Meeting of the Parliament 18 September 2019
There are different ways to look at reducing the prison population—some of them have come up in recent days—but if we consider the central thrust of Liam Kerr’s various proposals, the policy intent would be to increase the prison population, and I have not heard the Conservatives address how they would deal with that.
The other issue that needs to be borne in mind is that the Conservatives are not dealing with some of the underlying issues that are feeding into crime. For example, Police Scotland has acknowledged that policies such as welfare reform and the introduction of universal credit are pushing up crime rates in relation to housebreaking. We have seen robberies rise by 30 per cent over five years.
There is a lack of evidence to support the proposals that the Conservatives have made, and we have not heard how they would address the overcrowding of prisons or how the underlying problems in relation to crime should be addressed, so we will oppose the Conservative motion at decision time.
I move amendment S5M-18896.2, to leave out from “the abolition of” to end and insert:
“providing better support and advice for victims and their families, but considers that any changes to early release must follow an evidence-led debate about what is in the public interest, and full consultation with all relevant parties, including the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, Scottish Prison Service, Parole Board for Scotland and the wider public.”
16:09Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.