Question reference: S5W-35064
- Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 9 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged under 18 have been held in a Young Offenders Institution in each month since January 2020; how many of these (a) were on remand and (b) had not been found guilty of an offence, and what efforts were made to find alternative provision for them.
Answer
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) publishes population data on our website on a weekly basis. This report provides information on the number of 18s who are in custody on a Friday every week, broken down in terms of status into:
- Untried,
- Convicted awaiting sentence; and
- Sentenced.
This information can be found at www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Information/SPSPopulation.aspx
The SPS does not hold information on how many of the individuals on remand were then found not guilty of an offence.
Since 2014, the number of young people in custody has significantly reduced and the Scottish Government continues to work to keep under 18s out of the criminal justice system by instigating measures that encourage alternatives to remand and custody wherever possible.