 Fy enw cwpwys gydon nhw'n cael ei gŷnol gwneud o gydag iawn o'r ysgolau a'r pwyllteol, yn Totale i'r ddefnyddio'r yr eich ddym ni'n gwneud o'r ddefnyddio'r ddefnyddio ar iciw 1-8893 yn ddifuatio Cllw, o ddefnyddio'r ddefnyddio o'r ddefnyddio'r ddefnyddio ond yn heliwyr felly wedi'n cystadion rydym ni'n cwisio'r rhai teulu. I invite members wishing to participate to press the request to speak once, and I call on Katie Clark to open the debate around seven minutes, Ms Clark. I very much welcome this opportunity to raise issues relating to women prisoners in Scotland in this chamber and to express my thanks to members who have signed the motion to enable this debate to take place. My motion refers to the closure of Cornton Vale Women's Prison and the opening of the smaller His Majesty's Prison's Sterling for Women. Of course, historically, Cornton Vale housed all Scotland's women's prisoners, but we now have a number of prisons with women's wings across Scotland. Cornton Vale closed earlier this year with women prisoners being transferred to other establishments. The 2012 review by former Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini described conditions at Cornton Vale Prison as anti-deluvian and appalling. The Criminal Justice Committee recently visited the new sterling prison and were impressed by what we saw. The original proposal from the Angiolini review was for a smaller number of units across Scotland with a greater focus for women on support and rehabilitation. Last year, two custody units were opened, one with 24 places for women in Mary Hill and another with 16 places for women in Dundee. We are advised that, at best, the new facilities have had only 52 per cent capacity since opening, and representations have been made to the Scottish Government to ask that the criteria for admission be expanded. We understand that the Scottish Prince and Service are looking at this, and I would be grateful for an update on that from the minister today. I am sure that the minister will agree with me that we would wish the new state-of-the-art facilities at sterling, Dundee and Mary Hill to be fully utilised. Michael Marra I thank the member for giving way and thank you for bringing the debate to the chamber. I had the pleasure of visiting the Bella Centre in Dundee just yesterday. It is an outstanding facility for women, and having met some of the women who are housed in that facility at the moment, I talked to them about the great benefit that they feel that it is having. I wonder whether Katie Clark would reflect on the need for the Scottish Government to learn the lessons of that developing practice. If we can have more from the Government on what their studies might be put in place to learn the full experience of women in that place and how we can best practice across the rest of the estate and be keen to hear more on what research is in place to support that. I am very grateful to Michael Marra for his intervention and welcome that he has already paid a visit to the Bella Centre. I agree with him that we need to look very closely at what happens there, but a huge amount of public money has been invested in those facilities, which have come about as a result of work that has been carried out over many years, and indeed as a result of recommendations in the 2012 report that I have referred to. I think that we need to make sure that, as well as reviewing what happens there, that we make sure that they are fully utilised and that all the places are made available to women who I believe can benefit from them. The Scottish Government's stated intention is to transition towards a trauma-informed approach to justice, and I support that evidence-based approach, particularly in relation to women offenders. However, I have to say that I am concerned about the gulf between policy and practice. Given the closure of Caernton Vale, I believe that this is a good opportunity to reflect on women's offending and how we deal with that as a society and the patterns of sentencing. I have to say that the Scottish Government's policy on women offenders is very similar to the one adopted by Scottish Labour in Government quite a number of years now. I think that we need to reflect on why it has been so difficult to deliver the policy that is stated by politicians in practice. We know that women make up a small percentage of the overall prison population, but Scotland proportionately has one of the largest female prison populations in Europe. There are currently approximately 300 women in custody in Scotland, and the numbers seem to be increasing. We also know from Scottish prison statistics that that is not because women in Scotland are committing more violent offences than in other countries, but that Scotland has a different approach to women's offending. The cost associated with that is significant. I believe that it averages £35,000 a year to incarcerate someone in prison. That presents an opportunity cost that could be much better spent for much better outcomes. I believe that for many prisoners, and indeed for women prisoners in particular, it would be better to spend the considerable amount of money that it costs to incarcerate them in other ways that may indeed both be less costly but also more effective. Those new establishments have been opened. As I say, we will only house a minority of women prisoners in Scotland