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4. Commentary
Prison population
Total average daily population
In 2005/06, the average daily population in Scottish prisons totalled 6,857, an increase of 1 per cent when compared with the 2004/05 figure of 6,779, and the highest annual level ever recorded (Table 1). Chart 1 (on the front page) shows the change in the average daily prison population in Scotland since the beginning of the 20 th century. It shows noticeable slumps during the 1 st and 2 nd world wars, followed by a massive increase (285 per cent) from 1,781 in 1950 to 6,857 in 2005/06.
Over the ten year period, 1996/97 - 2005/06, the average daily prison population has increased by 14 per cent. In the same ten year period the female prison population has increased by 77 per cent; over six times the growth experienced in the male prison population (12 per cent). However, the 2005/06 female prison population was 334, largely unchanged from 332 in 2004/05.
Remand population
The average daily remand population in 2005/06 was 1,242 (1,159 males and 83 females), a 2 per cent increase compared to the 2004/05 figure of 1,216 (Table 3). Young offender remand numbers increased by 9 per cent to 284 in 2005/06, from 260 in 2004/05. Adult remand numbers remained largely unchanged at 958 in 2005/06, compared to 956 in 2004/05.
Looking at differences between types of remand, the average daily population of untried prisoners decreased slightly to 1,025 in 2005/06 from 1,031 in 2004/05, while the average daily population of those prisoners who were convicted awaiting sentence increased by 17 per cent to 217 in 2005/06 from 185 in 2004/05.
Chart 2 Average daily prison population, by category of prisoner
Chart 2 shows a 20 per cent increase in the adult sentenced prison population over the last ten years. However, the under 21 sentenced population decreased by 30 per cent between 1996/97 and 2004/05, before increasing again in 2005/06. The remand population between 2002/03 and 2005/06 was noticeably higher than the previous 6 years.
Fine default population
Although fine defaulters make up a large proportion of prison receptions, they represent only a very small proportion of the average daily prison population because they spend only a short time in prison. In 2005/06, the average population of fine defaulters was 53, a decrease of 12 per cent compared to 61 in 2004/05 (Table 1).
Sentenced population
The average population of sentenced young offenders (excluding fine defaulters) was 619 in 2005/06, an increase of 12 per cent compared with the 2004/05 figure of 553 (Table 4). The number of male sentenced young offenders increased to 601 in 2005/06 from 530 in 2004/05 and the number of female sentenced young offenders decreased to 24 in 2005/06 from 30 in 2004/05.
The average daily adult sentenced population was 4,989 in 2005/06, a slight decrease from the 2004/05 figure of 5,001 (Table 5). There was an increase of 24 per cent in the average number of adult prisoners serving sentences of less than 3 months (to 88 in 2005/06 from 71 in 2004/05). The average daily adult population serving sentences of between 6 months and 2 years increased by 3 per cent to 973 in 2005/06 from 948 in 2004/05. The number of prisoners serving sentences of 2 years and over but less than 4 years increased by 1 per cent to 770 in 2005/06 from 763 in 2004/05.
The number of long-term adult prisoners, those sentenced to 4 years or more (including life sentences and recalls), decreased by 2 per cent to 2,724 in 2005/06, from 2,766 in 2004/05.
The average daily population of prisoners recalled from supervision or licence has continued to rise, increasing by 12 per cent to 400 in 2005/06, from 356 in 2004/05 (Table 1).
Population on 30 June 2005
On 30 June 2005, there were 6,759 prisoners in total, 6,421 males and 338 females. Just under half of the prisoners were aged between 25 and 39 (Table 6). This age distribution is similar to that in 2004.
On 30 June 2005, ethnic minority groups represented 2 per cent (166 prisoners) of the total prison population (including persons awaiting deportation) (Table 7). The proportion of ethnic minorities in the Scottish population as a whole is around 1.3 per cent.
On 30 June 2005, 67 per cent (4,553) of prisoners gave Christian or a Christian denomination as their religion (Table 8). 87 prisoners (1.3 per cent) specified Muslim as their religion. 30 per cent of prisoners were recorded as having no religion.
