Meeting of the Parliament 25 June 2026 [Draft]
I will make progress.
Although money for, investment in and a focus on those priorities are very welcome, we need to be realistic about what is driving crime and offending—and the evidence exists. In the 2024 Scottish prison survey, 42 per cent of respondents stated that
“a Social Worker was involved in their lives while they were growing up”.
Forty-two per cent—that is a massive overrepresentation compared with the general population.
In 2018, the Scottish Government published a paper on childhood trauma links to adult criminal behaviour, and the publication noted that 45 per cent of the
“Adult prisoner survey respondents reported that they had been physically abused in their home as a child”.
Forty-five per cent—again, that is a massive overrepresentation compared with the general population.
Scottish Prison Service statistics show that individuals from
“the 10% most deprived areas … accounted for 31% of all arrivals to prison in 2022-23”.
That is a massive, disproportionate overrepresentation. We know that people who end up in prison are much more likely to have faced disadvantage, trauma and poverty. If we tackle inequality, we are literally tackling one of the main root causes of crime.
What is so sad is that, often, the circumstance of one family member being in prison perpetuates disadvantage for other members of that family. Families Outside estimates that, each year in Scotland, more than 27,000 children and young people experience a parent’s imprisonment. Having a family member in prison creates, sustains and entrenches poverty for the families who are left behind.