Scottish female prison inmates 'forced to use their sinks as toilets due to night-time security arrangements'

Almost half of the women held at HMP Cornton Vale in Stirling are forced to rely on an antiquated night sanitation system

Some inmates said staff had told them to 'pee in the sink' if they were not able to wait (Getty Images)

Inmates at Scotland's only women's prison are being forced to use their sinks as toilets due to night-time security arrangements which are “wholly unacceptable in the 21st century”, according to an official report published on 17 February.

Almost half of the women held at HMP Cornton Vale in Stirling are forced to rely on an antiquated night sanitation system, with some facing waits of more than an hour before being allowed to use the toilet, in what inspectors described as a “significant breach” of human dignity.

Many inmates reported feeling “degraded” by the process of using the toilet in the night and the prison's outdated security procedures must be reformed immediately, said the report by Scotland's Chief Inspector of Prisons, David Strang.

In September last year alone, inspectors said there were 266 cases where prisoners had to wait for longer than ten minutes to go to the toilet, adding that in a small number of “completely unacceptable” situations the wait was over an hour.

Some inmates said staff had told them to “pee in the sink” if they were not able to wait, the report said. “The situation where half the population did not have independent access to toilets during periods of 'lock up' was possibly the most significant breach of someone's human dignity,” it added.

It is not the first time that Cornton Vale has been severely criticised. In 2009 inspectors reported that the prison was in “a state of crisis”, prompting the creation of the Angiolini Commission on Women Offenders which concluded in 2012 that it was “not fit for purpose”.

Problems accessing the toilets at certain periods were among 32 weaknesses identified by Mr Strang's report, who acknowledged that “significant progress” had been made at the prison since 2009. The jail, which typically houses between 200 and 230 women, is being closed from this summer, with inmates transferred to HMP Polmont to allow work on a new facility to begin.

The inspectors' report also raised concerns that staff at the jail “systematically” discouraged prisoners from submitting complaints about their treatment, highlighting the fact that a small number of inmates reported suffering “repercussions” after raising an issue.

Graeme Pearson, Scottish Labour's justice spokesman, said Justice Minister Michael Matheson should be “ashamed” of the report's findings. “It is hard to believe that in 21st century Scotland, half of the prisoners at Cornton Vale have no direct access to toilet facilities and are encouraged to use wash hand basins as toilets,” he added.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said facilities at Cornton Vale were “outdated” but stressed that Polmont would offer better living accommodation for female inmates. “Accommodating female offenders in smaller units, close to their families, allows us to offer support to address the reasons which fuel their crime such as alcohol, drugs, mental health or domestic abuse trauma and can help break the cycle of reoffending,” they added.

A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said the planed move of prisoners to Polmont “means that what has been described by the Chief Inspector in terms of night sanitation arrangements will no longer be an issue”.