JUSTICE Secretary Michael Matheson has launched a defence of Scottish Government plans to end automatic early release for long-term prisoners, insisting that the proposals will protect the public.

Mr Matheson, appearing before Holyrood's Justice Committee after measures set out in the Prisoners (Control of Release) (Scotland) Bill were attacked by academics, said that evidence suggested that offenders released following a decision by a parole board, rather than automatically, were far less likely to reoffend.

Under the planned law change, prisoners serving sentences of four years or more would no longer be released two-thirds of the way into their sentence, with their fate instead decided by a parole board.

Critics have said that it could lead to the most dangerous offenders serving the entirety of their sentences before being released with no supervision, making them more likely to commit further crimes.

The Justice Secretary said that following the concerns, a period of between three and six months of compulsory supervision in the community would take place at the end of sentences, but denied accusations that this amounted to a mere "rebranding" of the current system.

"It's unfair to say that," he said. "Automatic early release is at two-thirds of the way into a sentence, with no control over that whatsoever. We are prepared to give powers to the parole board to say what period of community supervision there should be. At the moment, the parole board are powerless to stop anybody who qualifies for automatic early release."

He added: "Prisoners released automatically are seven times more likely to breach their licence conditions compared to those released by the parole board. That's a significant gap. I believe this will improve public protection."

Mr Matheson added that the Scottish Prison Service was currently re-examining how rehabilitation programmes are delivered inside jails. The Herald revealed that more than 850 prisoners are currently on waiting lists for courses, compared to just 300 who are currently in programmes.

The pressure over courses has led to fears that prisoners affected by an end to automatic early release could sue on the grounds of arbitrary detention, claiming they had not been given a fair chance to prove themselves worthy of release if they were turned down by a parole board while on waiting lists for programmes.

Mr Matheson suggested that rehabilitation programmes would be tailored more to individuals, while saying he was keen that the issue of a "revolving door" of offenders being given ineffective short sentences is addressed. "If there is a need for additional resources going forward - which will be a number of years ahead - we will look at that," he said.

However, he rejected calls for the legislation to be delayed for further consultation. "We have made it very clear that as a Government we are ending automatic early release," Mr Matheson added. "I am not persuaded there would be a benefit in delaying it. Many victims would find it difficult to understand."