On 30 June 2005, 11 per cent of all prisoners were given a supervision level of 'High', 52 per cent had a supervision level of 'Medium' and the remaining 38 per cent had a 'Low' supervision level (Table 9).
Chart 3 Sentenced prison population by selected main crime on 30 June 2005
Forty per cent of the sentenced population on 30 June 2005 were detained for serious crimes of violence (Table 10). Chart 3 shows that on 30 June 2005, Homicide was the main crime for 14 per cent of sentenced prisoners, serious assault and attempted murder accounted for a further 17 per cent and drugs for another 15 per cent.
All but one of those sentenced for crimes of indecency were male. The largest groups of sentenced male prisoners detained on 30 June 2005 for a specific crime were those convicted of either serious assault or drugs offences. The largest group of female prisoners were those detained for drugs offences, with the group convicted specifically for serious assault as the next largest group.
Population by Community Justice Authority on 30 June 2005
On the 30 th June, 23 per cent (1,540) of prisoners were from the Glasgow CJA region (see Note 15 of Annex for more details on CJA), however only 11 per cent of Scotland's population live in the Glasgow CJA region (Table 11).
The highest number of females in prison were from the South West Scotland region (57 prisoners), this is 17 per cent of the female prison population, however only 10 per cent of Scotland's female population live in the South West Scotland region.
Liberations by Community Justice Authority
In 2005/06, 18,450 adults and 4,070 young offenders were liberated from prison (Table 13 and Table 14). 23 per cent of adult liberations and 22 per cent of young offender liberations were for prisoners with a home address in the Glasgow Community Justice Authority area.
Adult prisoners liberated on remand made up 37 per cent (6,841) of all adult liberations in 2005/06. Liberations of adults sentenced to less than 4 years made up 40 per cent (7,352) and fine default liberations made up a further 18 per cent (3,358).
Prisoners for the Glasgow CJA area made up 25 per cent of remand prisoners, 26 per cent of those sentenced to less than 6 months, 24 per cent of those sentenced to 4 years or over and 27 per cent of those sentenced to life.
Prisoners who were homeless or who did not supply any home address details are classified as having no fixed abode and can not be matched to a CJA. 75 per cent of prisoners with no fixed abode were sentenced to 4 years or over, life or they were recalled from supervision.
Receptions
Receptions by sentence type
Remand receptions increased to 19,593 in 2005/06 from 18,892 in 2004/05 (Table 15).
The total number of sentenced receptions (including direct sentenced, fine default and recalls from supervision/licence) increased by 5 per cent to 19,477 in 2005/06, from 18,584 in 2004/05. Direct sentenced receptions had an increase of 6 per cent with 12,916 direct sentences in 2005/06 compared to 12,207 in 2004/05. There was also an increase in fine default receptions by 2 per cent to 6,213 in 2005/06, from 6,098 in 2004/05.
Chart 4 Prison receptions by sentence type, 1996/97-2005/06
Chart 4 above shows that the number of remand receptions increased by 22 per cent between 2001/02 and 2002/03 and has remained steady at that higher level, whilst fine default receptions have declined steadily by 3,921 (39 per cent) over the last 10 years.
In 2005/06, the number of receptions relating to individuals sentenced in the High Court was 849, which represented a 10 per cent decrease on the 2004/05 figure of 947 (Table 16). From the Sheriff Court (under solemn and summary procedure) the number of receptions was 15,397 and from the District and Stipendiary Magistrate Courts the number was 2,781. These figures represent 4 per cent, 80 per cent and 15 per cent of all sentenced receptions respectively, a very similar distribution to 2004/05. The number of sentenced receptions emanating from District and Stipendiary Courts decreased by 11 per cent from those in 2004/05, whilst Sheriff Court receptions increased by 9 per cent.
