Scotland's Justice Secretary, Neil Gray, has been asked to apologise to the Scottish Parliament after MSPs were not told about the worst prison disorder in Scotland in a decade.

The disorder broke out at HMP and YOI Polmont, near Falkirk, on Saturday, 26 September 2026. Around 30 inmates were involved in the mass disturbance, several prison officers suffered minor injuries, and officers from other prisons were drafted in to help restore order.

The scale of the incident only became widely known last week, when the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) told BBC News that the disturbance was the worst seen in a Scottish jail in a decade, and released photographs showing the damage inside the young offenders institution.

The images show smashed tables and chairs, damaged ceiling panels, a broken glass window and rubbish strewn across communal areas. An SPS spokesperson said a protest had taken place at Polmont and was resolved safely and securely by SPS staff. Police Scotland are understood to be investigating the riot.

Questions at Holyrood

The fact that Parliament was not informed at the time has now become a political row in its own right. Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Stephen Kerr has tabled written questions at Holyrood asking for what reason the Scottish Government did not inform the Scottish Parliament about the incident, and what discussions it held with the Scottish Prison Service and the governor of Polmont. Answers are expected on 16 November.

The issue was also raised at First Minister's Questions, where David Linden, the SNP convener of Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee, pressed the First Minister on why MSPs had learned of the serious disturbance from news reports rather than from the government.

Mr Gray has said work is continuing to deal with prison overcrowding, but that further action is needed. He said: "To ease the pressure, we have maximised capacity across the prison estate by 640 over the past three years and we are building two new prisons." In June, the Scottish Government launched a consultation on permanent new measures to tackle overcrowding in prisons.

Opposition criticism

Mr Kerr said: "The SNP's only answer is to water down the consequences for criminals after two decades of failing to build the prisons Scotland needs." He added: "Enough is enough. The SNP must stop putting the needs of offenders ahead of public safety."

Scottish Labour's justice spokesperson, Pauline McNeill, has also spoken out about the state of the prison estate, as opposition parties argue that overcrowding and pressure on staff lie behind the rising tension inside jails.

It is not the first serious disturbance at the jail. In 2021, prisoners locked guards out of a hall during a protest at the young offenders institution, and a further disturbance followed a football match there the year before.

Ministers say reforms are under consideration to achieve what Mr Gray has described as a sustainable prison population. For now, the focus at Holyrood is on why Parliament was kept in the dark for more than a month, and whether the Justice Secretary will apologise for it.

[Source: Press Association](https://pressassociation.com/wire/neil-gray-asked-to-apologise-for-not-informing-parliament-of-30442f18-033b-4f74-9648-1f108576371e?t=p.1804032000.XwDTEeqEBKR8ZoWd7syciWG72OOpwS7kJQ_elGDI3cc&from=/) | [Source: Edinburgh Live](https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/shocking-images-show-aftermath-scotlands-34842823)