SNP ministers and prison service must realise honesty is crucial to releasing Scottish prisoners early
It is a tricky issue to get the public onside with - but transparency will benefit both sides
By the end of this month, around 440 short-term prisoners could be set free from Scotland’s prisons to help tackle chronic overcrowding.
This comes as MSPs approved Justice Secretary Angela Constance’s plans this week to release 1,000 prisoners early between now and next April.
It is a tricky political move for the SNP. The scheme is deeply unpopular and will run right up until the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. However, years of ignoring the root causes of the problem have somewhat backed SNP ministers into a corner.
This failure means the issue will just keep coming back over and over again. This legislation is the third to be signed off by the justice secretary since last summer, which is indicative that this policy is not tackling the real issues at play.
We heard warnings during the week that Scottish ministers should expect further rounds of early prisoner releases beyond April 2026 because overcrowding will remain a chronic problem.
One thing both the Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Government need to keep in mind here is honesty with the public. Both sides will benefit immensely from transparency on this particularly thorny issue.
Earlier in the week the prison service vowed it would be “open and transparent” when errors occurred. This is on the back of the revelation that 27 prisoners have been mistakenly released from Scottish prisons since 2022/23.
The figures were made public after police in England launched a manhunt for two criminals released in error from HMP Wandsworth. Those two prisoners are now back in custody.
Although 27 mistakes is 27 too many, it is significantly lower than the 262 prisoners released in error in just 12 months in England and Wales.
The mistakes still happened though, leaving many to wonder if the systems put in place to maintain public safety while hundreds of prisoners are set free are robust enough.
Previous rounds of early release suggest that no safety protocol is fool-proof.
A total of 477 prisoners were let out early in June and July last year, but 57of them were back behind bars within weeks, including 12 who were out for just ten days or less.
Many victims and their families are worried about what rights they have, what they will know when, and if they can have a say in the matter.
Better honesty and continuous dialogue from government ministers and prison bosses could go a long way to alleviating these fears and giving victims the sense they have been heard.
There has been another story in the news this week that ministers could take lessons from.
In relation to the fears being spread about housing asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks in Inverness, Conservative MSP Edward Mountain said: “Secrecy is the enemy of truth.”
Highland Council also blasted the Home Office, saying its lack of information was fuelling worry and speculation amongst Highlanders.
Ministers should look to this and resolve right now to be as open as they can about the upcoming prisoner release scheme.