Chamber and committees

Somebody mentioned an example to me just now—off the record—of a person being put on remand for shoplifting. Usually, such cases that are highlighted involve a woman.

The member and others have made the point that we have too many women on remand, and that the proportion is even higher, given that women comprise only 4 per cent of the prison population. We are trying to reduce the number of examples like that. However, where there is a risk of violence to an individual, that is of course in the realms of public safety, as is the question of intimidation of the jury. If we leave those decisions to the court, albeit with the bill’s renewed focus with regard to when remand should be used, we can ensure both that public safety is looked after and that nobody is on remand who does not need to be.

With that, I am happy to propose that Parliament agrees to the general principles of the bill. I am grateful to the Liberal Democrats for their support, and for the support of the Scottish Green Party, as we heard from Maggie Chapman. I will continue to listen to and engage with the committee and with members on all sides of the chamber as we move forward to stage 2.

Every drug-related death is a tragedy and I offer my condolences to any family that is impacted by the issue.

As part of our national mission to reduce drug deaths and improve the lives of those who are affected, we published our framework to improve holistic support for families who are affected by substance use. That is supported by investment of £3.5 million per year in alcohol and drug partnerships and £3 million per year in vital third sector organisations. In addition, we provide the third sector organisation Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs with £160,000 per year to provide national services to support families, including through bereavement support.

Will the member take an intervention?

Keith Brown has identified an error in his contribution and provided the following correction.

At col 2, paragraph 5—

Original text—

In 2021, 70 people aged 20 or under suffered a drug death.

Corrected text—

In 2021, 70 people aged 25 or under suffered a drug death.

Thank you, Presiding Officer, and, honestly, thank you to everyone who has spoken today. I welcome the support that has been expressed for the bill’s key aim of refocusing how we use imprisonment in Scotland. I also express my thanks again to the Criminal Justice Committee, the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee and the Finance and Public Administration Committee for their consideration of the bill and to all those who have contributed as witnesses.

I will turn first to the points that have been raised during the debate. I regret that we will not have the support of the Conservative Party, although I have to say that it was my expectation that we would not have its support. I predict that we will not have its support for any proposal that we make to progress justice in Scotland during this session of Parliament. Any proposal will be opposed regardless of, for example, the fact that in this case we all agreed on the need to try to tackle the remand issue just over a year or so ago. However, that seems to have gone by the board.

If people need any evidence of the futility of trying to work with the Conservatives, they can listen to the speech that has just been made, which was, essentially, the single transferable speech that we get from Russell Findlay every time he gets to his feet. It was a tabloid-type tirade—just look at some of the words. He said that the bill would result in more crime and more victims and more misery—that was his considered response to the proposal that we are making here.

I am pleased to open this debate on the general principles of the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill. I thank the Criminal Justice Committee for its scrutiny of the bill and all those who gave evidence to it. The committee’s report raised a number of important points, which I have addressed in my written response to it.

At the heart of the bill is the aim to reduce crime, to reduce reoffending and to make Scotland safer. The bill will do that by focusing on two critical points in the justice system: the point at which bail decisions are first made by the court, and the point at which people are released from prison.

The bill addresses long-standing concerns about the use of remand. Of course, the use of remand can be necessary. I am clear that it plays an essential part in protecting victims and the wider public, and the bill does not change that. However, we also know that remand can be damaging. For individuals who do not pose a risk to public safety or who do not pose a clear risk to the administration of justice, there must be a better approach.

The reforms to bail law recognise the negative impact of short periods of imprisonment while ensuring that public and victim safety will be central to decision making. They will mean that people are remanded in custody only as a last resort—if they pose a risk to public safety, victim safety or, in certain cases, the delivery of justice. The bill also includes reforms that will better enable reintegration after a period in custody by improving pre-release activity and throughcare support.

I encourage members to support the bill for the following reasons. First, on the use of remand, although prison is obviously necessary for those who pose a risk to public safety, remand removes people from their homes, families, jobs and communities. We must remember that, at that time, those people have not been convicted of any crime—or, at least, of the crime that they have been accused of.

As well as damaging those connections, short periods of imprisonment, including on remand, do not address the underlying causes of offending or support rehabilitation. As Professor Fergus McNeill put it, short periods of imprisonment are

“not a magic box that removes or eliminates risk and keeps us safe”,

but

“Imprisonment is actually more likely to serve as an incubator of risk”.—[Official Report, Criminal Justice Committee, 11 January 2023; c 23.]

It should therefore be of concern to us all that the number of people who are held on remand remains at a historic high. On 1 February, 29 per cent of the total prison population—2,150 people—were held on remand.

I understand the point that Donald Cameron is making about increasing crime. Does he recognise that we have perhaps the lowest level of crime since we started recording crime? On homicide in particular—and I mean generally, not with regard to people who have been on bail—we have the lowest number of homicides on record.

