Management of Offenders Bill approved
7 Nov 05
Bill expected to become law in new year
The Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Bill - which includes a range of new measures to tackle the country's high reoffending rates - has been approved by the Scottish Parliament.
The bill is now expected to become law from the new year, subject to receiving Royal Assent.
Among the bill's key provisions are plans to:
- establish new community justice authorities which will co-ordinate and improve the delivery of services for offenders (recently named as groupings of the current local authorities);
- require the police, local authorities and the Scottish Prison Service to establish joint arrangements for assessing and managing the risk posed by sexual and violent offenders, and also the health service in the case of mentally disordered offenders;
- end unconditional early release for sex offenders sentenced to between six months and four years in prison;
- enable the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to recover from the perpetrators of crime, sums paid to victims by the Authority;
- establish a home detention curfew scheme that will enable selected low risk prisoners nearing the end of their sentences to serve the remainder of their term in the community, subject to an electronically monitored curfew.
The most recent reconviction data show that around six out of 10 prisoners are reconvicted within two years of their prison release. The bill's key objective is to improve the management of offenders in prison and in the community, to reduce these high rates.
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said: "This Act is an important milestone in our fight against the blight of crime. It aims to free those communities from that cycle of reoffending. And it takes forward many of the key elements of the Criminal Justice Plan aimed at better integration of offenders' services and more efficient working to improve offender management in prison, upon release, and in the community."