It would take approximately 14 years to clear the Scottish Prison Service’s national waiting list for sexual offending rehabilitation programmes, new figures have revealed.
Concerns have been raised over the shocking statistics which highlight the scale of the backlogs in jails across the country.
Emma Jardine, policy and public affairs manager at prison reform group Howard League Scotland, urged the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to increase the transparency over access to rehab schemes.
The Scottish Prison Service told The Herald the delivery of offending behaviour programmes had changed to prioritise risk, meaning waiting times can change.
Ms Jardine shared her research with an event hosted by the Human Rights Consortium Scotland, which also revealed three year waits for alcohol and drug programmes in prisons and two year waits for schemes to help those convicted of violence.
The figures were calculated by analysing waiting lists for offending behaviour programmes across every prison in Scotland.
The freedom of information figures showed just 43 registered sex offenders had completed the eight-month long rehabilitation programme known as Moving Forward 2 Change (MF2C) between April 2020 and March 2024.
However, there were 144 prisoners on the waiting list for this programme as of July this year. Ms Jardine said her analysis suggested it would take 14 years to clear the backlog.
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For the Self-Change Programme, a 10-month rehab offered to men convicted of general violence, intimate partner violence and sexual violence, there were 384 people on the waiting list in July across every prison estate in Scotland.
Just 94 had completed the course between April 2020 and March 2024.
Ms Jardine said the lack of access to rehabilitation schemes meant many prisoners were being “kept in prison for far longer than they may needed to have been” because of the lack of rehabilitation on offer.
In July, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS) published what the reform group described as a “damning” review of prisoner progression opportunities.
Ms Jardine explained: “It found that the system of moving prisoners to conditions of less security to prepare them for release was simply not working.
“The gist of what (HMISP) said was, that across the whole estate there was only a handful of people who had any idea at all how the system was supposed to work and there were so many blockages in the system, and waiting lists for offending behaviour programmes, that meant less secure parts of the estate were only half full and as a result many prisoners are being kept in prison far longer than they needed to have been.”
The offender had been ordered to serve a minimum of six years in jail before he could apply for parole. But a judge warned he would only be released if the parole board was satisfied he no longer posed a risk to public safety.
But he was first put on the waiting list for the Self Change rehabilitation programme in 2017 and was told that due to delays, he would be unable to access the course until March 2025.
In her ruling, Lady Poole said: “If such legislation is passed without proper planning for prisoners likely to be incarcerated under it, including provision of appropriate courses for rehabilitation, the consequences may include human rights being violated.”
Ms Jardine added: “She concluded that his ability to demonstrate a reduction in his risk to the parole board had been so severely compromised by not being able to access this programme that his right to liberty had been breached and therefore his detention had become arbitrary.”
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Slee wasn’t released as a result of the judicial review but Ms Jardine said it had “very significant” consequences for ministers putting forward legislation.
“I worked out that based on the concurrent rates of completion, it will take 14 years to clear the national waiting list for sexual offending programmes at the moment, three years for alcohol and drug addition programmes and two years for the general violence one.”
A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: “The rehabilitation of individuals in our care, supporting their personal journey, reducing their risk of reoffending and helping to build safer communities, are all key priorities.
“Offending behaviour programmes remain a key priority and work is well underway on increasing access to these courses, which are just one of the way our staff supports those in our care and prepare them for release.”
Sharon Dowey, victims and community spokeswoman for the Scottish Tories, said: “This growing backlog is an insult to victims of crime.
“They will be appalled to see that sexual offenders are failing to complete this crucial rehabilitation programme.
“The buck stops with SNP ministers who have repeatedly failed to properly fund our prisons for over 17 years.
“Inmates who are deprived of this programme will ultimately be ill-equipped to re-integrate positively back into society.
“SNP ministers must show some common sense and make it a priority that every sexual offender completes this programme before they are released.”
Last month, The Herald revealed that 158 prisoners categorised as moderate or high risk failed to complete the MF2C programme before they were released from prison between March 2021 and June 2024.
The programme, which was first implemented across the criminal justice system in 2013-14 before being updated in 2019, is aimed at reducing the risk of reoffending among males convicted of sex crimes.
It is targeted at men assessed to be of medium or high risk who have been convicted of a sexual offence or a non-sexual offence that contains a sexual element.
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