Justice Committee supports early release restriction bill
The Scottish Government bill to end the current system of automatic early release for long term prisoners has been supported in principle by Holyrood's Justice Committee.
In its stage 1 report on the Prisoners (Control of Release) (Scotland) Bill, the committee, with Conservative member Margaret Mitchell dissenting, supports the general principles of the bill, which as introduced applies to sex offenders but which is planned to be extended at stage 2 to all long term prisoners, along with revised provisions on compulsory supervision.
At present, long term prisoners – those serving four years or more – are entitled to be released after serving two thirds of their sentence. Ministers plan to end this right, wihch means that a prisoner will have to apply to the Parole Board to be considered for early release, and also plan to add to the bill a guarantee that all long-term prisoners are, on release from prison, subject to a minimum period of compulsory supervision in the community.
The committee calls on the Government to clarify how this supervision would work, where the court has not imposed an extended sentence, and how a minimum period of compulsory supervision would be guaranteed in practice. Certain witnesses suggested that a new form of sentence may be required.
It believes that the proposal to extend the bill to all long-term prisoners will improve the bill, but wants the Government to provide updated estimates of the cost of the new provisions and how they will be resourced. It also has concerns over the level of availability of rehabilitation programmes in prison (an aspect on which the committee was advised that the bill's human rights statement is inadequate), and over the resources available to the Parole Board.
Although some witnesses proposed that the bill should be delayed until the Scottish Sentencing Council is established this autumn, the Cabinet Secretary does not intend to delay the reforms.
Committee convener Christine Grahame MSP said: “The committee welcomes the aims of this bill and notes the new Cabinet Secretary’s willingness to act on evidence heard from witnesses who questioned whether the provisions in the original bill would meet the Government’s objective of improving public safety.
“We were pleased that the Cabinet Secretary outlined his proposals to amend the bill at stage 2. In our report we have highlighted the areas where we require further detail to help us consider those amendments, and have requested further information on the cost of the new provisions and how these will be resourced.
She added: “Given the scope of the proposed Government amendments, we may seek additional time for scrutiny at stage 2.”