SCOTLAND’S prison population has risen to its highest level, according official figures released yesterday.

The statistics show that the number of people in Scotland’s prisons on an average day last year increased by 4 per cent from 6,137 to 6,404 between 2001 and 2002.

Cathy Jamieson, the Executive Justice Minister, said that the figures were a cause for concern and were evidence that the system was not working.

There has been a 27 per cent increase in the number of people awaiting trial, the figures from the Executive showed. On an average day in 2002, 1,222 people were on remand, compared with 960 in 2001.

The number of women inmates has also reached a record level. The average daily female prison population increased 11 per cent from 249 in 2001 to 277 last year.

The only positive news for ministers came in the figures for young offenders with the average number serving sentences falling 8 per cent last year, from 650 to 597. The number on remand, however, increased by 13 per cent from 242 in 2001 to 274 in 2002.

The prison population in Scotland has been increasing for decades — in 1950, the average daily population stood at about 2,000. Numbers have risen by 14 per cent since 1993, and in the same 10-year period the female prison population has increased by 62 per cent, five times the 12 per cent rise in the male prison population.

Mrs Jamieson said that too much of Scotland’s crime problem stemmed from re-offending. She added that investment in the Scottish Prison Service and local authority criminal justice social work services had risen by 45 per cent over the past ten years. “Yet there has been almost no change in the numbers reoffending after serving both custodial and non-custodial sentences,” she said. “We need to find out what is not working and fix it.”

Two prisons are to be built to cope with the rising population, with the favoured sites at Addiewell in West Lothian and Low Moss in Glasgow.

The figures also contained a snapshot of the prison population on June 30. On that day, about 96 per cent of prisoners were men and half were aged between 25 and 39. About 39 per cent were detained for serious violent crimes such as murder and robbery and 17 per cent were held for crimes of dishonesty, including theft.

In Scotland last year, there were 129 prisoners per 100,000 members of the population, compared with 137 in England and Wales.

Juliet Lyon, of the Prison Reform Trust, said that the Executive had to work hard to balance its pledges to be tough on crime and to cut the prison population. “These figures are really disappointing, given the Scottish Executive’s determination to cut down prison numbers,” she said.

The Scottish Tories highlighted figures which showed a sharp increase in the number recalled to prison having been released early on supervision or licence. The statistics show an increase of 430 per cent since 1997, from 45 to 239.

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