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Prison Statistics Scotland 2007/08
29/08/2008
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published Prison Statistics Scotland 2007/08. This contains information on the Scottish prison population, including daily average population by type of custody and establishment, characteristics of prisoners, and numbers of receptions to / liberations from penal establishments.
The main findings are:
- The average daily prison population was 7,376 in 2007/08, representing an increase of three per cent over the previous year, and an increase of 22 per cent over the past ten years. This continues the upward trend observed during the early 1990s, in contrast to the previous two decades where the average daily prison population fluctuated around the 5,000 mark.
- The majority of the prison population are sentenced prisoners, with a daily average of 5,815 in 2007/08, about 4 per cent more than in 2006/07.
- The most recent average daily figure for prisoners held on remand was 1,560 for 2007/08. This is very similar to the previous year's figure of 1,567, indicating a possible levelling out after a marked increase of 60 per cent over the past ten years,
- The most recent daily average for prisoners recalled from supervision or licence was 614 in 2007/08, an 18 per cent increase compared to 519 in 2006/07. While this group represents just over 8 per cent of the total daily average, this group has shown a substantial increase of nearly sevenfold over the past decade.
- The 2007/08 average daily female prison population was 371, a five per cent increase from 353 in 2006/07. The female prison population has shown a disproportionate increase of nearly 90 per cent over the past ten years compared to the population overall.
- The latest figure for the average daily population of sentenced young offenders 2007/08 was 685. This represents an increase of six per cent compared with the 2006/07 figure of 645, and continues the consistent increase observed over the past four years.