Justice minister: Prison's a skoosh

Published on Sunday 10 May 2009 23:15

KENNY MacAskill, Scotland's justice secretary, sparked a furious backlash last night for describing prison as a "bit of a skoosh" for short-term prisoners.

Mr MacAskill said his plans for community sentences would be tougher than jail sentences for many short-term prisoners who, he claimed, lie in their cells watching television, playing video games and plotting new crimes with friends.

"It's a bit of a skoosh, frankly," he said.

His comments provoked an angry response from political opponents, who said the answer was not to keep offenders out of prison, but to make prison tougher.

Labour claimed Mr MacAskill had "lost the plot" on prisons and the Tories accused him of creating a "soft-touch Scotland".

The row over conditions in jails was started by Mr MacAskill who, in an interview with a Sunday newspaper, defended his plans to scrap most jail sentences of less than six months and create "community payback" orders for low-risk offenders.

The aim is to allow prison staff to concentrate on the rehabilitation and training of more serious, long-term inmates and to make less-serious criminals work hard in the community to pay for their crimes.

Mr MacAskill described short sentences as "futile".

He said: "You lie in your prison cell. You've got your flat-screen telly. You play the Nintendo. You play pool. You meet up with your old mates. You work out new crimes. You discuss the offences you've committed. You don't break the cycle of offending. It's a bit of a skoosh, frankly."

And he added: "Actually, being out on a cold day in the blowing winds at Broughty Ferry beach, that's actually quite hard work, picking up litter, doing some manual labour.

"We've got to end this idea that free bed and board at the taxpayers' expense is the tough option. It's the soft option."

About 10 per cent of the prison population is serving a short-term sentence at any one time, using jail space which Mr MacAskill wants to free up for more serious criminals, particularly as many short-term prisoners go on to reoffend.

The justice secretary's opponents point out, however, that community sentences do not appear to be overly successful, at least at the moment.

According to the Conservatives, just 58 per cent of Community Service Orders and 57 per cent of Supervised Attendance Orders are completed.

Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said: "When a government minister is trying to persuade us that prison is a 'skoosh' because he is so desperate to empty our jails, alarm bells start ringing.

"If Kenny MacAskill really does think this is the case, he should focus on helping create tougher prison regimes.

"Community service has its place. We have never denied that. But the current set-up is already too easily open for abuse. Indeed, to use Kenny MacAskill's phrase, it is a 'skoosh'."

And he added: "We are sinking deeper into the mire of soft-touch Scotland under the SNP."

Labour's Richard Baker said: "This is an astonishing admission of failure by the Cabinet secretary. The reason people are in their cells 23 hours a day is because overcrowding has rocketed on his watch.

"Kenny MacAskill has lost the plot on prisons. He's out of touch and out of his depth. It's his job to make prisons work instead of simply emptying them."

Call to make punishments 'humiliating'

SCOTLAND'S former chief inspector of prisons has called for community sentences to be made tougher, harsher and more "humiliating" for offenders.

Clive Fairweather said offenders on new Community Payback projects should be dressed in bright clothing and housed in Army barracks.

Mr Fairweather, who also used to be the deputy commander of the SAS, said there had to be a "little bit of shame" involved in community sentencing. "I only support proper community sentencing. I don't see any point in being half-hearted. It has to be tough, well-administered and well led," he said.

He added: "I have no difficulty with humiliation or shame. Sometimes people say, 'Ah, they'll wear an orange jacket like a badge' but you don't. The fact you have done something wrong and everyone else knows that you have and it is quite apparent, well, maybe you will be more inclined not to wear that jacket again."

Mr Fairweather said he wanted to see more effort put into proper community sentences than just "locking people up and throwing away the key for six months".

A Scottish Government spokesman said reforming short-term sentences was a "priority", adding: "Tough community punishment is the hard option for petty offenders, and long prison sentences is the tough punishment that serious and violent prisoners deserve."