Daniel Johnson is absolutely right, and I have made that point a number of times, including to the committee. Why is it higher in Scotland? What is going on that gives us those much higher figures? The bill seeks to address that. I will come on to explaining that more fully.

I entirely agree with the member. Why does Scotland send so many more people to remand than do other jurisdictions? What is the reason for that? The levels in other parts of the United Kingdom are approaching ours in Scotland, but that is a relatively recent development.

At the heart of the bail reforms lies an absolute commitment to public safety and victim safety. The bail proposals will enhance the role of justice social work so that it has more opportunity to inform the courts on bail decision making. That will make consistent the good practice that is already happening. It will also help the courts to have the right information at the right time.

It has been suggested that the enhanced role of justice social work could result in people being remanded for longer than they would be at present, but that is not the case. I will be clear on that. First, the bill does not change the timescale under which a bail decision must be made, which is a period of around 24 hours from the time that the person is first brought before the court.

Secondly, under the bill, the court is not required to have information from justice social work in order to make the initial bail decision. As now, if no information is available from justice social work, the court will simply make its bail decision on the basis of information that it has from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the defence.

Thirdly, beyond the existing 24-hour window for a bail decision to be made, the court cannot choose to refuse bail and remand a person in custody simply because justice social work has indicated that it needs more time to provide the information. That is because there is an overarching legal presumption for bail, which the bill does not change. Therefore, unless there is already a good reason to refuse bail—in which case, a person would be remanded anyway under the current system—the person must be admitted to bail and allowed to stay in the community. The seriousness of the decision to use remand is emphasised by requiring the court to record the grounds on which bail is refused.

The bill is supported by continued investment in community justice, including alternatives to remand. In 2023-24, we will invest a total of £134 million in community justice services.

The bail aspects of the bill seek to answer important questions about the appropriate use of remand in a modern and progressive Scotland, now and in the future. Part 2 of the bill is focused on improving support for people who leave prison.

We know that many people who are in contact with the justice system have already experienced severe and multiple disadvantages, including homelessness, substance misuse and mental ill health. That is especially true of the prison population. Often, imprisonment compounds such issues, which is why holistic, well-planned support for release is so important.

Part 2 of the bill aims to do that in a number of ways. The bill ends scheduled releases from prison on a Friday or the day before a public holiday. That responds to calls from the Drug Deaths Taskforce, and from other experts, that the day on which people are released matters.

As several witnesses to the committee made clear, planning for an individual’s release from prison should start from the point of entry. The proposed pre-release planning duty in the bill is based on that principle. It will require wider public services to engage in pre-release planning at an earlier point, with the aim that people leave prison with a package of support, not a list of appointments.

The bill also establishes a new duty on Scottish ministers to publish statutory minimum standards for throughcare support for remanded or sentenced prisoners. We know that good practice exists, and I have seen the difference that throughcare support can make; however, it is not consistent, and the bill seeks to address that. Additionally, access to structured and monitored temporary release can support an individual’s reintegration and reduce their risk of reoffending. That is why we are introducing a new temporary release licence for certain long-term prisoners, with an emphasis on risk assessment and robust community monitoring and support.

The bill also introduces a wider emergency prisoner release power, with built-in safeguards to protect the security of prisons and the safety of prisoners and staff. I would hope never to use that power, but the pandemic has taught us, as it has other Administrations, not to be complacent on that score. That brings us into line with jurisdictions including England and Wales.

As I have made clear, the bill has victim safety at its heart. The new bail test explicitly not only recognises the safety of victims for the first time but defines “safety” as safety from both physical and psychological harm. That recognises our much better understanding of the harm that is caused by threatening or coercive behaviour. Additionally, victims will now be able to nominate a victim support organisation to receive information regarding the release of a prisoner. That VSO will be able to work with them or on their behalf in that regard.

I have said this right the way through the process so far, and I will say it to members again: I would genuinely welcome all constructive challenge and suggestions to make the bill more effective. Most of us took part in a debate some 18 months or so ago when we discussed and agreed that the remand levels were too high in Scotland and that something has to be done. If others have suggestions as to what can be done, I am more than willing to listen to them, as I have been.

At this stage, in addition to what I have laid out, all that we are doing is setting out the general principles of the bill. I would hope that we would get support at least for the general principles that follow on from that consensus that we previously had on remand being too high. In providing that challenge, I ask everyone else to consider whether they have an alternative proposal to address the use of remand, to safeguard victims or to improve support for people leaving prison. If they do, I am more than willing to listen and to take on board those comments.

The provisions in the bill are underpinned by a commitment to public protection and victim safety, with a focus on reducing crime, reoffending and future victimisation. That is what will make Scotland a safer place.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill.