Emergency legislation will be introduced to Parliament to
contribute to the sustainable long-term management of Scotland's
prison population, Justice Secretary told MSPs.
The Bill, to be introduced in November, will propose a change to
the release point for short-term prisoners serving sentences of
less than four years. At present they are released at the halfway
point of their sentence. Under these new proposals they will be
released after serving 40% of their sentence, with prisoners
serving sentences for domestic abuse or sexual offences excluded
from the changes.
The Justice Secretary said the wellbeing of victims and the
safety of communities will be a priority when implementing the
measures, and the Scottish Government will engage directly with
victims organisations.
The proposals, scheduled to come into effect from February next
year, would apply to both those currently in prison and those
sentenced in future. If backed by Parliament, it is estimated the
changes could result in a sustained reduction to the prison
population of between 260 and 390.
The proposals in the legislation would also give Ministers powers
to change the point of release under licence conditions for
long-term prisoners serving sentences of four years or more. This
follows the recent public consultation on long-term prisoner
release, which highlighted various areas requiring more in-depth
consideration with partners.
While not currently proposed, contingency planning for the
emergency early release of short-term prisoners is being
undertaken, should it be needed to ensure the health and welfare
of prison staff and prisoners during a continuing rise in the
prison population.
In her Parliamentary statement, Ms Constance underlined the
importance of public safety and putting in place a sustainable
long-term strategy to tackle the rising prison population.
Speaking after delivering her statement, the Justice Secretary
said:
“I am prioritising actions that can deliver a sustained reduction
to the prison population. Public safety remains paramount, which
is why I am focusing on short-term prisoners only and with
built-in exemptions.
“I recognise the concerns that may arise from victims and their
families and I am committed to working closely with victim
support organisations on key issues.
“The measures I have outlined are necessary to support prisons to
continue to function effectively and I remain grateful to
Scottish Prison Service staff for their continued resilience. We
must ensure that we have a prison estate which houses those who
pose a risk to the public and provides the full range of support
needed for people to leave on a better path and never turn back.”
These prison management measures follow yesterday's announcement
that victims of crime will receive improved support, advice and
information under reforms to the Victim Notification
Scheme that entitles victims or close relatives of homicide
victims to certain information about the person responsible for
the crime.
Background
Justice Secretary's
statement to parliament
Latest prison population figure - 8,322 as of Thursday 10 October
Long-term prisoner release
consultation and analysis
The arrangements announced in Parliament build on a range of
other measures already taken to deal with the high prison
population, including strengthening the availability of
community-based sentences, which figures indicate can be more
effective in reducing re-offending among those who have committed
less serious offences.
These measures include:
- increased Scottish Government funding for community justice,
up by £14 million in 2024-25, to £148 million in total
- to address high numbers of individuals in prison on remand,
for example ahead of trial or pre-sentence, introducing
electronically-monitored bail, with the expansion of bail
supervision to all areas. Usage of bail supervision is now at
record levels
- implementing measures in early July 2024 to enable courts to
take into account time spent on electronically-monitored bail
when sentencing, as Parliament legislated for in the Bail and
Release from Custody (Scotland) Act 2023
