Question reference: S6W-24566
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 17 January 2024
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Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 January 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any reasons for the proportion of prisoners serving sentences of one year or less increasing by 6% in 2022-23 despite the presumption against short-term sentences.
Answer
The percentage increase cited above is taken to be from the latest National Statistics on the prison population published in December 2023. These state that “The (average daily) population serving index sentences of one year or less increased by around 6% from 921 in 2021-22 to 972 in 2022-23.”
Caution is advised when using this data to examine the sentence length. The National Statistics provide index sentence length only. Where an individual in custody is serving multiple custodial sentences, the index sentence is the single longest sentence to be served. The overall length of the sentence to be served may be longer than the index sentence length. Further information on why this measure is used in the National Statistics is available in the accompanying Technical Manual ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-prison-population-statistics/pages/cellwise-data-construction/#index-sentence-derivation ).
Overall sentence length is published in the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Monthly Data Report ( https://www.gov.scot/collections/justice-analytical-services-safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-reports/ ).
In relation to the extension to the presumption against short term sentences in 2019, we are continuing to monitor the ongoing effect. However, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the justice system has made it difficult to separate the impact of the pandemic from the effects of the extension to date.
There is however a clear longer term trend away from shorter sentences. The latest National Statistics on Criminal Proceedings in Scotland show that 83% of custodial sentences were 12 months or less in 2012-13, declining to 73% in 2021-22. The largest fall in the use of short term sentences was between 2018-19 and 2019-20, with a four percentage point reduction, which may be associated with the extension of the presumption to one year.
It should be noted, however, that the presumption is not a ban, and decisions in individual cases are a matter for the independent courts, taking into consideration all the relevant facts and circumstances.