Assessment of the presumption against short sentences of 3 months: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for information on 'what formal assessment has been made by the Scottish Government of short custodial sentences of 3 months or less'. I wrote to clarify whether the assessment you referred to in your request related to one which was carried out in advance of the introduction of the presumption against short sentences or following its introduction in 2011, You replied that you wished to know about 'the subsequent assessments of short custodial sentences following its introduction in 2011' - referring to the introduction of the presumption against short sentences.

Response

To date there has only been one formal assessment of the presumption against short sentences of 3 months - the Evaluation of Community Payback Orders, Criminal Justice Social Work Reports and the Presumption Against Short Sentences published in 2015. This document is available online at the following web address: https://www.gov.scot/publications/evaluation-community-payback-orders-criminal-justice-social-workreports-presumption-against-short-sentences/

However, as we are currently in the process of seeking Parliamentary approval to extend the presumption from 3 months to 12 months, a number of Impact Assessments have been carried out. These relate more to the consideration of the extension, but you may find them useful. You can access the documents at the following web address: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/sdsi/2019/9780111042281/resources

About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.