Members' Business — S6M-07522 Rona Mackay: The Cost to Families of Imprisonment and Release

That the Parliament acknowledges what it sees as the deepening financial and emotional hardship of families with a loved one in prison after a decade of austerity, the COVID-19 pandemic and the present cost of living crisis; notes the impact of what it considers this harsh reality in a new report by Families Outside, the only national charity that works solely on behalf of families in Scotland, including in the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency, who are affected by imprisonment; understands that one in three children in disadvantaged areas of the country are now living in poverty; believes that the cost of imprisonment is overwhelmingly borne by single women on low incomes, with single parents hit especially hard financially, along with the added adverse impact on mental health as a consequence of supporting someone in prison; notes the view that more support is needed for people on release from prison, which it considers would in turn help their families; highlights what it considers the role of prison in creating, sustaining and deepening poverty among children and families, and notes the view that more must be done to relieve what it sees as the financial and mental burden carried silently by families for too long, and to ensure that their voices are heard.