Scotland frees hundreds of inmates as U.K. grapples with prison overcrowding crisis
Hundreds of prisoners will be freed in Scotland as part of a broader emergency response to ease the burden of overcrowded prisons across the United Kingdom.
LONDON — Hundreds of prisoners will be freed in Scotland as part of a broader emergency response to ease the burden of overcrowded prisons across the United Kingdom.
“We have been managing an extremely high and complex prison population for more than a year, putting considerable pressure on all those living and working in our establishments,” a Scottish Prison Service spokesperson told NBC News on Tuesday via email, after the first of almost 400 prisoners were released.
Scotland’s prisons housed almost 8,000 prisoners every day in 2024 — a 6% increase on the previous year, according to its government statistics.
“In line with trends seen elsewhere in the U.K., Scotland’s prison population has significantly grown in recent years and, consequently, this rise has impacted prisons and the wider justice system,” a Scottish government spokesperson told NBC News on Tuesday.
Scotland is part of the United Kingdom but, like Wales and Northern Ireland, has its own semi-autonomous government with broad powers over areas including health care, education and law, meaning its government can unilaterally decide to free the prisoners without seeking the consent of the British Parliament in London.
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