Scotland’s Justice Secretary has refused to set a target to reduce the swelling prison population.
Neil Gray said such a target would not be “wise” because the courts must have the ability “to incarcerate people who pose a risk to society”.
More than 8,550 inmates are currently held in Scotland’s prisons, well above the design capacity of 7,805, and the Scottish Government has been warned the population could exceed 9,000 next year.
Ministers have previously released hundreds of prisoners early in an attempt to curb overcrowding.
Mr Gray said on Wednesday that new prisons being built in Glasgow and Inverness should add additional capacity.
He told Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee: “I want to make sure that the courts have the capability to incarcerate people who pose a risk to society.
“I won’t apologise for the fact that average sentences have increased. I think that is right that we have sentences matching the seriousness of criminality that we have faced.
“However, I believe that we are substantially beyond our levels of incarceration that we should be at.”
Green MSP Maggie Chapman asked the minister: “If we are not sure what our target is, how do we know whether penal reform is working?”
Mr Gray replied: “We need to prevent people becoming victims in the first place.
“However, we must also have capacity there in the prison system to ensure that we are still capable of incarcerating those who pose the most significant risk to society.
“I think that is a critical part of our justice system that needs to remain, and so I don’t think it would be wise to set a target for what that incarceration level should be, because that is going to fluctuate depending on the business that comes through the courts and the levels of criminality that we see.”