Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 12 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of time has been between release on licence and recall to prison for people recalled since January 2024.
The average length of time between release on licence and recall is not calculated.
Licence conditions which are applied vary significantly depending on the original sentence and individual consideration of each case. As a result, there is substantial variation in the period between release and any subsequent recall, and no meaningful average can be produced.
For example, individuals who are released on Home Detention Curfew are legally only able to remain on licence for a maximum of six months, however, those who had been sentenced to an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR), if released on parole licence, would remain on licence for the rest of their life.