Scotland's prison population higher than before early release scheme

New statistics have shown Scotland’s prison population is higher than it was before the emergency release of hundreds of prisoners earlier this year.

Nearly 500 prisoners were released early between June and July under an emergency scheme introduced by the Scottish Government to tackle capacity issues.

MSPs passed the emergency bill, which came into force in June, to address the impacts of an “unprecedented rise” in the country’s prison population.

The latest figures from the Scottish Prison Service show that as of September 12, the number of prisoners stood at 8,233 compared to the 8,232 prisoners in custody on June 21.

The Scottish Government said the number of inmates had risen to 8,294 before the scheme came into force – above the target operating capacity of 8,007.

A spokesperson for Scottish Prison Service said that the population has “increased rapidly” in recent weeks and they are working to maximise the space available.

While prison numbers fluctuate daily, the numbers have remained steady for several months with the lowest population number being logged as 7,906 on July 26, just 27 below capacity.

Kate Wallace, chief executive at Victim Support Scotland, said they were “disappointed but sadly not surprised” at the figures.

She said: “Looking at the prison population figures updated this week, it is clear that the Emergency Early Release Scheme has not worked as intended.”

Ms Wallace added that the figures have increased “faster than anyone had anticipated” and said lessons had not been learned from the early release of prisoners during Covid which saw similar results.

The charity criticised the scheme adding that victims had not been prioritised during the process and experienced “unnecessary trauma and anxiety”.

“Victims have not been prioritised in this process – concerningly, only 2% of victims were notified about the release of the prisoner in their case,” Ms Wallace said.

“In some cases, this caused unnecessary trauma and anxiety when it turned out the prisoner was not even eligible for release.

“We continue to be concerned about the impact on people coming face to face with the perpetrator in their case, not having been notified of their release. We know this can be hugely traumatising when people are not prepared.”

Ms Wallace said the scheme had not worked as intended and called on the Government to look at the system prioritising public and victim safety instead of resorting to “further ineffective and short-term solutions to what are long-term, systemic problems”.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said the population was “very high and extremely complex” before the scheme but admitted there has been a “rapid increase” in recent weeks.

It said: “We continue to work hard to maximise the space available to us, to best support staff, and meet the needs of those in our care.”

“The complexity is driven by the high numbers of individuals who may require to be accommodated separately, for example because they are on remand, have links to serious and organised crime, or due to their offending history, all of which exacerbates the challenges faced.

“It is further illustrated by the increase in demand for health and social care services across the prison estate in recent years, partly due to our ageing population. 

“Several of our establishments are full beyond their design capacity. This increasingly restricts our staff’s ability to do the quality work that supports people’s personal development, rehabilitation, and chances of a successful reintegration into the community upon liberation, which is key to reducing the risk of reoffending.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said it was considering a number of actions to address the rising prison population “just as the previous and current UK Government have had to do”.

It said: “As we said in our Programme for Government, we continue to progress a range of actions to support a sustainable reduction in the prison population including legislation.”

“It is vital that we ensure we have safe prisons that can focus on rehabilitation and reintegration, having too many people in prison limits this work.

“Whilst we will always need prison, the evidence shows that community sentencing is more effective in combatting reoffending than prison.”