Scotland's prison population has reached an all-time high, according to the latest figures.

A total of 7609 prisoners were in custody last Friday, around 1000 above capacity and nearly 20% more than 10 years ago.

The rise is even more pronounced among the female prison population, which has increased by 90% in the past 10 years to stand at 393.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will visit Cornton Vale women's prison in Stirling today along with members of the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee to look at how the jail is coping with the record numbers. The Scottish Government has said it wants to see greater use made of community sentences as a way of reducing prison numbers and tackling Scotland's high re-offending rates.

Speaking ahead of his visit, Mr MacAskill said the huge rise in the female prison population was "alarming".

He said: "I am determined to turn around high reoffending rates and, although some progress has been made in dealing with the specific needs of female offenders, more can be done.

"The mandatory use of supervised attendance orders for fine defaulters is designed to remove up to 3000 receptions per year of fine defaulters to our prisons, including those who might otherwise have been sent to Cornton Vale." He added: "There is clearly something perverse if less people are offending and more people are going to jail."

In one government-backed approach, a pilot scheme which uses former prisoners as mentors to inmates being released from jail has claimed success in placing people in work or training.

The Wise Group, the charity which runs the Routes Out of Prison pilot, has achieved twice as many work or training placements as is usual, according to data seen by The Herald.

The government has also set up an independent prisons commission, headed up by former First Minister Henry McLeish, to look at current penal policy and assess what changes could be made to reduce the number of inmates. At a conference in Edinburgh last week, Mr McLeish said he wanted Scotland's courts to reach a point "where prison is an alternative to community sentencing, not the other way around".

Ministers have already unveiled proposals aimed at ensuring community penalties are used to their full potential in the future.