s infrastructure was deemed not fit for purpose by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in a report released last year, a finding which it said “emphasised the importance of a new prison”. 

The construction of HMP Glasgow will contribute £450m worth of economic benefits for the Glasgow community. This includes Kier’s ambition to create 100 new jobs during the construction, including 50 apprentices and 40 jobs for prison leavers through its Making Ground programme. 

The team on the ground has already worked with over 1000 school children locally, engaging them in educational initiatives and encouraging students into careers in construction via apprenticeships and further education. 

Kier aims to further support the local economy by committing to a 50% spend with local supply chain partners. 

Rebecca Boundy, public sector director at Kier Construction, said: “It’s an honour to be awarded the contract to deliver this critical project. We will build a sustainable, state-of-the-art facility while ensuring that local communities, schools and charities directly benefit both now and in the future. 

“Using the latest techniques and modern methods of construction, we will harness the very best of our team’s significant experience in the justice sector to provide a high-quality, more efficient prison for Scotland which has rehabilitation at its core.”

Justice secretary Angela Constance said: “HMP Glasgow is a bold vision for the future of our prisons that will help reduce reoffending and deliver a considerable economic boost for the city and beyond. 

“The new modern establishment will replace a Victorian age prison that is no longer fit for purpose. It will increase prison capacity and transform how prisoners are rehabilitated, as well as considerably improving staff working conditions.”

Teresa Medhurst, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, said: “HMP Glasgow will have a transformative impact in how we support and rehabilitate people.

“It is an investment in our staff, in those in our care, and in Glasgow and Scotland as a whole, as we work with our partners to improve people’s futures and together build safer communities.

“I want to thank Scottish Government, for its continued support and investment, and everyone whose hard work has helped us reach this important milestone as we continue to develop a prison estate fit for the 21st century.”

Kier has extensive experience delivering justice projects, including HMP Millsike in Yorkshire and the multi-award-winning HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough, both of which utilised an innovative houseblock design that was manufactured off-site. HMP Glasgow was procured through the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) framework.

Increase in project costs

Justice secretary Angela Constance has also written to the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee to confirm that completion HMP Glasgow is scheduled for 2028 but also to explain the increase in construction costs.

Ms Constance wrote: “The cost of the construction contract is £683.8m (ex VAT), which brings the total project cost to £998.4m. This is a significant increase from the previous 2019 estimate which calculated that the project would cost at £400m. This estimate was restated in the Infrastructure Investment Plan in 2022. As I explained to the Committee in 2023, the price will most likely rise from this figure. Below I set out the reasons for this increase and some comparisons with similar projects.

“Cost increases are happening across the wider construction industry as a whole. The construction industry sector has faced significant price rises from labour and material shortages as a result of Brexit, the Covid pandemic, and the war in Ukraine, which has led to increased inflation in the cost of all major capital projects of any nature here in Scotland, wider UK and indeed globally.”

A National Audit Office report on Increasing the capacity of the prison estate to meet demand published on 4 December 2024 notes: “The start of the 2022 war in Ukraine put pressure on supply chains for construction, and some suppliers have subsequently collapsed. Inflation in the construction sector has been particularly high, with MoJ estimating around 40% price rises between January 2020 and February 2024.”

The letter added: “Since October 2019, the Department for Business and Trade Construction Materials Price Index for other new work is showing a 40% increase to November 2024; this includes an increase of 26% in gravel, sand, clays and kaolin, 31% in concrete reinforcing bars, 63% in pre-cast concrete and 19% in fabricated structural steel. The Office of National Statistics reports a 35% increase the number of vacancies in the construction industry over the same period, driving an increase in the price of labour.

“The UK’s high rate of inflation experienced over the past few years has caused steep rises in the tender price index and building cost index since 2021. Coupled with the current volume of public sector new build works, including those being undertaken by the UK Ministry of Justice, there is a potential UK supply and demand challenge. There is also recognition that large-scale infrastructure projects can have a disproportionate impact on smaller sub-contractors in the supply chain, which can impact on pricing. We understand the construction industry is currently risk averse, leading to higher prices, due to insolvencies within the industry. The recent insolvency of a major contractor has resulted in reduced spare capacity within the remaining major contractors.

“This sort of cost increase is not unique to prisons but is affecting most major capital projects. As part of the due diligence and scrutiny of the price, the SPS commissioned two independent cost consultants to compare the price with similar recent builds in England and Wales. This benchmarking analysis showed that the price of this contract is typical for the industry and comparable with other large-scale prison projects across the UK.”

The report by the National Audit Office noted: “The total expected cost of the [prison expansion] portfolio has also increased by between 80% and 93%. HMPPS now estimates it will cost between £9.4 billion and £10.1bn to deliver its portfolio, an increase of between £4.2bn and £4.9bn compared with its approved estimated funding of £5.2bn as at the 2021 spending review. This includes delivery of a slightly higher number of places (20,995) than its original commitment to deliver 20,000 places. HMPPS will require further funding to deliver the portfolio. The predicted cost increases and causes for these vary across projects from 0% to 259%.”

The report also shows that four new prisons currently being built in England and Wales are forecast to cost more than double that of HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way which opened in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The price per place has risen to between £610,000 and £840,000 in England and Wales - the price per place of HMP Glasgow sits in the middle of this range at £740,000.

Ms Constance concluded: “I am pleased we have reached this significant milestone in replacing HMP Barlinnie. HMP Glasgow is essential for ensuring a modern prison system for the long term. While I can appreciate concerns around the cost increase compared to earlier estimates, the extensive due diligence undertaken on the price has demonstrated that it is in line with similar prison builds elsewhere in the UK.

“Replacing HMP Barlinnie is making an investment in a safer Scotland. It will ensure we can better support rehabilitation and reduce reoffending, and improve the lives and condition of people living and working there as well as ensuring we can better support rehabilitation and reduce reoffending.”