At the end of the month the Scottish Prisons Commission is to publish the findings of its prison review. One academic is already advising that unless there is a drastic change in the sentencing of petty criminals the impact on Scottish life could be huge. Richard Draycott speaks to Professor Alec Spencer.

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In the next few weeks the Scottish Prisons Commission, under the chairmanship of former First Minister Henry McLeish, is set to deliver the findings of its review into the purpose and use of prisons in modern Scottish society. But beating McLeish to the punch in May was Professor Alec Spencer, Honorary Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Stirling University and former Governor of Dungavel, Peterhead, Edinburgh and Glenochil Prisons, who was making headlines with his strong views on the current mis-use of Scottish prisons.

He believes that the judiciary’s insistence on locking up petty criminals for short term sentences is the primary cause of most of the Scottish Prison Services woes. Speaking to The Firm Professor Spencer said: “My issue is about the number of re-offenders we keep locking up when our prison are creaking at the seams and the fact that we will have to spend billions to maintain that system when we should be investing that money in things like literacy and reducing crime through better education.”

Perhaps Professor Spencer’s most interesting finding was that during the period of 2005-06, 8,603 people were sent to a Scottish prison to serve a term of less than six months. And, even more startling is the fact that of those 8,603 people sentenced they each served an average term of just 24.2 days. As Professor Spencer points out once the prisoner is processed and accommodated in prison it leaves very little time for any degree of rehabilitation to take place, particularly if the prisoner is fighting an addiction to drugs or alcohol.

“Prison itself does not stop or even reduce crime,” he says. “There is absolutely no link with rates of imprisonment and crime. Some countries are reducing their prison population, while others, such as Scotland, are increasing their prison population, but this is not having any impact on crime levels, which shows that short-term prison sentences do not cut crime.

“Research shows that there is a 64% re-conviction rate from prison. Around 52% of short term prisoners will be back in prison within two years. Their problems are usually social problems such as - addiction, unemployment, lack of housing – and sending them to prison does not solve these problems. In fact, if they do have a job when they are sent to prison chances are they will lose that job and those without jobs will stand an even smaller chance of getting a job when they are released.”

The Scottish Prisons Commission, chaired by Henry McLeish, is currently looking at the issue of how imprisonment is used in Scotland and Professor Spencer is keen to put forward his views.

“What I am advising the Scottish Prisons Commission is that we should not be sending people to jail to serve short periods. Evidence shows that community interventions and preventions work much better than prison when it comes to cutting rates of re-offending. We could also save more money by using those methods of rehabilitation.

“My view would be not to send people to prison for short sentences. Perhaps a minimum of six months or even a year should be imposed, anything under that and the offenders should be kept in the community were there are the resources to change behaviour. If they are alcoholic and that addiction is responsible for their behaviour then in the community they can learn better to deal with that addiction.”

Pointing the finger at who is to blame for today’s culture of jail first rehabilitation later is difficult, as Professor points out. He says: “I cannot be critical of the SNP Government as it is the first to decide that it wants to review this matter, but it is the judiciary that has to change its approach to sentencing. Perhaps they think that they are reflecting the public’s desire for justice by imposing short prison sentences, or they may simply see the same person so many times in front of them that they feel there is no other alternative but a jail sentence.”

Professor Spencer certainly feels that time is of the essence when it comes to the future use of prisons and the position education takes in the grand scheme of things.

“I would like to see this done very quickly and I believe the Prisons Commission is due to announce the findings of its review at the end of June or early July. I hope that they will put forward quite radical and strong proposals. Then it is up to the Government to respond in the right way, but that will obviously take some time.

“If we keep locking people up we will eventually have to close schools and hospitals or at the very least we will not have the money available to build new ones. Rather than demonising the youth we should invest in them and educate the in literacy so that they stand a chance of living a crime free life.”