Exclusive:Edinburgh Council spends £36,000 housing prisoners released early by the SNP

The Scottish Government has been criticised for forcing councils to spend more money.

Edinburgh Council has spent more than £36,000 providing homes for prisoners released early by the SNP.

A total of 477 prisoners were released early in June and July last year in a bid to free up space in Scotland’s overcrowded prisons.

This applied to those sentenced to less than four years in prison and who had less than 180 days left to serve.

John Price is remanded into custody until his next court appearance in May

A further 390 prisoners were released early in February and March this year, after MSPs in Holyrood passed emergency legislation to allow those sentenced to less than four years in jail to be released after serving just 40 per cent of their sentence.

However, the Scottish capital’s local autority has spent tens of thousands of pounds housing some of these prisoners despite declaring a housing crisis last year.

Figures reveal that between January and March, Edinburgh Council spent £10,439.83 on housing prisoners who had been released from prison early.

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The council also spent £25,800.60 last summer during the first round of early prisoner releases.

The Scottish Conservatives say this money should have been spent on the thousands of families who are waiting for council housing in Edinburgh instead.

Between October and December last year, a total of 989 households in Edinburgh were classed as homeless. In March last year, there were 25,226 people on the housing waiting list.

Jeremy Balfour, Scottish Conservative MSP for Lothian, said: “The SNP’s reckless early release scheme has forced under-funded Edinburgh City Council to divert money from vital services to house criminals, many of whom reoffend within weeks or had broken prison rules.

“That money should have gone towards helping the thousands of families stuck on Edinburgh’s housing waiting list, not offenders who should still be behind bars.

Lothian Conservative MSP Jeremy Balfour expressed concerns over the proposed abortion buffer zone law

“Public safety is being compromised, services are under pressure, and communities are paying the price - and all because the SNP refuses to build either the prisons required to contain criminals or the houses needed by thousands of homeless Scots.

“This is a government more interested in emptying prisons than protecting the public.”

About one in ten prisoners who were released early in summer 2024 were back behind bars within weeks. Twelve inmates had only been out in the community for ten days or less before reoffending, including crimes of violence, damage and reckless behaviour, and crimes against society.

One in five prisoners released early in spring 2025 broke prison rules while serving their sentence.

Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron, convener of housing, homelessness and fair work at Edinburgh Council, said: “We have worked in accordance with the guidelines set by the Scottish Government in relation to accommodation for early release prisoners.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The measures in the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025 will bring about a sustained reduction in the prison population as well as relieve some of the acute pressure currently being experienced within our prison estate.

“We need the prison system to focus on those who pose the greatest risk to the public and provide a range of support to help reduce reoffending and aid integration back into the community.

“Local authorities are obliged by law to offer advice and assistance for people who are at risk or who are experiencing homelessness, and temporary accommodation, if it is needed.”

The spokesman said the financial memorandum to this Bill did acknowledge there would be “some additional costs to local authorities for the provision of housing support”, and that £1.3 million was being made available to councils to help mitigate the cost.