'Credible' options to jail needed to cut prisoner numbers

Credible and consistent alternatives to prison sentences are needed to cut the number of people being sent to jail, Scotland's justice secretary has said.

Keith Brown said there was a widespread acceptance that "for some people, prison is not the best place for them".

He acknowledged that community service options could be improved and "we've got a job on our hands to do that".

The number of remand prisoners in Scotland has been growing since the start of the pandemic.

Mr Brown said better use of community justice sentences could not only keep prisoner numbers down but also be effective at reducing reoffending.

In November last year, Scottish ministers launched a 12-week consultation on the reform of bail and custody measures.

One proposal includes explicitly requiring a court to consider electronic monitoring before it refuses bail.

Another question asks if short-term inmates should be automatically released sooner.

Currently, they are released halfway though their sentence.

Speaking to the justice and social affairs magazine, 1919, Mr Brown said: "There is a challenge ... to make sure that the community justice options are more credible and consistent.

"Sometimes the courts might be reluctant to go down that road if they don't think the community justice disposal is sufficient, so we've got a job on our hands which we're looking at just now.

"We're currently reviewing the community justice strategy, and we want to improve that."

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, Jamie Greene, questioned Mr Brown's views on community justice.

He said: "This is rich coming from an SNP justice secretary.

"It is astonishing to hear him talk up community sentencing, when it is his government who have written off over a quarter of a million hours' worth of community sentences.

"That has been an insult to the victims of crime across Scotland.

"While Keith Brown promotes community sentences, his government is trying to sneak through proposals to release criminals after they've served just a third of their prison sentence. Where's the justice in that?"