Alex Salmond feared prisoners could sue his Government for overcrowding

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Alex Salmond’s government feared prisoners could sue ministers due to overcrowding, cabinet papers have revealed.In the first year of the SNP’s time running the country, the prison population reached an all-time high, heaping pressure on the system and overcrowding jails.According to cabinet papers released by National Records of Scotland (NRS), the number of prisoners was 7,736 in April 2008 and would rise above 8,000.This was despite an operating capacity of 6,625.In a cabinet meeting on May 6, ministers were told prisoners could mount a successful challenge under the European Convention of Human Rights.Minutes from the meeting said: “This had put severe pressure on the estate, and on (Scottish Prison Service) contingency arrangements: there was no spare capacity that could be used for the handling of any unexpected emergency.“Additionally, there was a possibility that prisoners might be able to mount a successful challenge to current conditions under ECHR.”The then justice secretary Kenny MacAskill proposed the passing of secondary legislation, which would create a short-term release programme for prisoners to be used if overcrowding became unmanageable.But he warned there would have to be a work element involved in the release, otherwise prisoners’ living costs would have to be paid by the Government because they are ineligible for benefits.He conceded this aspect of the plan would have “significant presentational issues”.A paper put to ministers ahead of the meeting said that for every 100 prisoners in the early release programme, £6,000 would have to be paid in discharge grants and £8,000 weekly in living costs.The paper went on to say “very few of the measures I am proposing will be easy to sell – either