PRISONERS serving sentences less than four years in Scotland will be released earlier under new Government plans, the Justice Secretary has announced.
On Thursday, Angela Constance told MSPs prisoners serving short sentences will be released after 40% of their sentence as opposed to the current 50% — similar to a change made by the UK Government.
Constance (below) said: “I intend to pursue a similar policy to change the point at which most short-term prisoners are released from the current 50% to after 40% of their sentence has been served.
“This proposal would come with statutory exclusions in relation to domestic abuse and sexual offences, recognising the particular concerns which will arise in relation to such offences.”
A new bill will be required in Holyrood to make the changes, which Constance said would be taken forward on an emergency basis, which could allow it to be passed in just three days by MSPs.
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The Scottish Government launched a consultation on the earlier release of long-term prisoners earlier this year, but Constance decided against such a move.
The consultation could have resulted in the automatic release date for longer term offenders to be brought forward, but she said: “There was notable support for increasing the time some long-term prisoners spend in the community under supervision as part of their sentence, and recognition of the benefits this can bring.
“However, there were also concerns that changing the long-term prisoner release point at pace would present significant practical difficulties.
“Given the need for any changes to take effect quickly, this prompted an exploration of alternative approaches.”
Despite the announced changes, Constance said she could not rule out another round of emergency releases.
This summer, almost 500 people were released from Scottish prisons, with 57 of them having since returned after reoffending.
Constance said: “It is not my intention to ask Parliament to authorise the use of emergency early release again at this stage. “However, I am aware that if it is necessary and there is no alternative, it may be needed.”
Earlier on Thursday, First Minister John Swinney (above) warned that prisons in Scotland were “bursting at the seams”.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, he said the Scottish Government has “an obligation to ensure we run a stable and safe prison system”, stressing the need to “address the rising prison population in a sustainable and effective way”.
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Swinney said: “Fundamentally there is a difficulty about the rise in the prison population, the prison population this morning is sitting at 8322, it’s a very high level.
“Ministers are concerned for the wellbeing of prison officer staff and for prisoners as a consequence of the level of congestion there is in our prisons.”
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