£400m prison to replace HMP Barlinnie has been given the green light 

£400m prison to replace HMP Barlinnie has been given the green light 

PLANS for a £400 million prison to replace HMP Barlinnie have been approved.

Glasgow City Council has given the green light to an application to build the new prison complex on the former Provan Gas Works site in the east end of the city.

HMP Glasgow will have five four-storey residential housing blocks at its centre, which will be equipped with heat pumps and solar panels.

Initial estimates for the replacement for HMP Barlinnie had been around £170m. However, in November, Justice Secretary Angela Constance said replacing the “somewhat Victorian” prison would likely cost around £400m.

Michael Stoney, the governor of HMP Barlinnie who is leading on HMP Glasgow, told the BBC in August that the old site was overcrowded, outdated, and at risk of “catastrophic failure”.