unless we significantly reduce the overall number of women in custody in Scotland. We know that overall Scotland's prison population is the highest in Europe, and our remand figures are also significantly higher than in other European countries. That is the case both in relation to the men's estate and the women's estate. The remand rate in the men's estate is currently around 29 to 30 per cent, and the latest figure that we were given in relation to the remand rate for women's prisoners is higher at 39 per cent. As I say, if we look at the pattern of offences, women account for different kinds of convictions than men. We see relatively higher proportions of convictions for crimes such as shoplifting and fraud. It is fair to say that most women prisoners present less risk to society. They do, however, have challenges and present challenges to society, and often have chaotic circumstances, which are difficult for society to manage. Sheriffs have often said that they find it difficult to know what to do with women and will remand women as it is unclear what alternatives are available. The low number of women offenders means that there are often fewer alternatives to custody available to women than would be to men. We need to focus on robust alternatives to custody, which are both more effective and cheaper. As I say, often those alternatives do not currently exist. Custodial sentences are often blunt instruments. Only this week, a woman in England received a custodial sentence for procuring an illegal late term abortion. We know that women who are convicted of murder are often convicted of offences that relate to abusive partners, so offending patterns tend to be different with women prisoners. Research from abroad and practices in other countries such as the Scandinavian countries show that they have fewer women in custody and that they have a less purative approach in place that emphasises rehabilitation. Community supervision and electronic monitoring are widely used, for example in countries such as Sweden, where we would put somebody in prison. For the most part, the types of models that are being adopted in other European countries are not available in Scotland, even though we know that only about 40 per cent of women who are charged with a violent offence. We also know that women prisoners are vulnerable, are more likely to have suffered violence or sexual abuse, have caring responsibilities or are mothers. Recent research has also shown that many have repeated head injury or significant health issues. I believe that there is a consensus in this Parliament that remand figures are too high and that we need to refocus the justice system, particularly for women offenders, and I warmly welcome all who are here today in the chamber and look forward to their contributions. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this debate, and I thank Katie Clark for bringing it to the chamber and for her excellent speech. First, I agree entirely with Katie Clark's motion that our women prisoner and remand population in Scotland is far too high. Incredibly 40 per cent of women in prison have not been charged with a violent offence. A large proportion are victims of domestic abuse and have suffered brain damage as a result of living with a violent man. Many are addicted to drugs or alcohol brought on by trauma and a chaotic lifestyle. No woman would choose to go down the path of incarceration and risk losing their home, job and, often most importantly, children. Prison is not the place for them. We know that prison wrecks families and relationships for women and men, and with 36 per cent of women in remand proportionally much higher than men, many of them do not go on to be incarcerated, but by that time the damage has often been done, and most of these women have children. The excellent third sector organisation, Families Outside, is literally a lifeline to those families struggling to cope when a loved one is incarcerated. With the exception of the most serious offenders, prison is not the place for women. It can only exacerbate the problems that cause them to be there in the first place. So why are so many women being locked up? Sadly, there is a lack of data around why sheriffs are taking the decision to remand or send women to prison. The why is very important. Is it because there is a lack of alternative options or is it for their personal safety until we have the data that we simply do not know? As convener of the Women, Families and Justice Committee cross-party group and as a member of the Justice Committee, this issue has been at the top of the agenda for years, but there is yet no real improvement in the figures. However, we are on the right trajectory with the Scottish Government's vision for justice and the upcoming bail and release bill and the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Scotland bill. The reality is that the current justice system was historically designed by men for men, and it really does not meet the needs of over half of our society. Women and children must be at the heart of our approaches to justice. We must progress a person-centred approach to rehabilitation where people are supported in the most appropriate and effective setting and shift the balance to ensure that the role of custody will be reserved only when no alternative is appropriate. Everyone going through the