Offender Management

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"Crime is going down in this country and is now at its lowest level for 35 years. Yet we also have the second highest incarceration rate in Western Europe - more than double that of Denmark, Finland, Norway or Sweden and around 50 per cent more than Ireland.”

“More needs to be done to tackle the rising prison population”

Kenny MacAskill MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, The Scottish Government
October 2011

Scotland’s rate of imprisonment of offenders is acknowledged as one of the worst in Europe and has become a major source of political disquiet as figures released in November 2011 identify Scotland’s prison population to have creeped north of 8,000.

Recently Scotland’s largest prison Barlinnie was criticised in an inspectorate report for massive overcrowding and Cornton Vale, Scotland’s only prison for female offenders, has been described to be in “a state of crisis”. Responding to the report, Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill commented on the need to reduce the number of those entering into the prison system through a combination of prevention, intervention and reducing reoffending measures, as well as the need generally to assess the value of short term prison sentences.

The Scottish Government's reducing reoffending programme was introduced in 2009 as a means to tackle the 'revolving door of offending'. Phase 1 is now complete bringing a number of notable succcesses, including the implementation of Community Payback Orders and the introduction of the Whole Systems Approach - a prevention, intervention and rehabilitation programme working with young people. Phase 2 is currently in preparation and is likely to begin in March this year. In addition, the Commission on Women Offenders, launched by the Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill in 2011 has been tasked with investigating some of the gender specific issues around female offending. The commission is also due to report in March.

It is hoped these measures, along with work from Audit Scotland into the Criminal Justice System in Scotland, will go some way to understanding the success and failures of the current system. However, there are still some imminent pressures as Scotland's prisons continue to operate over capacity - a concern HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Brigadier Monro has raised, identifying a failure to tackle the root of the problem as a key issue.

This one day event will discuss how to reduce, as well as better manage, the offender population in Scotland. It will consider how to realistically manage those within the Scottish Justice System, and those on the brink, exploring prevention, intervention and reducing reoffending.

Why should you attend?

At a time when prevention, intervention and reducing reoffending are clear national priorities, this event will provide a forum to identify how to realistically reduce the number of those entering, and reentering, the justice system in Scotland.

The programme for the day has been designed to cover:

Reviewing the Scottish Justice System - Highlighting current and ongoing work, as well as priorities at national level.
Pushing the prevention agenda - Identifying how to find the will, and the way, to steer young people and those most vulnerable away from a life of crime
Offender reform and reducing reoffending – programmes currently underway proven to have had positive results
The future face of the Justice System in Scotland – What is currently being done in the UK, and elsewhere, that will help address the problems and pressures today and where do we go now?

View the full programme by following the links above.

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