Short jail terms for women slated

Published on Tuesday 23 June 2009 22:52

THE high number of women inmates serving short sentences is hindering efforts at rehabilitation, Scotland's prisons chief said yesterday.

Holyrood's equal opportunities committee was also told that jail was being used as respite for some women.

Tom Fox, from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), was giving evidence to the committee, along with justice secretary Kenny MacAskill.

"There's lots of evidence, albeit it anecdotal, that Cornton Vale (women's prison] is being used as a place of respite in some instances," Mr Fox said.

"In our view, that's not appropriate and, more than that, it also impacts on our ability to deal with longer-term offenders with whom we could make a real difference."

Women are a small minority of Scotland's prison population, but numbers have gone up from 199 in 1999 to about 400 now. They are mainly held at Cornton Vale, near Stirling – the country's only all-female jail.

"The impact of short-term offenders coming through the door is not just a negative impact on them," Mr Fox said.

"For female offenders, the impact of a short sentence can be disproportionately high in terms of the impact it has on the family they leave behind in the community."