Hundreds more prisoners released early but jails still full
PA MediaMore than 600 prisoners have been released early from Scotland's jails since November but it has done little to ease overcrowding, new data shows.
A total of 614 prisoners serving sentences of less than four years were freed in the six months to 30 April under an emergency early release programme.
But Scottish Prison Service (SPS) data shows the overall number of prisoners has increased over that period - topping 8,456 on 1 May.
SPS figures for three of the seven release periods also show that jail governors blocked 40% of eligible inmates being freed because they were too high risk.
Scotland - which along with other parts of Britain has one of the highest incarceration rates in Europe - has approved several emergency measures in recent years in a bid to cut prisoner numbers.
The latest releases saw 614 people freed early, all of whom had been sentenced to less than four years in prison and were not convicted of domestic abuse or sexual offences.
At the end of October the total prisoner population was 8,394, it then dropped slightly as the early releases got under way before steadily rising - including surpassing previous record population highs.
The emergency release scheme has now ended but a new law passed by MSPs in March means short-term prisoners will now be automatically released after serving 30% of their sentence instead of 40%
This will come into force five days after the Holyrood election.
Again, this law change does not apply to prisoners serving all or part of their sentence for domestic abuse or sexual offences.
A breakdown of the current prison population shows 1,849 inmates have still to be tried in court, including those waiting to be deported.
This remand population is equivalent to twice the number of inmates in HMP Edinburgh.
During the emergency release periods, prison governors were able to veto the release of an individual if they considered they would pose an immediate risk of harm to a specific individual or group.
Data for between 11 November and 13 December last year shows 286 prisoners were released (44% of whom had convictions for violent offences).
But a further 187 releases were vetoed, or 40% of eligible prisoners.
The governor veto only applies to the emergency release period and not the statutory automatic release point.
PA MediaA SPS spokesperson said: "We have been managing an extremely high and complex population for more than two years, which continues to place significant pressure on our staff and those in our care.
"Since November, we have been delivering a programme of emergency early release in close collaboration with national and community partners, across justice, health, social work, and other sectors.
"The safety and wellbeing of those who live and work in our establishments, and our wider communities, remains a key focus throughout."
