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Scottish Sentencing Council: Guideline on the Sentencing of Young People

On 09/11/21 2021, the Scottish Sentencing Council’s guideline on the sentencing of young people was approved by the High Court. It came into force on 26 January 2022 and sets out various factors which should be taken into account when sentencing a young person up to the age of 25. It’s based upon research into how young people develop physically and psychologically, and into the differences between young people and older people.

HMIPS Annual Report 2020-2021

On 02/11/21 HMIPS published its Annual Report 2020- 2021, advising that overcrowding, social isolation, an ageing estate, access to purposeful and rehabilitative activity, the numbers on remand, the high prevalence of mentally unwell people, the backlog in offending behaviour work and access to consistent health remained “highly problematic”. It noted human rights entitlement of access to fresh air was routinely compromised during COVID-19 outbreaks and that “IPMs continued to receive multiple requests regarding perceived barriers to        progression from prisoners. These concerned the suspension of offending behaviour programmes, delays in temporary release applications and general queries related to risk management decisions and integrated case management processes”.

HMIPS Health and Well-Being Pre-Inspection Survey

On 28/10/21 28/10/21 HMIPS published a health and wellbeing pre-inspection survey that was piloted on the under 18 population in HMP YOI Polmont. It was developed with CYCPS and CYCJ and is going be further developed for the adult population as a pilot in 2022. Despite the very small sample, there appeared to be some encouraging results around perceptions of safety and support. However, there were some serious concerns around the lack of time out of cell, close to the definition of solitary confinement, and insufficient access to rehabilitative activity opportunities.

Scottish Sentencing Council Report: Judicial Perspectives on Community-Based Disposals

On 28/10/21 the Scottish Sentencing Council published a report entitled, 'Judicial Perspectives on Community-Based Disposals', drawing on research and engagement carried out with sentencers and others. One of its more significant findings was that “that one of the greatest challenges to judicial confidence in community-based disposals concerns limitations of resources to support their management and delivery”, rather than lack of awareness of available services and programmes.

Reconviction Statistics: 2019-19 Offender Cohort

On 04/10/21 the latest Reconviction Statistics for the 2018-19 offender cohort   were published. The figures showed that reconvictions had increased in the past year from 26.4% in 2017-18, to 28.3% in 2018-19, going against the general downwards trend over the past decade. The average number of reconvictions also increased over the same period from 0.47 to 0.50, an increase of 6%.

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