This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Alternatives to custody 'well tested'
24/02/2003
The Executive has done more in the past three years than
any previous administration to increase the range of
community sentences available for the courts to use as
alternatives to custody, a conference in Edinburgh was told
today.
Justice Minister Jim Wallace said the conference theme -
'Sentencing a Postcode Lottery' - may be a catchy title but
it was not a true reflection of the justice system in
Scotland.
The real lottery would be if community sentences were
introduced untested and untried to the whole country rather
than take the more sensible approach of using piloting
schemes.
At the run conference run by Amnesty and the
Safeguarding Communities, Reducing Offending (SACRO), he
said:
"Many of the community sentences brought forward by the
Executive have been the subject of robust and proper
testing of their effectiveness. I am convinced that
piloting schemes works. Without proof of effectiveness, the
courts are less likely to want to use the new
sentences.
"Scotland's judges are now able to draw upon a wide
range of community sentences to deal with different types
of offending. The priority has been on developing the new
sentences over the past three years and on restructuring
local authority criminal justice social work services so
that they are better able to deliver the range of new
sentences.
"In addition to the well-established community sentences
of Probation and Community Service Orders, there are now
Supervised Attendance Orders (SAOs) as an alternative to
imprisonment for fine default. Restriction of Liberty
Orders have also been introduced to restrict the movement
of the offenders and electronically monitor the
restriction.
"Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) for those who
have a history of offending linked to drug addiction have
also proved a useful alternative to custody and are being
rolled out to courts. By the end of this year DTTOs will be
available in 70 per cent of the country. We have also
introduced drug courts in Glasgow and Fife.
"The Criminal Justice Bill which was approved by the
Parliament on Thursday goes further with provisions to
encourage the introduction of arrest referral schemes at an
early stage to assist drug misusing accused. It will also
make available structured deferred sentences and extend the
use of SAOs."
"The Executive has not only provided a much better range
of community sentences, it has also provided substantial
additional resources. This budget has increased by 50 per
cent in the past three years."
"Overall crime has been going down, detection rates are
going up, old laws are being updated and we have taken
steps to create a more efficient, open and accountable
justice system."
"We have made good progress in striving to replace
outdated laws, to make Scotland a safer place and to have a
fair and effective justice system which is more open and
accountable. The Executive is creating a justice system in
Scotland fit for the 21
st century."
The Deputy First Minister also welcomed comments from
the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Dr Andrew McLellan, in his
earlier address to the conference.
Dr McLellan said:
"My statutory responsibilities are to report on the
conditions in which prisoners live and the treatment
prisoners receive: each of which are important in preparing
prisoners for release. Degrading conditions will not
nourish self-respect or love of neighbour.
"I am ashamed of the conditions in which some of
Scotland's prisoners live. I say some, for the conditions -
by which I mean accommodation, food, clothing and visit
arrangements - in some Scottish prisons are good. Last week
Iona Hall was opened at Polmont, a good building of which
the Scottish Prison Service can be proud.
"But it is almost unbelievable that in prisons operated
in our name people sometimes have to spend 15 hours a day
sharing a potty locked in a room where they have to eat and
where they have no opportunity to wash their hands. It is
woeful that we require prison staff to supervise the
horrible business of slopping out as part of their daily
work.
"Prisoners would like to feel safe from other prisoners,
which the tension and opportunities which overcrowding
brings makes very difficult. As I go around prisons I see
not only overcrowding: I see a particular kind of
overcrowding. For I fear that this year's statistics will
show that the number of remand prisoners is climbing
steeply.
"That is distressing in itself: but it is particularly
distressing in the context of the particular vulnerability
of remand prisoners: about two-thirds of suicide deaths in
Scottish prisons are deaths of remand prisoners. The more
overcrowding for them, the worse it will be.
"Work and education and programmes to help address
offending behaviour and addiction and will help to make
prisoners ready for release. But what possible impact can
work or education or programmes to address offending
behaviour or addiction or throughcare or supportive
relationships make to someone who is in prison for a few
days?
"Last year Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice of England
and Wales, said 'It is now accepted on all sides that
prisons can do nothing for prisoners who are sentenced for
less than 12 months'. Yet 80 per cent of sentences are for
six months or less. Would it not be something if this
conference could be a catalyst by which Scotland is able to
profit from the judgment of the Lord Chief Justice of
England and Wales?"