Report 'to accept' recommendations on female offenders

The Scottish government is set to publish its response to an expert report on female offenders.

The report, compiled by the former Lord Advocate, Dame Eilish Angiolini, made a series of radical proposals to improve the way women are treated by the criminal justice system.

They included the replacement of Scotland's only women's prison, Cornton Vale near Stirling.

BBC Scotland understands ministers will accept most of its recommendations.

If fully implemented, the changes would amount to a major shake-up of the way in which Scotland's criminal justice system deals with women offenders.

The Angiolini Commission called for a change in the way female offenders are treated by the wider criminal justice system.

It highlighted the fact that the vast majority of female offenders had drug, alcohol or mental health problems - making prison an unsuitable place for them to be sent.

The key recommendation was the replacement of the overcrowded Cornton Vale prison - and the Scottish Prison Service is already looking at alternatives.

But other changes will be harder to achieve.

Recommendations that a new Community Justice Service should be established are likely to prove controversial.

The commission said the new service should offer a joined-up approach, involving health and social workers and other agencies to divert women from prosecution and treat the problems which cause them to offend.

But Mev Brown, of the think tank Front Line Policy, said while the report acknowledged the revolving door of addiction, offending and imprisonment, it overlooked the social context, particularly drug use.

He said: "We must tackle our drugs problem. Policymakers need to face up to and accept the reality and scale of the problem.

"Clearly, we need some radical, new thinking. Not more of the same-old, same-old."