Meeting of the Parliament 12 February 2026 [Draft]
As Mr Findlay correctly says, the information and guidance on sentencing come from the independent Scottish Sentencing Council, which takes a considered view of all such questions and does so at arm’s length from ministers.
The young person sentencing guidelines make it clear that all sentencing options, including imprisonment, remain open to the court. It is important that I put that point on the record, because it is just not the case that the sentencing guidelines make the provisions that Mr Findlay has talked about. The guidelines make it clear that the option of imprisonment remains open to the court.
Decisions on sentences are taken by the independent judiciary. An important principle of our judicial system is that the judiciary is able to operate independently of the Government, with the ability to exercise, as I set out, the full range of options, including imprisonment, that are open to it in such cases.