Feb 12 2008
Prisons getting overcrowded in Scotland
Scotland, Feb 12: According to a new statistics released by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) the number of prisoners in Scotland jail has reached an all time high. At present there are 7,609 people left behind bars including 393 women.
Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary opined that the total number of prisoners were about 1,000 beyond its maximum capacity. The Justice Secretary will visit the only female prison in Scotland, HMP Cornton Vale to monitor the functioning of the jail while coping with the overcrowding issue. The minister will be accompanied by the members of the justice committee of the Scottish parliament.
While commenting on this he said: “The number of female inmates has experienced a 90% rise in the last decade. The other side of the problem is that we imprison far greater than other countries in the world. The chief inspector of our prison used to hint regularly about the problem linked to overcrowding.”
He further added that: “We have to implement some fresh policies in this area the formation of independent Prison Commission to gat a wide perspective about the purpose of prison in a modern Scotland, is considered as the first step in this regard.”
Since 1991 the average prison population of Scotland has increased by 51.6%.