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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland's ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Affairs Correspondent, Reevel Alderson, investigates Scotland's prisons crisis and asks if community sentences are a better alternative to jail?

Our prison population is up by 25 per cent since 1997, topping 8,000 for the first time. The situation is so acute that the governor of the largest jail, Barlinnie, has said he can no longer guarantee the security of the prison. And yet this is happening as crime rates continue to fall, as they have almost every year since 1992.

With more than 80 per cent of custodial sentences for six months or less, is more community sentencing the solution, or simply a soft touch?

Henry McLeish, the former first minister and the man whose report is paving the way for more community sentences, joins us in the studio to take your calls.

Graham Stewart presents.