The leading Scottish forum of crime experts has backed the Sentencing Commission in its call for a sharp cut in the prison population.

The leading Scottish forum of crime experts has backed the Sentencing Commission in its call for a sharp cut in the prison population.

A report published today argues that crime rates in Scotland have been either stable or falling, yet there have been sharp increases in the numbers jailed and less resources for rehabilitation of serious offenders.

The Scottish Consortium on Crime and Criminal Justice points out that in nine out of 19 similar countries in recent years, there has been a move away from the use of prisons as a means of tackling offending.

It agrees with the Sentencing Commission set up by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and chaired by former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish, that recommended earlier this summer there should be more use of a revamped and simplified system of community sentences, and a cut to 5000 in the number of inmates.

Statistics published this week showed numbers breaking through the 8000 level for the first time, far above the design capacity for Scottish jails. The number of female prisoners is up 90% in 10 years, while male inmates haven risen by 15%.

The forum is publishing its third annual report into crime and punishment, arguing Scotland should not be making more use of imprisonment than all comparable countries in western Europe. It is the fourth-highest in that region, more than double the rates of Denmark and Finland and nearly twice the rates of Italy, Switzerland, Norway and Ireland.

The report found that in the past 10 years, levels of crime have stayed steady in Scotland, including serious violence. Burglaries are down, while less-serious crimes such as damage to property and minor assaults, are becoming more common.

Baroness Vivien Stern, the consortium convener, commented: "All the evidence in our report supports the conclusion of the report of the Scottish Prisons Commission in saying that Scotland would be safer if the prison population were reduced to 5000, if the prison service could use its resources to deal in depth with the serious offenders, and if the money and effort currently spent on processing and on imprisoning less serious offenders was used for more constructive community sentencing."

A consultation on sentencing guidelines and the proposed creation of a permanent Sentencing Commission is to be published on Monday.