Direct sentenced receptions
Adult direct sentenced receptions increased by 4 per cent to 10,746 in 2005/06, from 10,299 in 2004/05 (Table 24). Young offender direct sentenced receptions increased by 14 per cent to 2,170 in 2005/06, from 1,908 in 2004/05 (Table 20).
In 2005/06, the average sentence lengths for young offenders ranged from 97 days for breach of the peace to 486 days for robbery, and 794 days for serious assault and attempted murder (Table 23). Of all young offender direct sentenced receptions, 16 per cent sentenced for serious assault and attempted murder and 6 per cent sentenced for robbery were sentenced for 4 years or over.
Among the more common crimes and offences, the average sentence length imposed for determinate direct sentenced receptions of adults in 2005/06 ranged from 87 days for breach of the peace to 807 days (just over 2 years) for serious assault and attempted murder (Table 27). 14 per cent of adult direct sentenced receptions for drug offences were for sentences of 4 years or more; only those sentenced for robbery and serious assault and attempted murder had a higher proportion of such long sentences (17 per cent and 18 per cent respectively).
Fine default receptions
The number of adult fine default receptions increased to 5,442 in 2005/06, up 1 per cent from 5,404 in 2004/05. The average length of fine default sentences imposed on adults in 2005/06 was 11 days, which exhibited little change from the average since 1996/97 (Table 33).
Young offender receptions for fine default increased by 11 per cent to 771 in 2005/06 from 694 in 2004/05, discontinuing the downward trend from 1996/97. The average length of fine default sentences imposed on young offenders in 2005/06 was 11 days, which exhibited little change from the average since 1996/97 (Table 30).
The average fine outstanding for adult offenders in 2005/06 was £278, 4 per cent lower than the 2004/05 figure of £289 (Table 34). Chart 5 shows that adult fine default receptions are largely due to outstanding fines of between £200 and £500 (44 per cent of all fine defaulters) and only 2 per cent have fines outstanding of £1,000 or more The average fine outstanding for adult males in 2005/06 was £279 and the average fine outstanding for adult females in 2005/06 was £262.
Children on unruly certificates
The number of unruly certificates received in 2005/06 was 28 compared with 20 in 2004/05. All unruly certificates were related to males (Table 17).
In 2005/06, 15 year olds made up the majority of children held on unruly certificates. During 2005/06, 2 unruly certificates were received regarding fourteen year olds, 24 certificates were received in respect of fifteen year olds, 1 certificate for a sixteen year old and 1 certificate for a seventeen year old.
The crimes alleged to have been committed by children held on unruly certificates ranged widely, though the most common crimes (11) were crimes of violence (Table 18).
The average time spent in custody (before sentence, if any) was 17 days in 2005/06, no change from the figure in 2004/05 (Table 19). During 2005/06, 75 per cent of the unruly certificate receptions spent less than 14 days in custody.
Breaches of discipline and punishments
There were 20,402 breaches of discipline recorded in Scottish penal establishments in 2005/06 (Table 35) compared to a total of 20,277 breaches in 2004/05. The most common breaches were 'disobeying a lawful order' (38 per cent of all breaches), 'possession of an unauthorised article or quantity of an article' (14 per cent), and 'administering, or allowing to be administered, a controlled drug to himself' (8 per cent). In response to these breaches, 32,463 punishments were awarded in total. The most commonly awarded punishments were 'stoppage/deduction from earnings or other cash' (45 per cent of all punishments), and 'forfeiture of privileges' (42 per cent).
THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH ON BREACHES OF DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENTS WAS REVISED IN JULY 2007 AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF ERRORS IN THE BREACHES OF DISCIPLINE FIGURES (TABLE 35)
International comparisons of prison
In Scotland there were 133 prisoners for every 100,000 members of the general population in 2005. The rate for England and Wales was 146. Imprisonment rates varied greatly between the jurisdictions considered; from 739 per 100,000 population in USA and 532 in the Russian Federation to 58 in Slovenia and 51 in Cyprus (Table 36).
Chart 6 Prison population rate per 100,000 population in 2005
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