3. Main findings
Prison population
4. The prison population has been increasing steadily since 2000-01, reaching an average daily population of 7,835 during 2008-09 ( Table 1). This represents an increase of 6 per cent from the previous year, and 31 per cent over the past 10 years since 1999-00.
5. This trend is driven mainly by a sustained increase in the average daily population of adult sentenced prisoners although the population of remand prisoners has also shown a marked rise since 2005-06 to the current level of 1,678 (Chart 2).
Chart 2 Average daily prison population by category of prisoner: 1999-2000 to 2008-09
6. The increase in the sentenced population is particularly notable for the medium term sentences of six months to two years. This population increased by 28 per cent from the previous year, from an average daily population of 1,226 to 1,574 ( Table 3).
7. Prisoners on remand or recalled from licence or supervision constitute a relatively small proportion of the prison population. However, these categories have increased disproportionately compared to sentenced prisoners and now make up a larger proportion of the total population than they did 10 years ago. For 2008-09, the remand population represented 21 per cent of the total and the recall population 8 per cent, a marked increase from 16 and 2 per cent since 1999-00. The percentage increase over that period is 72 per cent for remand, while the number of recalls has risen nearly five-fold, from 100 to 599 ( Table 1).
8. Untried prisoners form the bulk of the remand population (1,414 compared to 264 for remand prisoners who have been convicted but not sentenced), although the number of convicted remand prisoners shows a somewhat higher rate of increase over the past 10 years (156 per cent compared to 62 per cent).
9. There has also been a disproportionate increase in the population of women prisoners, although these make up a fairly small proportion of the prison population. During 2008-09, the average daily population was 7,422 for men and 413 for women. While the male population has increased by 29 per cent since 1999-00, the female population has nearly doubled ( Table 1).
10. The average daily population can fluctuate quite substantially compared to the average over the year. There were particularly high population levels during 2008, with a peak of 8,181 in mid-September ( Table 2).
Population profile
11. The prison population on 30 June 2008 was 7,761, of which 95 per cent were men ( Table 4). The age profiles of men and women prisoners differ somewhat in that women are more likely to be in the 21-29 and 40-44 age bands (53 per cent of women compared to 45 per cent of men), and this is consistent with previous years (Chart 3).
Chart 3 Age distribution of prisoners by sex: 30 June 2008
12. Just over half of the prison population (51 per cent) had a medium supervision level, and 9 per cent had a high supervision level. The remaining 40 per cent had a low level of supervision ( Table 4).
13. The crime category with the largest population of sentenced prisoners on 30 June 2008 was non-sexual violent crime (37 per cent), followed by the other crimes category (20 per cent). This category consisted mainly of drugs-related crimes, which make up 14 per cent of the total.
14 Offenders from Glasgow City represent a disproportionately large group in the prison population: while Glasgow has 11 per cent of the total 16+ Scottish population, 21 per cent of prisoners are from Glasgow ( Table 6).
15. This is reflected in the imprisonment rate per 100,000 population, which is highest for Glasgow at 337, followed closely by Dundee at 328. West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire also have relatively high imprisonment rates (Chart 8). Orkney has the lowest rate (30), followed by Aberdeenshire (53), Eilean Siar (69), East Lothan and East Dunbartonshire (70 for both) ( Table 6).
Chart 4 Imprisonment rate per 100,000 population (Scotland): June 2008
Home Detention Curfew
16. Release on Home Detention Curfew ( HDC) for low risk prisoners nearing the end of their sentence started in July 2006. Since implementation, the daily population of prisoners on HDC has risen from about 300 during 2007 to about 360 during 2008 (Chart 5).
17. The average daily population on HDC during 2008-09 was 371, an increase of 20 per cent over the previous year. The number of releases during 2008-09 was 2,056, a slight drop of 1 per cent compared to 2,082 the previous year ( Table 8).
Chart 5 Average daily population on Home Detention Curfew: August 2006 to March 2009
Receptions
18. Receptions tend to show some year on year variation (Chart 6), with the number of remand receptions increasing by 1 per cent to 22,754 for 2008-09, after a drop of 3 per cent between 2006-07 and 2007-08 ( Table 9).
19. Over the last year, direct sentenced receptions have increased by 3 per cent to 14,650 (Table 14), and the number of fine defaulters has dropped by about 60 per cent to 1,506 ( Table 16).
20. Over the 10 year period between 1999-00 and 2008-09, remand receptions have increased by 56 per cent and direct sentenced receptions by 24 per cent, while receptions for fine default have dropped by about four-fifths.
Chart 6 Prison receptions by custody type: 1999-2000 to 2008-09
Direct sentenced receptions
21. In terms of types of crimes and offences, the most notable areas of recent increase are serious assault/attempted murder and common assault. These have increased by 11 per cent to 1,154 and 10 per cent to 2,041 respectively since 2007-08 ( Table 13).
22. The bulk of the rise in direct sentenced receptions over the past 10 years is due to increasing volumes of relatively low-tariff crimes and offences. These include crimes against public justice (148 per cent), handling offensive weapons (138 per cent), common assault (87 per cent) and breach of the peace (88 per cent). The rate of increase has been particularly marked since 2003-04.
23. The average sentence length has fluctuated somewhat over the past 10 years, with the most recent figures showing an increase between 2005-06 and 2008-09 to 324 days ( Table 14). This represents an increase of 4 per cent over the previous year, but is somewhat lower than the peak at 344 days during 2003-04 (Chart 7).
Chart 7 Average sentence imposed (days): 1999-00 to 2008-09
24. The shift in balance between less serious and more serious crimes highlighted in §22 appears to have had a short term impact on the average sentence length berween 2003-04 and 2005-06. However, there have also been increases in crimes of violence over the past 10 years (43 per cent). These tend to result in heavier sentences and will therefore have a greater impact on the prison population in the longer term ( Table 13).
25. The sentence category with the largest increase is for sentences between six months and two years, where there was a 30 per cent increase to 5,558 in 2008-09 compared to the previous year ( Table 14). This category also accounts for the largest number of receptions (38 per cent of all direct sentenced receptions).
Breaches of discipline and punishments
26. There were 23,357 breaches of discipline recorded in Scottish penal establishments in 2008-09, an increase of nearly 20 per cent compared with 2007-08 ( Table 17).
International comparisons of prison population
27. In terms of prison population per 100,000 population, Scotland ranked twelfth highest with 150, similar to Slovakia (151), England and Wales (152) and Luxembourg (155) (Chart 8). This is higher than most other EU countries, but substantially lower than the US, the Russian Federation and the Baltic states ( Table 18). Comparisons of the prison population in different jurisdictions should be treated with caution due to the different justice systems and recording rules in operation.
Chart 8 Imprisonment rate per 100,000 population: 2008
