The Scottish Prison Service has said the jobs of more than 270 staff employed at Cornton Vale women’s prison near Stirling will be safe when the jail closes.
Plans to replace the crumbling jail with a purpose-built facility in Greenock were announced by Scottish Government Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill in 2012.
Scotland’s sole women-only prison was nicknamed “the vale of death” after 11 prisoners committed suicide in a seven-year period from 1995 until 2002.
It was decided the prison would close after a report by former Lord Advocate Eilish Angiolini branded it “not fit for purpose”.
Her commission discovered that around 80% of inmates had mental health problems, while more than half were reoffenders.
The prison is due to close in 2018 and from 2017 onwards inmates will be transferred to HMP Inverclyde in Greenock or to one of a number of smaller units being created in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Cornton Vale currently has capacity for 309 prisoners. This includes 24 women who are approaching their release date and are given independent living units outside the jail as well as seven mother-and-baby spaces inside the prison.
It currently has 271 staff and a spokesman for the prison service said their jobs would be safe when the jail does close.
He added: “We will redeploy the staff elsewhere within the estate because we will still have the same number of prisoners.
“Some staff will want to continue the work they have been doing with female prisoners and will move to Inverclyde while others will move to other parts of the estate.”
A Scottish Government spokesman added: “HMP Cornton Vale will be closed once its replacement as the national prison for women has been built.
“Major construction projects like this take time but, in the meantime, conditions and facilities at Cornton Vale continue to be improved, including improvements to several wings, and the creation of a new family centre and help hub.
“The new HMP Inverclyde is being designed and constructed specifically to meet the needs of women.”