Tories will vote against plans for releasing prisoners early

The Scottish Tories will vote against Scottish Government plans to release prisoners early to ease pressure on the prison estate, the party has said.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance told MSPs this week of the proposals, in response to a spike of 400 prisoners between March 18 and Thursday.

She said the increase left ministers with “no choice but to act if we are to avoid an unprecedented crisis developing”.

Ms Constance said she would bring proposals to Holyrood in the coming weeks, with those serving sentences of less than four years being eligible.

Under the terms of the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act – which allows for the emergency release of prisoners to preserve the “security and good order” of the estate – prisoners sentenced to life, those who have not been tried or anyone convicted of a terror-related, sexual or domestic violence offence are not eligible for early release.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said on Sunday his party would not back the plans amid fears of a risk to public safety.

He said: “If the SNP government set free hundreds of prisoners before they’ve done their time it will put public safety at risk with high rates of reoffending, as happened during the pandemic.

“Crime victims already feel let down by soft-touch sentencing and this would be compounded by artificially reducing the time a judge has decided that criminals should spend behind bars.

“The SNP are wringing their hands and talking about a crisis. But it is a crisis of their making, primarily by failing to build vital new prisons on time.”

There have been delays to the building of two new prisons, HMP Glasgow and HMP Highland.

On Friday, Ms Constance said the design for the replacement for Barlinnie would be available in the summer despite previous assertions to Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee the design would be complete by April.

Mr Findlay said: “They must consider an alternative short-term approach that would prioritise public safety and protect the integrity of Scotland’s justice system. This could include the installation of temporary accommodation, but all options should be considered.

“Longer term, they need to build the new prisons and if they don’t want to jail criminals, provide judges with robust, trusted and effective community sentencing options.”

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “Protecting the public remains an absolute priority and our proposal for emergency early release has a range of specific safeguards built in. Due to the rise in the prison population, urgent action is needed to ensure the safe running of prisons.

“While the Scottish Prison Service is exploring the feasibility of adding temporary accommodation, this is not a quick fix. I am committed to working with all parties to find solutions but as I set out in my statement to Parliament, immediate action is needed.

“Scotland is not alone in managing a high prison population. England and Wales are also experiencing similar issues and are operating a rolling early release process, which was introduced in October 2023 and recently extended.”