§ Lord McCluskeyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What will be the effects of implementing the proposals contained in Making the Punishment Fit the Crime (Scottish Office, January 1996) (i) upon the numbers of prisoners and (ii) upon the costs (capital and revenue) of the Prison Services in Scotland; and
Whether they expect that the proposals contained in Making the Punishment Fit the Crime (Scottish Office, January 1996), if implemented, to have the effect predicted for similar proposals for England and Wales, described in CM 3190, namely "The Government does not therefore expect the proposals to result in a general increase in the period of time offenders serve in prison"; and
Whether they have received any indication from judges in Scotland that steps may be taken to reduce sentences passed in open court by judges to take account of the abolition of parole and the proposed changes in early release arrangements; and
Whether they expect that judges in Scotland will take into account, when passing sentence, the abolition of parole and the changes in early release arrangements now proposed in Making the Punishment Fit the Crime (Scottish Office, January 1996); and, if so, on what such expectation is based.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scottish Office (The Earl of Lindsay)The Government's conclusions on the proposals contained in the consultation paperMaking the Punishment Fit the Crime will be set out in a White Paper to be published shortly.
An assessment of the effect of these proposals upon sentencing practice and prisoner numbers will be included in that paper.