Committee
Criminal Justice Committee 25 February 2026 [Draft]
25 Feb 2026 · S6 · Criminal Justice Committee
Item of business
Subordinate Legislation
Early Removal of Prisoners from the United Kingdom (Amendment of Specified Time Periods) (Scotland) Order 2026 [draft]
:I can give assurances on that process. The Scottish Prison Service works very closely with immigration enforcement with regard to exchange of information or a handover. I have some reticence about speaking about UK immigration enforcement, because it is not within our devolved responsibility, but I understand the motivation for asking the question.Also, by way of context, the committee might recall that the numbers of foreign nationals that are currently returned are very small. Part of the motivation for this instrument is to increase that number. The figures show that, in the most recent year that the data was recorded, 17 individuals were returned.11:30We are quite beholden to support from the UK Government in this area. In reply to a question from Mr Hepburn, I have previously spoken about the fact that only four immigration officers are deployed to work with the Scottish Prison Service and the Northern Ireland Prison Service. They are not connected to Grampian or Inverness, so there are gaps. Of the 77 immigration officers that the UK Government has to work with prisons, only four have been allocated to work with Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, authority over someone’s release rests with the prison governor, so the governor has to be satisfied that appropriate arrangements have been made for the departure of the individual.
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Our next item of business is an oral evidence session on a draft affirmative instrument, the Early Removal of Prisoners from the United Kingdom (Amendment of...
Angela Constance
SNP
:In November, I attended the committee to speak to the draft Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019 and the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 202...
The Convener
SNP
Thank you, cabinet secretary. I will open the meeting to members’ questions, and I will bring in Liam Kerr.
Liam Kerr
Con
:I have two questions, and the first is more process driven. Can you help the committee understand what happens when a foreign criminal is released? Are they...
Angela Constance
SNP
:The crux of the question is about immigration enforcement. The UK has the responsibility for the removal and deportation of foreign national prisoners. What...
David Doris (Scottish Government)
I confirm that individuals are not just released into the community in Scotland. It is an agreed process between the SPS and the Home Office, so that individ...
Liam Kerr
Con
:How does that work on a practical level? People will be watching this and wondering whether the prison officers open the gates to let someone out and say, “...
Angela Constance
SNP
:I can give assurances on that process. The Scottish Prison Service works very closely with immigration enforcement with regard to exchange of information or...
Liam Kerr
Con
:I turn to my second question. I get why this change is being proposed. However, in listening to you, cabinet secretary, I heard that, potentially, a foreign...
Angela Constance
SNP
:When we look at the low numbers of return, we see that the converse of that is true. Under the Sentencing Act 2026, the UK Government has the power to relea...
The Convener
SNP
Cabinet secretary, you said that it would be for the Scottish Prison Service to consider suitability or eligibility for removal under the early removal schem...
Angela Constance
SNP
:I do not know that I would describe it as a veto. I do have something in my papers about governors’ responsibilities, if you will bear with me, convener. It...
The Convener
SNP
As there are no more questions, we will move on.Our next item of business is to consider the motion to approve the affirmative SSI on which we have just take...
Angela Constance
SNP
:I flag to the committee that there are exclusions from the early removal scheme that might be of interest and, I would contend, of importance. Those exclude...
The Convener
SNP
Are members content to delegate responsibility to me and the clerks to approve a short factual report to the Parliament on the affirmative instrument?Members...
The Convener
SNP
The report will be published shortly.We will have another brief suspension before we move on to our next item of business.11:37Meeting suspended.11:38On resu...