In-depth look at how best to deal with offending
behaviour.
Identifying the most effective ways to address offending
behaviour so there is less crime and fewer victims will be at the
heart of an independent review of sentencing and penal policy,
the Justice Secretary has announced.
The externally led review will examine how and when custodial
sentences and community interventions are used, how effective
these are and what more can be done to prevent crime and reduce
reoffending.
While sentencing in individual cases is always for Scotland’s
independent courts, the review will consider the range of
community interventions available to judges and sheriffs and
whether these should be expanded.
To encourage greater use of robust community-based interventions
there will be also be increased investment of £14 million in
community justice in 2024-25, bringing the total investment in
community justice to £148 million this year.
Justice Secretary said:
“Protecting victims and the public from harm is my absolute
priority and prison will always be necessary as part of that.
However, we must recognise that, while appropriate in many cases,
short prison sentences are often not the best way to reduce
reoffending, with those released from short custodial sentences
reconvicted nearly twice as often as those sentenced to a
community payback order.
“Therefore an externally led review of sentencing and penal
policy will allow us to re-visit the fundamental question of how
imprisonment and community-based sentences are used. We must do
more to develop community interventions with increased breadth
and depth, so that the courts have a greater selection of options
to deal robustly and constructively with the individuals before
them.
“The prison population in Scotland remains too high and the needs
of those in prison are increasingly complex. While a range of
work is underway to respond to this, we also need to understand
and address its root causes. The aim of this review is not about
reducing the prison population as an end in itself, but ensuring
that custody is used for the right people at the right time.”
Background
The review will be asked to offer its initial findings for
consideration by Government and Parliament during this
parliamentary session.
The reconviction rate for those given Community Payback Orders in
2018-19 was 29.8% compared to 52.1% for those completing
custodial sentences of one year or less.
Reconviction rates
2018-19
