The north-east’s £150million “super jail” is running at just 50% capacity – two years after it opened.
HMP Grampian opened in 2014, and was hailed as the first of a new generation of jails in Scotland.
It became the first in the country to house male, female and young offenders under one roof – with the intention of keeping them close to their families.
But the 550-capacity prison was plunged into crisis just weeks after opening when rioting inmates caused thousands of pounds worth of damage – prompting chiefs to transfer all young offenders to other sites across Scotland.
Last month, politicians were outraged when they discovered the offenders had not yet returned to the north-east.
And last night, new figures revealed the exact breakdown of offenders at HMP Grampian – prompting claims the cost of the development would have been better spent on schools.
According to the figures, the prison currently homes just 281 sentenced male prisoners and 33 women.
Peterhead councillor Alan Buchan – who has previously branded the prison a “white elephant” – said a facility half the size would have made more sense financially.
“This is what I’ve been saying since day one,” he said. “All of the facts and statistics said there were between 200 and 300 local prisoners, but they’ve built a prison for 550 people.
“We only needed a prison half the size. It would have allowed £70-80million to be spent on local schools and community facilities.
“It’s insane, but no one seems willing to tackle it – and realistically, with the job competition that’s going to happen with the decline in oil, we have to put out our kids with the best qualifications possible.”
Liberal Democrat MSP Alison McInnes claimed promises about the purpose of HMP Grampian were not being kept.
“Last year we were told that the young offenders unit at the new HMP Grampian was lying empty as people were sent hundreds of miles from home to serve their sentences. This year’s figures suggest that the new state-of-the art facility is still not being utilised to it’s full potential,” she said.
“We were told that this new facility would mark a major step forwards in the way we work to rehabilitate offenders. It seems that this is still not the case at HMP Grampian.”
And Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald said it was “clear” that the prison was built in the wrong community.
More prisoners convicted in the north-east come from Aberdeen than Peterhead, he added.
“The idea of a single jail for men, women and young offenders was meant to make HMP Grampian ‘community-facing’, despite being in the wrong community for most of those involved,” Mr Macdonald said.
“Peterhead has failed from the outset to provide a safe and secure place for male young offenders to serve their sentences, far less providing opportunities for rehabilitation close to home as it was meant to do.
“These latest figures confirm that the young offenders’ wing continues to lie empty, while young men who should be serving their sentences there are a long way from home at Polmont.
“SNP ministers who took the decisions which led us here are responsible for wasting public money, and they have failed to achieve the aims they set themselves. It is time they were held to account.”
A total of £150,000 worth of damage was caused during the 14-hour standoff with guards in April 2014.
Inmates were sent to prisons in the central belt and the youth wing of HMP Grampian was closed in the aftermath.
But last night, Tom Fox, a spokesman for the SPS, said the lack of people occupying cells in Peterhead was actually “good news” because it meant less people were offending.
Mr Fox added the SPS would not make a decision on when it would re-open the young offenders wing of the facility until it was satisfied it could offer the same level of “regime” as YOI Polmont, where figures are also down.
He said: “We will take that decision in the coming months, but we are in the happy position that youth places are over subscribed right now.
“We see that as a good thing.”