Report on Women Offenders Seminar

The Commission on Women Offenders, led by Dame Elish Angiolini, reported to the Scottish Government in April 2012. The report made 37 recommendations and these were responded to by the Scottish Working Group on Women Offenders (SWGWO) and the Scottish Consortium on Crime and Criminal Justice (SCCCJ).

In order to continue to monitor progress towards implementation of Dame Elish’s report, the SWGWO and SCCCJ held a round table discussion at Sacro National Office, on Friday 23 November 2012. The discussion centred on the following key questions:
 

• Will the Scottish Government’s plans achieve the objectives mapped out in the report of the Commission on Women Offenders?
• Will the plans of the Scottish Prison Service provide the necessary improvements in provision for those women offenders who are considered, as a last resort, to require a prison sentence?
• What are the key immediate actions necessary to reverse the continuing growth in the women’s prison population?
   

The seminar was chaired by Baroness Vivien Stern, Honorary President of the SCCCJ. The event opened with a series of short presentations. The second part of the seminar was a roundtable discussion which took place under Chatham House rules. In this report, the opening statements are attributed to the individual speakers. The subsequent discussion is recorded on an unattributed basis.

Sacro Lecture 2012

This year’s Sacro Lecture was delivered by Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service.

In one of his first public lectures since taking over the role, Colin McConnell outlined his vision for the future role of imprisonment within an integrated justice system.

Integration was a consistent theme in an inspiring and often optimistic lecture. In laying down challenges for all those involved in criminal justice, Mr McConnell presented a compelling view of what a joined-up justice system could achieve in Scotland.

A full transcript of the lecture is available on the SPS website.