Supervised bail is a matter for the police, so we have no locus in that. However, increased use of such mechanisms would be welcome.
The Scottish Government undertook a review of electronic monitoring in 2016 and it accepted the outcomes in the working group’s report, so we have the means to divert from custody.
The issue that we are all experiencing is the inexorable rise in numbers. This morning, we unlocked 8,298 people, and we have approximately 38 on home detention curfew. That places extraordinary pressure on the system. Our occupancy report for last September shows that only three establishments—Polmont, Cornton Vale and the open estate—were operating under capacity, and that is because they have been left that way deliberately; the rest of the system is under significant pressure.
There is good news. Young offender numbers have dropped year on year for the past five years, so something is right there. However, we should look at using all means necessary to reduce the prison population.
The section 22 report is quite clear about some of those issues. The Prisoners (Control of Release) (Scotland) Act 2015, which removed automatic early release for long-term prisoners, was about the principle of longer sentences. Seventy per cent of High Court business is legacy sexual crime, which has led to an increase in the number of elderly prisoners coming into custody, with somewhere in the region of 1,300 prisoners being over the age of 50. No disrespect to anybody in the room, but 50 is the recognised age at which a prisoner is deemed to be an older prisoner because, in comparison with the general population, in relation to physiology, prisoners present as 10 to 15 years older. Those prisoners represent about 16 per cent of the overall prison population. They come into prison later in life and have longer sentences. We are therefore dealing with a changing cohort in the prison population that requires a different approach and response.
We would welcome the ability to limit that input, but we have to take who the court sends us.