The Scottish ministers are facing criticism after it was revealed that 40,000 inmates in Scotland had breached their prison sentence by
Key Highlights :
The Scottish councils have recorded nearly 40,000 unauthorised absences from an alternative punishment to prison over the last five years. The figures, obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, show that absences from community service have increased by almost 50% since 2010. Labour have called for the punishment to be replaced with a rehabilitation programme.
The Liberal Democrats said that the figures showed that the punishment was not working and that the Scottish Government needed to take action. The party’s justice spokesperson, Willie Rennie, said: “The Scottish Government should be ashamed of these figures. The alternative punishment of community service is not working and the Scottish Government needs to take action to replace it with a rehabilitation programme that works.”
The Scottish Conservatives said that the Liberal Democrats were trying to score political points. The party’s justice spokesperson, Liam Kerr, said: “The Liberal Democrats are trying to score political points by attacking the SNP’s alternative punishment of community service. The SNP has been clear that community service should be a punishment that is used sparingly and only as a last resort.”