Hansard

I start by acknowledging the gravity of the decision that I ask Parliament to make this evening, and I remind colleagues that every decision taken by me and the Government has been made under full parliamentary scrutiny and that parliamentary approval has been sought when it has been required.

I also wish to inform Parliament that the prison population today is 8,431, which is a new record high and a milestone that few of us would have wanted to reach. The Scottish Prison Service’s assessed capacity tolerance has been breached on a number of occasions. Ten of our prisons are at red risk status, and there is a risk of non-compliance with our statutory and legal obligations. Therefore, doing nothing is not an option.

The emergency action for which I seek Parliament’s approval is critical to ensuring the safe and secure operation of our prisons and the health and safety of those who work in them. In short, I seek to ensure that our prisons can continue to accommodate those who pose the greatest risks. I know that many members of the Parliament and many of those who work in the justice system and, indeed, victim support organisations have narrated the need for longer-term solutions to secure a stable and sustainable prison population, and I agree with them. In fact, I have been advocating for that and, in my view, I have laid the foundations for that with, among other things, the establishment of the independent sentencing and penal commission, which will report to me at the end of this year.

I continue my commitment to that, to the expansion of community justice and to doing more than that, including with the use of electronic monitoring and widening the scope. That is in addition to increasing capacity in the prison estate, as well as completing two new prisons.

It remains to be seen who, at the end of the day, will be prepared to engage with and debate the evidence about what works to reduce offending and increase the rehabilitation of offenders to keep our communities safe.

I noted Mr Kerr’s comments about the need to reduce the remand population and manage prisoners differently and, of course, the use of electronic monitoring.

However, right now, we have to reach a position of stability to enable more permanent change and reform. The challenge for us as a Parliament and, indeed, as a country is that, if we do not want to remain in a cycle of shorter-term decisions, we will need to take bolder and longer-lasting action.

This is absolutely not a decision that I have taken lightly, but it is a decision that is now necessary. I absolutely recognise that the early release of prisoners will be cause for concern for victims. That is why the regulations have stringent safeguards in place, including statutory exclusions for sex offenders and those serving sentences for domestic abuse. We have also added extra exclusions for prisoners with unspent previous domestic abuse convictions or non-harassment orders. Of course, a prison governor’s veto can be applied if a release poses—