Fewer criminals will end up in prison under controversial reforms by the SNP’s new Justice Secretary.

Neil Gray has boosted the community justice budget and suggested that offenders who do not pose a ‘risk’ to the general public should not go to jail.

Supporters of the move claimed that diverting people who do not cause harm away from prison is ‘smart justice, not soft-touch justice’.

But more than one in four community payback orders - where offenders are sentenced to unpaid work or other community-based activity - are not completed.

Action has already been taken to drive down prison populations, including emergency early release for some offenders and also reducing the early release point.

But the indication by the newly-appointed Justice Secretary that further action will be taken to reduce the number of offenders behind bars has led to concerns that more victims of crime will not get real justice.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Stephen Kerr said: ‘This isn’t justice reform - it’s the SNP scrambling to deal with the consequences of their own failures. After nearly twenty years in power, they have left Scotland’s prisons overcrowded, failed to deliver the prison capacity the country needs and now want to solve the problem by sending fewer offenders to jail.

‘Let’s be clear about what is happening here. This is not a sentencing policy driven by what is right for victims or what is best for public safety. It is a sentencing policy driven by a shortage of prison places.

‘The SNP have already weakened confidence in the justice system through their reckless early release schemes. Now they are looking for yet another way to keep offenders out of prison because they cannot cope with the consequences of their own mismanagement.

‘Community sentences have a role to play, but prison exists to punish offenders, protect the public and deliver justice for victims. The Scottish Conservatives believe sentences should mean what they say, victims should come first and those who commit crimes should face the consequences of their actions. Instead of fixing Scotland’s prison capacity crisis, the SNP are once again changing the punishment to fit their own failures.’

Mr Gray, who was appointed Justice Secretary following John Swinney’s reshuffle after last month’s Holyrood election, has boosted the community justice budget to a record £170,000 as he attempts to move towards alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders.

Increased use of community sentencing for non-violent offenders could help lower the prison population and save money, as new research indicates it is 25 times cheaper than jail.

The independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission has recommended that the prison population is cut from the current ‘unsustainable’ level of more than 8,200 to 5,775.

In an interview with the Sunday Post, Mr Gray said: ‘Protecting victims and the public from further harm is my absolute priority. Those presenting a risk should be imprisoned.

‘But that is a key point - risk. Supporting a shift in the balance between the use of custodial sentences and effective community disposals is entirely consistent with that. It can provide much better outcomes and is better for the public purse than keeping an offender in prison.’

He added: ‘Further bold collaborative action will be needed to ensure our prisons function effectively – and a shift towards community justice, with public safety remaining paramount, must be part of that.’

Community sentencing could be supported for those who are not regarded as posing a physical risk of harm, such as shoplifters, fraudsters or those committing driving crimes.

In 2024/25, around 16,500 community payback orders were issued in north of the Border, which was nine per cent higher than the previous year but the successful completion rate was only 71 per cent.

Karyn McCluskey, chief executive of Community Justice Scotland, said the current approach is not working and there should be more of a focus on prevention and rehabilitation.

She said: ‘Research shows three-quarters of the public recognise prison is not always the answer, particularly when we are dealing with low-level offences where nobody has been harmed.

‘Short-term prison sentences for these types of crimes do not work, reconviction rates support that. But we must be very clear, we are not advocating soft-touch justice in place of prison. We are advocating it because it has proven to be more effective. This is smart justice, not soft-touch justice.

‘The smarter use of monitoring technology along with rehabilitation support from drink and drugs not only works, it benefits communities as well as changing the behaviour of offenders in the long term.

‘Right now, we are spending £53,000 a year keeping a single low-level offender in jail even when we know up to half of them will be back in the system within a year. In comparison, it costs a fraction to invest in changing lives forever.’