criminal justice system should have access to the support and rehabilitation that they need. In that regard, as we have heard, the Scottish Government has instigated four new women's custody units alongside HMP and YUI Stirling, which have been built on the site of existing Cornton Vale. The Lilius Centre in Maryhill Glasgow and the Bella Centre in Hiltown Dundee are the two that we have heard about and the two that are open now. I was privileged to visit the Lilius Centre just before it opened its doors. It offers a gender-specific and trauma-informed space where assessed women can express and explore the life circumstances that have led them to being custody. It will provide a range of evidence-based interventions aimed at maximising the opportunity for reflection, reparation and rehabilitation, and ultimately reintegration into the community. We now understand trauma and its lifelong effects. We know that with intervention, care and support, women can reach their potential and live the life that most of us take for granted. Safety, respect and dignity are the very least women who end up in the justice system can expect. We are on the right track to achieving that, but there is still much to do. I thank Katie Clark for bringing what is very important, worthwhile and interesting, to the chamber. I know how strongly Katie Clark and others in the chamber feel about the issue, and it is right that we give it some time and substance today in the short period that we have. There is also largely cross-party support for many of the issues. We, as a committee, work extremely well on a cross-party basis on issues like that. The results in many of our stage 1 reports reflect that way of working, and I commend it to the Parliament. It is fair to say that, probably like most people who find themselves remanded into custody and who have committed crime of sorts, that that does not happen in a vacuum, in a very rarely isolated incidence. We know from various studies, and I will refer some of them today, that a large proportion of women in custody, for example, are victims of domestic violence and abuse. In fact, a recent SPS survey, although it is six years out of date, probably could do with some updating, reported that 70 per cent of the female population had been the victim of violence by their spouse or their partner. Around 78 per cent reported a history of a serious head injury and trauma. I do not know what link one can make between that and the on-going cycle of violence, but clearly there is some academic research that needs to occur into that. I think that it is not just what happens in later life. We can go a step further back. We know that adverse childhood trauma is a very large contributor to outcomes in our prison population. That same study, which was taken across four prisons, reported that 85 per cent of women in prison had experienced childhood trauma and 92 per cent of them had gone on to experience further trauma in adulthood. In fact, 60 per cent of women in our prisons meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, which signals actual or threatened serious injury, violence and harm. I think that if violence is all you have known from childhood through to adulthood, it begs the question where on earth did we expect those people to find themselves other than prison. I wanted to touch on another issue in the short time that I have, which is not just about cycles of violence but the whole system. Perhaps there are some gaps. We know, for example, that when analysis is done upon the female prison population, there are very low levels of literacy and numeracy. For example, on a technical level, only 23 per cent of those who were recently assessed had levels S, C, Q, F3 or 2, meaning indicating that they lacked very basic literacy functions. The same is true on numeracy as well. In fact, I was really surprised to learn that, on a sample of 99 women in Contenvale, only 5 per cent of them had post-secondary level qualifications. 42 per cent had no formal qualifications at all, and 33 per cent were deemed unable to work due to illness or disability outside of the prison environment. I think that it is fair to say, though, that no one is calling on a blanket ban on sending women to prison. There clearly are incidences where it is the only place to be. I am quite intrigued and struck by comments made that sharers are somehow remanding people into prison because they deemed there to be no other options. I do not know whether that is anecdotal or true. If it is true, I find it extremely worrying. Public services should be there to fulfil the needs of even those who are accused of crime. Equally, we know that I dealt with a case very recently in my own region of a female offender who was in prison for very good reasons. She had beat and, indeed, sexually assaulted two very young children. She was released after serving just 18 months of that sentence, leading a conversation locally, at least instigated by victims and victims organisations, as to whether there was any fairness in that as well. I am afraid to say that, for one or better or worse, some women are capable of some very serious crimes. In that case, custody is the only effect. However, like others, I visited the Lily Centre in Maryhill. There was no one in it at the time, but it certainly was a different model, a very expensive model, which is right. However, the idea of housing people in households and the idea of self-management is a very intriguing one. I think that there is a lot to be learned from that. I am very intrigued to see how that progresses and what the outcomes are, particularly in regard to re-offending. I know that time is very short today. In our own party's manifesto at the last election, we had some very specific asks of the Government. Perhaps I will send them on to the minister in writing. It might be easier for the Government to respond to some of those particularly around access to mental health and addiction services in prison and assessment upon arrival. I am sure that there is lots of good work happening, but I think that it could be improved. I would like to thank once again Katie Clark and all members for participating in today's debate. Perhaps it is the start of a debate in the short time that we have left in this Parliament to look at some of these outcomes and see what we can all do on a cross-party basis to ensure that there is fairness in the justice system but also compassion. Pauline McNeill, to be followed by Collette Stevenson, in around four minutes. I would like to thank my colleague Katie Clark for choosing the subject to debate and for her excellent speech. It is a topic that is critical and critically important to justice policy. I am very glad that we are discussing women's offending and the treatment of women prisoners in Scotland's criminal justice system. As many of my colleagues have already noted, Scotland has one of the largest female prison populations in northern Europe, and since 2010 it has been the case, yet women make only 4 per cent of the prison population. A recent review of evidence found that women are less likely to receive a custodial sentence than them, but when they do, they get sent to prison. The sentences are usually shorter, but it is sad that it has taken us almost 20 years or more following various reports criticizing the current system for women to get to the point where we are finally recognising the unique characteristics and needs of women in custody and that many should not be in a prison and another facility is more appropriate. As Rhona Mackay mentioned, we recently had the opportunity to visit HMP Stirling with the Criminal Justice Committee. I was very impressed by the setup and by the work that the Scottish Prison Service has done here. The site that we got down in site 2 has no high security fences and it is prison to all intents and purposes, but it is something completely different than Corthinvale prison. However, because women are a vulnerable group, and Jamie Greene spoke to that too, it is often subject to domestic violence, coercive control and sexual abuse, including rape. Compared to the general population, women in prison have significantly greater rates of poor mental health compared to women in the general population and compared to male prisoners. One of the top issues for women prisoners is unresolved trauma and the biggest number, in fact, we are dealing with prisoners who have huge learning difficulties. The characteristics of female population is a really important factor here. In 2021, the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland published a report on women with mental ill health in prison in Scotland, noting serious concerns about the segregation of women for extended periods of time and the conditions in which women were held. A significant concern was women's access to medication and the recording of that. They noted that there were gaps in the dispensing of medications for physical and mental health in individual cases, amounting to significant gaps in treatment. The Scottish prison service indicates that many women should instead be in a mental health facility rather than a prison, mainly due to the powers that would be needed to deal with them. Women in prison also have higher lifetime instances of trauma, which include repeated physical and sexual victimisation of male prisoners and women in the general population. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Glasgow shocked evidence that three quarters of women in prison suffer from a self-reported, significant head injury and that 40 per cent also have an associated disability. Prison disrupts the women's lives and has long-term effects on the lives of their children. They have children, although precise figures are hard to obtain. It says to me that approximately 65 per cent of women in prison in Scotland and mothers are shockingly only 5 per cent of children stay in their own homes once their mother has been in prison. The effect of women's in prison on families, especially young children, can be utterly devastating. As women are much more likely than men to be the primary carer, the impact on children is more pronounced for our mothers in prisonment. The impact ranges from home, school moves, moving around schools, poor academic performance and increase the risk of mental health problems by their involvement in the criminal justice system. We know that prisoners or women's offending are different. We need to recognise that they are in prison for fairly minor offences such as theft, fraud, minor drug-related offences and only small minority of women are convicted of violent offences. A large majority have been victims of violence themselves. It is really important to highlight that when we develop prison policy. The introduction has been mentioned of the custody units in Bella Centre in Dundee and Lillia Centre in Maryhill is an incredible development. Those units are part and parcel of our redesigned system. One thing that I did note when I had a chance to visit them was that I think that there needs to be a revisit at the overall numbers. Previously, we would imprison 400 women, so we need to make sure that those alternatives for custody are there and that those units are used in the way that they were meant to. There was a report recently that one of the units was half empty after six months. We must make sure that we use those resources and we use them well. In conclusion, we know that there is a systematic level of violence against women and girls. We must make sure that when women offend that where they are housed is in an appropriate place, an appropriate setting, and they have the opportunity to rebuild their lives, I recommend the Scottish Government for making significant progress in creating a new setting for women's offending. I look forward to the other speeches this afternoon. I am grateful to Katie Clark for bringing this debate on women's prisoners. While Katie Clark and I share similar concerns about remands in general, it is really important to note the reasons for the higher percentage of women on remand. Firstly, the average daily population of women in prison has been decreasing in recent years, and that is very welcome. On top of that, there was a 7 per cent reduction in the sentence population in the women's estate in 2021-22 compared to the previous year, while the remand's population remained stable. The effect of that has been an increase in the percentage of the total population, even though the number of women on remand has not increased. Saying that, I do not disagree that we should be looking at what more can be done to reduce the remand population in women's prisons. The bail and release bill, which is currently going through Parliament, will offer additional measures to reduce the use of remand unless absolutely necessary. In 2019, a figure showed that about nine in 10 women sent to prison were given a prison sentence of 12 months or less. It is welcome that Parliament voted for a presumption against such short sentences. Evidence shows that short sentences are ineffective, and the ripple effect of someone going into prison for a few months can cause disproportionate harm to families and, ultimately, society. There is, of course, a role for prisons, but there must be modern institutions delivering outcomes that improve society. Victims of crime deserve justice, and in many cases that is through a custodial sentence. There are no other times when community disposals may be more appropriate. That point ties in with another important point in the motion for debate, the prevalence of brain injuries in women in prison and, in particular, those that are acquired through experience and domestic abuse. Many of the women in prison have experienced abuse, mental health problems or substance misuse. A key part of reducing reoffending and building a safer Scotland is to ensure that women in prison are supported through reintegrate into and contribute to society. We are all aware of the struggles that can't unveil in support of prisoners with their mental health. The new women's prison at Stirling has been designed to provide a safe and secure environment with intensive mental health support available. Furthermore, the Scottish Prison Service built new community custody units, including the Lillius Centre in Maryhill, which I visited recently. It was good to see the gender-specific and trauma-informed model that they used to best prepare women for reintegrating into the community. Part of that is allowing women to engage with the local services that they will need when they are released. That is something that we have talked about at length in the criminal justice committee, and the bail and release bill will stop Friday releases to give people the best possible support when they leave prison. To conclude, positive steps have been taken in recent years from the presumption against short sentences to the use of trauma-informed approaches and community custody units. I look forward to hearing from other members today, and I look forward to hearing the contributions from the minister on the on-going work to ensure better outcomes for women in prison, which will ultimately help to deliver a fairer and safer society. I thank Katie Clark for securing this important debate. I and my Scottish Green colleagues share Katie Clark's concerns, in particular about the fact that Scotland's record on the incarceration of women continues to be so disappointing, especially in comparison to our northern European neighbours. Most, if not all of us here this afternoon, will agree with the objective of seeing fewer women remandered into custody. We would also want to see far fewer women given custodial sentences upon conviction and a much, much more humane, flexible and sensitive environment for those already living in prison. The difficult question is how to achieve these outcomes. For to do so, we need not only to address issues of process, policy and funding, but to confront some deep-seated social attitudes, some intractable narratives that are blocking our path in following global best practice. One of those is the binary Manichean myth of a bright line between survivors and perpetrators of crime. This Parliament is rightly becoming much more conscious of the needs of victims and survivors, especially those who have experienced sexual, domestic or other forms of violence. What is not so widely acknowledged, especially by those who would use victims' rights as a cover for deeply regressive ideologies, is that the same childhood traumas, the same experiences of abuse and exclusion can lead either to the witness stand or to what used to be called the dock. Language of thugs, monsters and scum, the demonisation of defendants, does nothing to help survivors, only making it more likely that they themselves will face the same vilification as the unaddressed cycles of violence, abuse and trauma make their terrible rotation. It is literally a vicious circle, perpetrated by right-wing populism in both politics and the media, and it intersects with the second noxious narrative that prison is the only way of taking crime seriously. We know that incarceration doesn't lead to rehabilitation. In fact, prison is often one of the worst possible environments in which to achieve social integration and moral maturity, for prisons are not safe places free from violence, coercion or traumatic events. We know that incarceration doesn't act as a deterrent for those on the verge of committing offences simply don't make those cost-benefit analyses. On the other hand, we know that alternative responses, including restorative and community justice, do work, do lead to resolution and closure for survivors and responsibility and reparation by those convicted. However, as long as the tabloid headlines and those who take their policy positions from those headlines weigh justice solely in terms of years behind bars, those alternatives are starved from the outset. That failure hurts everyone, except perhaps those newspaper proprietors and their mouthpieces, but it hurts women most and it hurts the children they care for. Without sensitive, flexible and holistic support for women charged with an offence, remand can seem to courts like the least worst option. The bail and release bill that we will debate at its final stages soon takes a significant step in strengthening the presumption to bail, but that presumption needs to be underpinned not only by adequate services, but also by a change in attitude, a growth in empathy, understanding and evidence-based decision making. Of course, we must also work across Government departments, across all levels of the public sector, with third-segment partners and community organisations to reduce the number of women who are charged with offences in the first place. Prevention, as ever, is so much better than treatment. As long as poverty and inequality remain the key drivers of criminal behaviour and offending, we have an awful lot of work to do. However, this is work that we must do. Women caught up in our criminal justice system, whether as defendants, as victims or as both, deserve no less. I thank Katie Clark for tabling the motion and initiating this evening's debate on women prisoners and related issues that he raised in the motion. I thank all the members for their contributions to what has been a really important debate. The imprisonment rate in Scotland is too high, as is the proportion of people on remand. It is something that all of us in this Chamber can agree on. I also recognise the particular impact of this on women. There is no single reason why the proportion of women on remand is so high. I know that this is an issue that the Criminal Justice Committee, of which Ms Clark is a member, has considered in some detail and there are no simple solutions. As a society, we need to consider who and what we think imprisonment should be for, and debates like this one today are essential in informing that consideration. This Government has been clear that, in our view, that imprisonment will always be needed to protect the public, including the victims from harm. We are also clear on the importance of issues relating to women in the justice system, both as victims and in relation to offending or alleged offending. Of course, many women in the justice system as a result of offending have also been victims and have experienced significant trauma, adversity and abuse, which has been mentioned today in contributions. Through our vision for justice and the First Minister's policy prospectus, our strategic approach is focused on shifting the balance between the use of community disposals and prison, where appropriate, with particular focus on the needs of women who offend. While prison will always be necessary in some cases, the reality is a period of imprisonment often disrupts families and communities, adversely affects health, employment and housing, the very things that we know support dissidents from offending. Where prison is the only suitable punishment, we will continue to invest in modernising our prison estate and supporting our prison staff. The motion knows that HMP Colton Vale is in the process of being replaced by HMP Sterling, and this is a significant milestone. It follows a period of unprecedented and sustained investment to transform and modernise a female estate so that it supports women towards a more settled path in life. The new Sterling prison will provide world-leading facilities that are designed to meet the specific needs of women, focusing on rehabilitation and reducing re-offending. This follows the opening of the two new community custody units for women in Dundee in Glasgow in the past year, which have also been mentioned this evening. These are evidence-based design models to help to produce the best possible outcomes for the women, their families and their communities. HMP Sterling will deliver world-leading trauma-informed care and management for women in custody, giving them the best possible chance of a successful return to their communities upon liberation. We are also taking a range of actions to shift the balance from the use of custody to community interventions that we know are more effective at reducing re-offending. That includes the legislative action. The bail and release from custody bill, which is currently at stage 3, intends to refocus the use of remand, so that it is reserved for those who pose a risk to public safety or victim safety or, in certain circumstances, the administration of justice. For those who do not pose that risk, bail should be the default. The bill also seeks to improve the support provided to those leaving prison to help them to resettle in their communities, recognising that that can be a really vulnerable time. Can I ask what conversation the minister or the cabinet secretary of justice has had with the Sheriff's Association? There has clearly been a discussion around whether it believes that remand has been overused, particularly by male sheriffs in regard to women, for the reasons that we mentioned, i.e., there are no alternatives. I am very keen that we understand the data that is driving those accusations, because it is quite a serious one, and I wonder if the Government will undertake to have that conversation with the Sheriff's Association as a result of what has been said today. I thank Jamie Greene for that intervention. I personally have not had those conversations, and I will ask the Cabinet Secretary if she has not, that she will endeavour to meet up with him to find out the substance of what has been said. Legislation alone is not the answer, of course. That is why this Government is continuing to invest in community justice services, including alternatives to remand against the backdrop of significant financial constraints. In 2023-24, we will invest £134 million in community justice services, including £123 million allocated to local authorities, with a specific investment of £3.2 million for bail assessment and bail supervision services. That is having an impact with more local authorities establishing a bail supervision service alongside the on-going roll-out of electronically monitored bail services. Sentencing decisions around remand are key when it comes to any discussion about women in prison. In that regard, it is important to know that these decisions are rightly the matter of an independent judiciary. Working within the legislative framework established by the Parliament, I have already mentioned the bail and the release from custody bill, but earlier reforms such as the extension of the presumption against short sentences are also relevant. I know my colleague Collette Steeves had mentioned this earlier on. We know from evidence that women generally receive shorter sentences than men and are less likely to receive a custodial sentence and are reconvicted less often on average. Women also represent a minority of those convicted of a crime and of the prison population in Scotland, a feature that is consistent over time and that they tend to be convicted of different types of crime when compared to men. However, women in prison in Scotland often present with a number of complex and interconnected needs, which we have also discussed. Broadly speaking, they disproportionately experience physical and psychological problems that are frequently exacerbated by substance abuse, often as a result of traumatic events experienced in childhood and in adults. It is right that we continue to take gender and trauma-reformed approach to help to prevent offending and to support effective rehabilitation in community and in custody. I would like to comment on some of the contributions tonight. I know Katie Clark and Pauline McNeill mentioned the community custody units. The Scottish Prison Service is actively considering ways in which it could change the criteria for administration into these to maximise the benefit for women. There is a formal evaluation of what is currently under way, and I will ensure that the member is updated on that. I know Rowne Mackay, Collette Steveson and Jamie Greene also mentioned women who have been traumatised in head injuries and adverse childhood experiences. I would like to say that the Scottish Government takes seriously the responsibility to ensure that those going through the criminal justice system with mental health issues are appropriately supported, treated and cared for, while ensuring that their rights are being maintained. In closing, I offer the assurance that the Government is committed to addressing the challenges in respect of women in our prisons. I point to the progress we have made while acknowledging that there is still more to be done, and this takes time with political consensus. I look forward to working with members to deliver the changes that are needed.