Prison remand system costing £55m each year, MSPs told

Remanding alleged criminals in custody before trial is costing £55 million a year, MSPs have heard.

Labour’s Daniel Johnson said remand is “overused” and currently applies to around a fifth (18%) of Scotland’s prison population.

Between 2000 and 2017, the proportion of people remanded increased from 19 per 100,000 of the population to 25.

He said informal concerns have been raised with him from people across the sector regarding what they see as an increase in the use of remand.

Speaking in a Holyrood debate, he said 71% of those on remand for the most serious crimes and 43% of those being dealt with under summary procedure for more minor offences will go on to receive a custodial sentence.

“That means a majority of people on remand under summary procedure will not go on to prison,” he said.

“If they do not go on to receive a custodial sentence, what are they doing in prison at all?

“The cost of this is huge. If it costs over £35,000 per year, per prisoner to keep someone in prison, the total cost of the remand prison population is £55 million a year.

“That is the true cost and that is why we must find alternatives.”

He said having someone on bail supervision costs £26,000 a year.

His calculations for the £55 million a year cost are based on the current figure of 1,565 in prison on remand at the start of September and the Scottish Prison Service estimate of £35,293 to keep a prisoner behind bars.

Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr called for consistent recording of reasons for refusing bail.

He said: “Let’s use appropriate data capture to ensure that those who are remanded need to be remanded.

“Whilst ensuring that those who should not be, who remember have never been convicted of a crime, do not have their liberty curtailed, and all the negative consequences that follow, simply for want of an alternative.”

Minister for Community Safety Ash Denham said her preference is for better use to be made of existing data warning the “burdensome requirements” to the court of recording reasons for bail decisions would need to be justified against the costs.

She added: “Between 2008-09 and 2017-18, the total remand population fell by 19% from 1,679 to 1,361.

“The truth is that the average remand population, which is by far the best way to assess levels of remand, has gone down in each of the last three years – from 1,525 in 2015/16 to 1,361 in 2017/18.

“Despite this I accept the overall conclusion of the Justice Committee that the proportion of remand prisoners compared to the total prison population continues to be high, especially in relation to female prisoners.”

She highlighted the Scottish Government’s commitment to increased funding for supervised and supported bail to ensure remand is only used where necessary and appropriate.

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