Overcrowded prison system an SNP problem ‘entirely of their making’ – Tories

The Scottish Conservatives have said the overcrowded Scottish prison system is an SNP problem “entirely of their own making” as multiple parties continue to criticise the provision.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service have struggled with the rising prison population in recent years, with a number of early release schemes put in place, along with a shift in policy to allow those jailed for under four years to be freed after serving 30% of their sentence, as opposed to 40%.

The UK Government is also set to release 5,000 offenders from October as part of new laws to create more space in overcrowded prisons.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sunday Show, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said prison overcrowding was the SNP’s “problem entirely of their own making”.

He said: “You say that they find themselves in this position, the SNP Government, but it’s a problem entirely of their making.

“They’ve been in charge of Scotland’s justice system and prison service for two decades and they are the ones that failed to build adequate capacity.

“We’ve got a new prison in Glasgow that was supposed to be ready.

“It’ll be at least six years late, and instead of costing £100 million as they said it would, it’s now going to cost at least £1 billion – that’s the scandal.

“And this idea that the SNP should just open the prison gates and let out prisoners, as they are doing and has been doing for years now… people are being locked up to punish them first and foremost, to be rehabilitated and to protect the public, but what we’ve seen is a relentless and systematic weakening of the sentencing regime.”

Figures released by the Scottish Government in July suggest the prison population is likely to rise from the July 1 total of 8,466, with predictions of between 8,100 and 9,150 inmates by March next year.

Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West Christine Jardine told the Sunday Show that the early release scheme is “an emergency measure” that is “short term” and the Scottish Government should focus on long-term solutions.

She said: “I think the way we deal with it going forward is to commit to long-overdue replacement of integral parts of the prison estate.

“The new prison in Glasgow is an example of failure to actually deal with it, to make sure there are facilities there, but hand in hand with that, you have to have better non-custodial sentences.

“You have to look at better risk assessment as well, particularly where you’ve got domestic violence, violence against women, violence against everybody.

“But I think that we can’t go on just saying, ‘Oh, it’s an emergency, let people out of prison’ – that’s dangerous.”

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.