Meeting of the Parliament 20 February 2025
Per capita, Scotland has one of the highest prison populations in western Europe. We are simply locking up too many people, and that cannot continue. I welcome the Scottish Government’s action to establish a review of sentencing and penal policy to consider the most effective ways to address offending behaviour and lower the number of victims. I am extremely pleased that, as we have heard, it will be chaired by Martyn Evans, the former chair of the Scottish Police Authority, who will be supported by five expert commissioners. The panel will examine how imprisonment and community-based interventions are currently used in Scotland. It is clear that we need to look at alternatives to custody. The Scottish National Party Government’s commitment to strengthening community justice services by investing £159 million in 2025-26 reaffirms that.
Scotland is not alone in facing the challenge of prison overcrowding. The previous and current UK Governments have taken action to respond to the rising prison population in similar ways. Interestingly, the recently published Gauke review, which Liam McArthur mentioned and which was conducted by a former Tory minister, highlighted an increased prison population in England and Wales despite a reducing crime rate. Like Scotland, the UK has embarked on the early release of prisoners when it is safe and appropriate to do so to alleviate overcrowding.
Protecting victims and the public from harm is the absolute priority. Prison will always be necessary; for some offenders, it is essential. However, I question whether prison is the best place for many who are sent there. As convener of the cross-party group on women, families and justice, I am aware of how damaging incarceration is to families and children, and it often does nothing to rehabilitate the offender. We know that short prison sentences are often not the best way to reduce reoffending. Community-based interventions are more effective in doing that and in assisting with rehabilitation. Ultimately, that leads to fewer victims and safer communities.
There are far too many women in custody and on remand. In January this year, 330 women were incarcerated, and about 30 per cent of them were on remand. I agree with Jamie Greene’s and Pauline McNeill’s comments about remand, although I am not sure how it would be possible to have no one on remand. We have to tackle that issue.
It is estimated that as many as 90 per cent of women in custody in Scotland have addiction problems with alcohol or drugs. It is further estimated that 80 per cent of women in prison have brain damage due to head injuries caused by domestic violence, and that a similar number of women suffer mental illness to some degree. Prison is no place for women whose addiction and chaotic life experiences have led them down the wrong path. They need holistic help, because no one chooses that lifestyle.
Scotland’s amazing third sector organisations do an incredible job of helping people in a holistic and trauma-informed way when they leave prison. For many people, particularly women, they are a lifeline and are essential to getting them back on track, but, sadly, the damage to families and children has often already been done. The new women’s custody units in Glasgow and Dundee are a huge step in the right direction. They are designed to help women to move slowly back into a normal routine.
I am delighted that the Scottish Government is working with our justice partners to look at how we can offer alternatives to custody. We need to steer a better path and have confidence in alternative pathways. Prison should be the exception, not the rule.
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