Offender Help Groups To Share £1M

Three organisations working to reduce reoffending are to share almost £1 million of Scottish Government funding.

Apex Scotland, Sacro and Families Outside will use the cash for specialist services for offenders and their families in 2015/16.

The voluntary organisations aim to address the issues which fuel crime, help people with employment and rehabilitation, and support families so that children of offenders do not take the same path.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: We need to do everything we can to break the cycle of reoffending and end the revolving door to our prisons which sees low-level offenders going in and out of prisons time and time again.

Scotland can do better and we can be bolder in our approach. We need to look at the wider picture of offending, ensuring, for example, that links to the family and community can be maintained whilst targeted work is undertaken to address the specific issue which is fuelling the crime such as alcohol, drugs or mental-health issues.

The three organisations we are helping with funding today are doing some fantastic work to break the cycle of offending through targeted intervention and I am pleased to announce this support for them.''

Mr Matheson has also confirmed that a series of local events will take place across the country next month to allow all those with an interest in the future of women's offending to give their views.

It comes after he announced that plans for a new women's prison at Inverclyde will not go ahead and a different approach will be taken.