Scottish Parliament – Feb. 20, 2025 – 2

S6M-16532.2: As an amendment to motion S6M-16532 in the name of Angela Constance (Independent Review of Sentencing and Penal Policy), leave out from "recognises" to end and insert "acknowledges that prisons remain severely overcrowded, with prisons operating above capacity even after the Scottish National Party (SNP) administration’s emergency early release of prisoners, impacting on the ability to rehabilitate offenders;

is concerned by the high numbers of women in prisons;

condemns the SNP administration’s failure to tackle high reoffending rates, which result in offenders returning to custody due to the lack of robust alternatives;

agrees that the third sector can play a significant role in the effective delivery of justice services that reduce reoffending, and support reintegration into society;

calls on the Scottish Government to urgently increase the availability of robust community payback orders, and invest in safe and secure GPS electronic monitoring to drive down the remand population and give more public confidence to non-custodial sentencing;

further calls on the Scottish Government to expand access to throughcare services, which are essential in assisting offenders to reintegrate into society and to stop offending;

believes that a review of sentencing and penal policy will not address the urgent crisis in Scotland’s justice system, and resolves that the SNP administration should take immediate action based on parameters set by the Parliament to address these concerns, rather than focus on a review that will not take the prompt action needed to fix the justice system and keep Scotland’s communities safe."

Original motion(S6M-16532): That the Parliament notes that Scotland has one of the highest proportions of prisoners in Western Europe;

recognises the action that has been taken to establish a sustainable prison population and shift the balance between the use of custody and justice in the community, while protecting the public from harm;

acknowledges the need for an independent review of sentencing and penal policy to consider how imprisonment and community interventions are used;

further acknowledges the key role that the third sector can play in the effective delivery of justice services that reduce reoffending, and support rehabilitation and reintegration into society;

agrees that there is a need for strong partnership working and co-ordination between third sector organisations, justice social work and the Scottish Prison Service to provide support and improve outcomes for those leaving prison, and believes that the Parliament has an important role to play in discussing the use of imprisonment and the best means for addressing offending behaviour, by both effective prevention and appropriate rehabilitation, and for reducing crime and keeping communities safe.