Post-custody support drops to lowest level in a decade

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Yi-pei Chou Turvey MSP has today (Saturday 12th September) said she is “deeply concerned” by the absence of a long-term plan to cut reoffending and ease prison pressures, as she revealed that a key form of post-custody support has dropped to its lowest level in a decade.

Throughcare aims to prevent reoffending by helping people who have been released from custody reintegrate into the community.

The Scottish Government’s Voluntary Throughcare Service provides this support for people who have served short-term custodial sentences of less than four years. In 2024/25, 44% of the prison population were those on sentences of four years or less.

New figures, however, show that the number of voluntary throughcare cases commenced dropped by 20% between 2024-25 and 2025-26. It is now the lowest level in the last ten years.

Almost 1,100 short-term prisoners have been released early to deal with overcrowding. Scotland’s overall prison population, however, is still at 8,500, despite the system only having capacity for 7,805.

Separate figures show that 42.5% of those released from custody were reconvicted within a year.

Yi-pei Chou Turvey said:

“The reconviction rate in Scotland is stubbornly high, and there are record numbers of people in our prisons despite the SNP’s early release scheme.

“A decline in throughcare makes it harder to deal with these issues because throughcare helps people reintegrate into the community and cuts reoffending.

“It’s also very worrying to see a drop in this specific kind of throughcare because it applies those who make up a big chunk of the prison population.

“Right now, the Scottish Government lacks a clear, long-term plan for the prison overcrowding crisis.

“If that is to change, ministers must get serious about supporting staff, giving the throughcare system the resources it needs and driving down the use of remand.”