On 18 August 2020, the Justice Committee took evidence from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and Teresa Medhurst (Interim Chief Executive of SPS). It heard that the court backlog could take 8-10 years to clear; that cell doubling up is returning; that new prison rules will be extended again from the end of September, but won’t include those relating to provision of food, access to showers and clean clothing which are to revert to normal regime; that unpaid work variations are being considered; that unspecified alternatives to remand are being considered; and importantly, a commitment was made not to return to pre-COVID prison population levels with a further executive release to be considered if required.

On 11 August 2020, a Ministerial Statement from the Cabinet Secretary advised of plans to introduce regulations to enable electronic monitoring of bail through the Management of Offenders  (Scotland) Act 2019. We would have liked to have seen this included in the primary legislation to help reduce the number of people being held on remand, however, welcome acknowledgement of the need for secondary legislation to allow for this.