Prison bosses are taking action on the issue of open prisons Brian Taylor's blog

Tory leader Annabel Goldie said ministers' desire for "convicts in the community" raised public safety issues.

Speaking at question time in Holyrood, First Minister Alex Salmond said prison bosses were doing their utmost to protect communities from harm.

Labour leader Wendy Alexander accused Mr Salmond of ducking tough questions on plans for a local income tax.

The first minister also welcomed a Liberal Democrat motion, demanding the UK Government hold a full inquiry on the Iraq War, on the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict.

This isn't a case of can't say, this is a case of won't say, deliberately leaving every Scottish employer and worker in the dark Wendy Alexander Scottish Labour leader

Under questioning from Miss Goldie, Mr Salmond said the Scottish Prison Service had been asked not to return criminals who had previously gone on the run from open prisons back to such jails.

His comments came after the case of Robert Foye, who raped a 16-year-old schoolgirl after absconding from Castle Huntly open prison, near Dundee, last year.

The 28-year-old, considered to have a high-risk of reoffending, had previously absconded from the same prison in 2005 and the prison service is addressing procedures on transferring prisoners to open jails.

Miss Goldie said the Foye case revealed gaping inadequacies in the system, adding: "The public wants prisoners in prison. The SNP government wants convicts in the community.

"Who would have thought that when the SNP cried freedom they had in mind the prison population."

'Disastrous policy'

Miss Goldie attacked government plans to extend the use of electronic tagging which, she said, meant more prisoners getting out earlier.

Mr Salmond said the authorities recognised the "unacceptable nature" of Foye's attack, but told MSPs: "Although dreadful mistakes do and can happen, the Scottish Prison Service is working at their utmost and their best to protect our communities from harm."

The first minister said the 66 cases this year of prisoners absconding from open jails compared to 98 in the last year of the Tory government.

And he insisted tagging played a "valuable role" in the system.

Ms Alexander accused Mr Salmond of withholding information from the consultation process surrounding government plans to replace council tax with the 3p local income tax.

She said information on how much the new tax would raise was "sneaked out" in an answer to a parliamentary question, and claimed it would cost almost �100m to set up and �100m-a-year to run.

Mr Salmond said it was time to scrap the council tax

She asked the first minister: "Is he really expecting us to believe that at no point in the last 10 months did Finance Secretary John Swinney ask for any new cost estimates for the new collection systems they are proposing?

"This isn't a case of can't say, this is a case of won't say, deliberately leaving every Scottish employer and worker in the dark."

Defending the plans, Mr Salmond said the detailed figures had been published, responding: "I suggest Wendy Alexander reads them.

"If she does, she will learn that taxation based on ability to pay is fairer than taxation like the council tax - which the Labour Party managed to increase from March 1997 to last year by 62%."

Lib Dem leader Nicol Stephen, whose party opposed the Iraq war along with the SNP, told parliament: "The point of a public inquiry is not to say 'we told you so' but to ensure that our country and its armed forces are not involved in a similar folly in the future."

Mr Salmond described the war as "the most disastrous foreign policy decision of recent times", adding: "Our brave servicemen and women are doing the job they were ordered to do, and they are risking their lives every day."