Hundreds of victims across Scotland were “left in the dark” by the SNP’s latest mass release of prisoners.
A Freedom of Information response received by the Scottish Conservatives reveals that that only ten victims were notified under the SNP’s flagship Victim Notification Scheme about prisoners being released in recent weeks.
It was estimated that up to 390 prisoners could have been released under the latest tranche, meaning a paltry 2.5 per cent of victims appear to have been made aware of an offender being released.
Shadow minister for victims and community safety Sharon Dowey has slammed the “staggering” number of victims who were left completely unaware, and says the scheme remains “unfit for purpose.”
She added that it has repeatedly let down victims and says that any planned changes to the scheme recently announced by the SNP must show some common sense and ensure victims are always notified about prisoners being released.
Scottish Conservative shadow minister for victims and community safety Sharon Dowey MSP said: “This flagship SNP scheme has woefully let down victims yet again.
“It is shameful that such a staggering number of victims were left in the dark while the SNP ploughed ahead and once again gave the green light to a mass early release of prisoners in recent weeks.
“Victims have been a total afterthought for soft-touch SNP ministers who have typically prioritised the needs of criminals instead.
“Their flagship Victim Notification Scheme is unfit for purpose. It should be as easy as possible for victims to sign up, and for them to be notified when dangerous criminals are being released, but SNP ministers have failed to fix these issues.
“Any planned changes to this scheme must finally show some common sense.
“SNP ministers must ensure that the Victim Notification Scheme always puts victims at its heart and guarantees they are fully aware of any offender being released, given that is their only plan to try and solve Scotland’s prison overcrowding crisis.”
Notes:
It was estimated that the SNP would release nearly 400 offenders early in 2025. Last November the Scottish Parliament passed the Prisoner (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025 despite being voted against by the Scottish Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats. It meant that prisoners serving less than four years would be released after serving 40% of their sentence, rather than the previous 50%. It was estimated that between 260 and 390 inmates would be eligible for early release in 2025. (BBC News, 26 November 2024, link).
Only 10 victims have been notified an offender would be released early. The Scottish Prisoner Service confirmed that, of the prisoners released early in February and March 2025 via the Prisoner (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025, they have only managed to notify 10 victims ahead of the offenders early release. All of these 10 victims were notified via the Victim Notification Scheme. Taking the higher range of expected releases this means that if every offender had one victim less than 3% of victims have been notified. (Scottish Conservative FOI, 19 March 2025, available on request).