Protecting Scotland's Communities

Speech delivered on Thu 8th Jan 2009

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): If anything has been established in the debate, it is that the approach that characterised Scotland's justice system for a generation is no longer fit for purpose. We heard from members about continued problems with prison overcrowding, reoffending and lack of public trust in the justice system. As my colleague Robert Brown and several other members said, the figures speak for themselves. I do not mind repeating that more than 75 per cent of those who enter prison reoffend within two years, whereas only 42 per cent of those who carry out community sentences reoffend in the same period.

Various solutions to those problems have been suggested. The Conservatives may advocate building further prisons; indeed, Annabel Goldie has maintained repeatedly in the chamber that prisons work. However, the truth of the matter is that although prison can be a useful tool for the rehabilitation of offenders who are correctly placed there, it is not working in Scotland as a result of problems with overcrowding and the funding gaps that that creates. As far back as 2004, Dr McLellan remarked:

"The impact of the best strategies in the best prisons carried out by the best staff is hopelessly weakened by overcrowding."

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Since he made those remarks, the problems have only got worse. At the 2007-08 annual average cost of £32,358 per prisoner, overcrowded prisons remain an expensive and ineffective solution.

Meanwhile, as Richard Baker confirmed-I am sorry that he has left the chamber-the Labour Party remains opposed to replacing short-term custodial sentences with effective community deterrents. The excellent previous Minister for Justice, Cathy Jamieson, has been quoted by a number of members, including Stuart McMillan and others. I do not hesitate to say that I fully supported her when she remarked in 2004 that

"Prison is not the best option for less serious offenders who stand a better chance of getting their lives back on track through community sentencing."

Nigel Don said that he did not think that funding was the top priority. I fundamentally disagree with that; I think that funding is a key issue. Without adequate funding, the SNP's proposals will not work.

So, what has changed? Problems with overcrowding and reoffending continue to mount and the facts paint a bleak picture. Scotland's prison population has risen by more than 5 per cent in the past two years and it is expected to reach record levels this year.

Locking people up for one to three months only for them to reoffend on their release will not foster public confidence in the justice system.

I suggest to Bill Aitken and Bill Butler that there are two good examples of groups of offenders to which community sentences could apply. Bill Butler mentioned several other groups, but he did not mention shoplifters and those who commit breaches of the peace.

Perhaps Bill-Ian McKee's friend who turned to shoplifting-is one of the 1,326 shoplifters who were convicted in 2007-08, of whom 623 were sentenced to less than three months. The figures reveal that there were 1,232 convictions for breach of the peace; 887 of those offenders were sentenced to less than three months. A grand total of 1,510 people were sentenced to less than three months, at the annual average cost of £32,358 per prisoner. Not sending those people to prison would represent a significant saving to the taxpayer and reduce prison overcrowding.

Bill Aitken: Does the member agree that breach of the peace can sometimes be a most serious offence, which causes serious alarm and fright to vulnerable members of society? Does he further agree that the shoplifters to whom he refers usually have about 40 or 50 convictions?

Mike Pringle: As someone who has sat on the bench, I do not agree with either of those assertions. A policeman said to me that breaches

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of the peace can be graded from 1 to 10. Those who commit breaches of the peace from grade 1 to grade 3 are the people who are often sent to prison for three months. As we have heard from many other members during the debate, they end up back in prison-I do not think that they should go back to prison. The cabinet secretary outlined the cost of people serving such sentences; I agree with him that that money could be better spent on schools, hospitals and the elderly.

For any system of community sentencing to be effective, it needs to be both flexible and robust; it must also have the ability to provide tailor-made sentencing solutions quickly. Again, I agree with the cabinet secretary that community sentences must be quick, immediate and must happen over a short period of time.

I have personal experience of someone who had to do 300 hours community service-it took more than 15 months, which is too long.

Bill Butler: What is the Liberal party's position on dealing with inveterate shoplifters? What is the Liberal policy?

Mike Pringle: That is entirely up to the people who are sentencing. My point is that a substantial number of people go to prison for shoplifting. Many people who receive short sentences of between one and three months have not committed huge numbers of crimes. Mr McKee expressed the point that it does those people no good to go back to prison time after time.

Although I agree with the principle of the minister's commitment to community sentencing, I am concerned that his proposed method of delivery-the establishment of a sentencing council-is likely to create a burdensome and unnecessary extra layer of bureaucracy. We require a new solution: the replacement of the Scottish Prison Service with a custody and rehabilitation service that has links to the community to improve reintegration. We also need far more focus on preventive measures as well as on drug and alcohol rehabilitation through treatment and testing orders. It is far better to intervene early to prevent offending than it is to deal with the consequences. To achieve that, we must address the underlying causes of offending and build on schemes that provide vulnerable individuals with education and skills for work, not crime. Every time that somebody in Scotland who might have turned to crime chooses not to reoffend, they might avoid a lifetime of reoffending, thereby saving themselves, and in turn saving the taxpayer thousands of pounds.

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