The Scottish Parliament have voted to approve a programme of Emergency Early Release.
This means that eligible short-term prisoners, that is those serving less than four years, and who are within 180 days of their release date, will be released earlier.
This comes as the Scottish prison population reached a record high of 8,431 yesterday. The majority of prisons have a population far higher than they were designed to hold and are operating at a red risk status.
Speaking in the Parliament yesterday, Angela Constance, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice said:
I want to be clear that emergency release is not the answer to addressing the prison population in the long term, but it is essential right now to providing critical relief to those who live and work in our prisons.
The emergency action was described as necessary “in order to reach a position of stability to enable more permanent change and reform.” Ms Constance was clear that “bolder and longer-lasting” action is needed and called on all parties to be prepared to engage with and debate the evidence about what works to reduce offending.
Now that it has been approved, emergency releases will begin next week over three consecutive days - 11, 12 and 13 November. There will be three more tranches prior to Christmas then a further four on a monthly basis between January and April 2026.