Being tough on crime doesn’t mean having a large prison population

Scotland’s prisons are dangerously full. Our prison population rate is consistently among the highest in Western Europe and recently reached its highest ever recorded level.

When prisons are too full, stability declines, purposeful activity shrinks, and rehabilitation becomes harder to deliver. Time that should be used to reduce risk, prepare for release and turn lives around is wasted. This is a problem that affects us all as people return to their families and communities without having addressed the issues that led them to prison.

But the standard policy reflex, to build more prison capacity, risks locking Scotland into a cycle. If we expand the estate without changing what drives admissions, length of stay and return to custody, Scotland will simply fill the new spaces.

The Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission, which I chair, has spent the last year examining Scotland’s criminal justice system from end to end. We’ve looked at what drives people into custody, what happens while they are there and how can they transform their lives once they’ve been released.

We have taken evidence from justice leaders, practitioners, the third sector, victims and people with experience of the justice system to understand what works and what doesn’t work. The story we heard is not that the Scottish people are uniquely criminal and must be imprisoned more than their Western European peers. Instead, we were told that if Scotland wants fewer victims and safer communities we should focus on building a justice system that follows the evidence and responds quickly, proportionately and effectively to address the issues that lead to crime in the first place.

Alternatives to court and community sentences

Instead of waiting months for a court process that results in a short prison sentence long after the behaviour occurred, or a fine that could have been imposed without requiring a trial, alternatives to court have a range of benefits.

These include dealing with problems early, proportionately and intelligently before people escalate into repeat offending and deeper harm. Where offending is linked to addiction, mental ill health, trauma or homelessness, alternatives to court can have a quicker focus on the offending behaviour’s underlying causes. This can reduce demand on courts, shorten delays and deliver better outcomes for victims and communities.

The same is true of community sentences. A well-run community sentence can be demanding and highly structured. It can combine supervision with requirements such as unpaid work, programme attendance, treatment conditions, restrictions on movement, and electronic monitoring. It can include clear escalation pathways for non-compliance and incentives for good performance. It can help people pay something back to their community while also addressing the drivers of offending to prevent the creation of future victims.

Short prison sentences on the other hand, disrupt housing, employment and family ties, the very factors that reduce reoffending. They punish without changing behaviour and therefore can lead to more victims.

But for both community sentences and alternatives to court, credibility depends on consistency. At present, access and quality vary too much across Scotland. These approaches must be consistently available and supported by high-quality services that can respond promptly.

Rehabilitation and release

Of course, prison will always be necessary for those who commit the most serious offences or pose a risk of significant harm to others. However, if we want to help people turn their lives around, so that fewer victims are created, then time in prison must be used effectively to rehabilitate people. Currently, overcrowding means that people wait months or years for access to education, training and offending-behaviour programmes. Time that could be used constructively is spent idle.

When people are finally released, they may receive as little as six months supervision and support in the community. This is not enough time to help them build new crime-free lives. This is not in the interests of anyone, let alone victims or wider society.

The real test of being tough on crime

Scotland should retire the idea that toughness is measured by prison capacity. A justice system that responds slowly and ineffectively is not tough. It is weak. A justice system that intervenes early, responds swiftly, enforces clear consequences, and reduces repeat offending is what seriousness looks like. That is what public protection looks like.

The real causes of crime that politicians need to focus on are poverty, deprivation, the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experience. To be tough in this context instead means following the evidence, challenging uninformed arguments, taking brave budget decisions and asking difficult questions. Questions such as how can Scotland call itself a modern, progressive country while consistently staying at the top of the league tables of Western European nations that imprison the most citizens?

Our report, published today, sets out a practical, evidence-led approach to public protection that would reduce our overreliance on custody and ensure there are high quality interventions consistently available across the nation.

Martyn Evans is chair of the Scottish Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission