Offender tagging scheme extended across Scotland
Tristan Donovan
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Powers to electronically tag young offenders have been extended to all children's hearings in Scotland.
The Scottish Government yesterday announced that all hearings will now be able to put offenders on the Intensive Support and Monitoring Service (ISMS), which uses a mix of intensive work and movement restrictions to steer young people away from crime.
Hearings in seven local authority areas have been testing out ISMS but now it will be an option in every part of Scotland.
Community safety minister Fergus Ewing said: “We believe prevention is better than cure in the long-term fight against crime.
“This means tackling the root causes of crime and intervening earlier to help those at greatest risk of falling into offending because of the circumstances they are born into.”
Funding to pay for the use of ISMS will be included in local authority grants from April 2008 but it will not be ringfenced.
A good practice guide based on the experiences of the seven trial authorities will be published in the near future.
The seven councils who tested ISMS were: Dundee; East Dunbartonshire; Edinburgh; Glasgow; Highland; Moray; and West Dunbartonshire.
The use of ISMS was introduced in the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004.
