Support for Airborne

BARELY a week ago, the Airborne Initiative project to help young offenders seemed doomed after the Scottish Executive opted to deny further funding. But the campaign to save it, supported by The Scotsman, has grown in strength and intensity. As a result, today’s vote in the Scottish Parliament could prove to be a cliffhanger. A growing number of MSPs have asked ministers to reconsider, and many will be voting for the amendment which calls on the Executive to think again.

Many will be surprised less at the support for this motion than that the ruling Labour-Lib Dem coalition should find itself in this position at all. Labour has long campaigned for restorative justice and for more thoughtful ways of dealing with young offenders than shutting them away in prison. The commitment of the Lib Dems to restorative justice has never been in doubt. Indeed, their support for this approach, and specifically for the Airborne Initiative, is clearly set out in the party’s manifesto. This declares that "we will increase support for schemes aimed at persistent offenders that have proved more effective at reducing reoffending than traditional methods, in the way that Freagarrach and the Airborne project have." It adds: "We will expand the role of restorative justice, which brings offenders face to face with the consequences of their actions - a system proven to reduce reoffending. This may prove effective with young offenders who consider themselves ‘untouchable’ ..."

For Liberal Democrat MSPs, the decision therefore is not one about whether they should "rebel", but whether they should stand up and be counted for the pledge that they gave to voters only last year.

A worrying feature of the way the Executive has handled this matter is that civil servants, rather than ministers, appear to have had the upper hand. This suggests that the Barbara Doig "we know best" approach is far from confined to the issue of the Holyrood parliament building.

Campaigners fighting to save the rehabilitation unit in Lanarkshire believe the Executive’s decision to be at best ill-timed, because the centre had shown a marked improvement in the number of people finishing the course. The latest figures indicate that last year some 39 inmates graduated from Airborne - the second-highest number in the ten years it has been running. Today’s debate is thus an excellent opportunity for the First Minister to acknowledge widespread concern over this closure and to restore funding pending a more thorough and thoughtful review.