Analysis: At last, a road map to overdue change

THE appointment of such a respected figure as Dame Angiolini was a stroke of genius. For once, the normally embattled justice minister, Kenny MacAskill, has played a blinder on behalf of us all.

Whereas in the past, many reports, including several of mine, strongly recommended halving the female prison population in Scotland, the means of how to achieve this had been missing.

The former Lord Advocate has a much broader understanding of the entire judicial system and has known where to point the finger. We now have a very practical road map for radical change, and one that has been long overdue.

The unpalatable fact is that until now Cornton Vale has been a relatively easy option. Individuals in a residential setting closer to home being forced to confront the origins of their crimes and to do something more lasting about it is not the soft option. But this, combined with a more co-ordinated approach in the courts and improved briefing of sheriffs, could have quite a dramatic effect on those being jailed – particularly those on remand. Remand is disproportionately damaging for women with families. Trying to restart lives is often difficult.

As to whether Cornton Vale needs to be demolished is another matter, though I am volunteering to drive one of the bulldozers myself. But the principle is a seminal one. It should only be a small unit containing highly dangerous female criminals.

For those who would argue that women should be treated no differently to their male counterparts, I would answer that they do. Their backgrounds are often related to abuse from men and bound up with addictions. Their reasons for offending are very different. And they are often left the sole parent to the children. They need to be dealt with differently – and overall they are in any case a small proportion of the overall prison population. It really is time for a new dawn.

•  Clive Fairweather is former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland