Further early release of prisoners ‘necessary’, says Justice Secretary

Justice Secretary Angela Constance has announced further plans for the emergency release of prisoners in a bid to ease overcrowding in Scotland’s jails.

With 8,363 inmates locked up across Scotland, she said there is now a “critical risk” to the “continued safe and effective operation” of the prison estate.

The Justice Secretary is now proposing six phases of an early release scheme – with two next month from November 11-13, and then November 25-27.

There would then be further releases in December this year and again in January, February and March of 2026.

Ms Constance announce the move as she said 10 of Scotland’s 17 jails are operating either at full capacity or above – with 10 jails at “red risk status”.

She stressed there is therefore an “urgent need to reduce the current population”.

To achieve this, she is seeking Holyrood’s approval “to make regulations to enable the release of some prisoners early” in response to the “emergency situation”.

Ms Constance said while recorded crime is now 39% lower than it was in 2006-07, Scotland continues “to see a rise in the prison population”.

The Justice Secretary added: “That requires immediate action to ease pressure on our prisons, and emergency release is the primary option available to us.”

It comes less than a year after MSPs passed legislation to reduce the amount of time offenders given sentences of four years or less spend in jail – allowing them to automatically be released after serving two-fifths of their sentence.Ms Constance said this legislation, passed in November 2024, and other measures had been “essential in easing pressure on our prisons”.

But despite this she said the prison population has continued to rise, with Scotland now “on the cusp of having a record number of people in custody”.

The minister said the further early release of prisoners is “not an action I propose lightly”, but she told MSPs it is now “necessary”.

Prisoners serving a sentence of four years or less who are within 180 days of their original release date will now be considered for early release.

Ms Constance added prison governors will be able to veto the release of any offenders deemed to present an “immediate risk of harm”.

She also stressed: “No-one serving a sentence for sexual offences or domestic abuse would be released.”

The Justice Secretary also plans to bring forward secondary legislation to allow prisoners “liable to removal from the UK” to be released early, with this due to happen after Holyrood’s October recess.

In addition, an independent commission into prison and community sentences will bring forward its recommendations by the end of this year, with this “part of the longer-term strategy for establishing a sustainable prison population, whilst ensuring justice is served”, Ms Constance said.

She said Scotland’s prisons currently have 700 more long-term prisoners than they did in 2020 – noting this equates to a prison the size of HMP Addiewell in West Lothian.

Phil Fairlie, Scottish secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association said: “Given the situation inside our prisons at the moment, anything that helps ease the pressure that our members are facing is welcomed.”

He said prison officers “have been working flat-out in these conditions for a prolonged period of time and it is taking its toll on far too many of them”, warning: “Things cannot continue as they are.”

However he insisted early release “is not the answer to the overcrowding problem in Scotland”, arguing instead: “More fundamental change, with longer term strategies, are needed to tackle this properly and make our prisons safer, calmer, and more productive than they are at present.”

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr blamed the rise in prisoners on the Scottish Government’s failure to “get on top of” crime rates and build new prisons on time and on budget.

He said: “Emergency release is little more than a knee-jerk, panicked response to a situation entirely of this Government’s own making, which potentially endangers the Scottish public and would not work.”

Mr Kerr told Ms Constance the Government’s own projections suggest prisons could soon be “dangerously over capacity”, with around 8,500 inmates by 2026.

Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill claimed the Government had come forward “again with the same failed scheme to release prisoners early”.

She told the Justice Secretary: “Notwithstanding the professionalism of staff and management in the Scottish prison system, the prison system is in meltdown.

“Remand is still through the roof, there is little progression internally within the prison system, and there is now only one open prison.

“Victims will be deeply disappointed that we are here again and the question is, will we be back here in another six months?”