The Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics 2005-06

30/01/2007

The Statistical Bulletin Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics, 2005-06 is published today by the Scottish Executive.

The main points to emerge include:

Social Enquiry Reports

• 42,043 SERs (including supplementary reports) were submitted by local authorities to the courts in 2005-06, up four per cent from 40,265 in 2004-05. The 2005-06 total corresponds to 116 reports per 10,000 population.
• 35,342 SERs (excluding supplementary reports) were submitted to the courts, an increase of three per cent from 34,301 in 2004-05.

Community Service Orders (excluding probation orders with a requirement of unpaid work)

• 5,927 CSOs were made in 2005-06, a six per cent increase over the previous year's total of 5,573. The total equates to 16.4 orders per 10,000 population.
• 1,502 breach applications were made to the courts in respect of CSOs, a very slight increase from the previous year's total of 1,498.
• 5,093 CSOs were terminated (including orders which were successfully completed), an increase of six per cent from the previous year's total of 4,813.

Probation Orders (including those with a requirement of unpaid work)

• 8,402 POs were made in 2005-06, down one per cent from 8,465 in 2004-05. The total corresponds to 23.2 orders per 10,000 population.
• 3,375 breach applications were made to the courts in respect of POs, a 22 per cent increase compared to the total of 2,769 in 2004-05. This is believed to be due, in part, to a change in recording practice in Glasgow City.
• 6,328 POs were terminated in 2005-06, an increase of 27 per cent on the previous year's total of 4,973.

Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work

• 2,692 POs with a requirement of unpaid work were made in 2005-06, down two per cent from the 2004-05 total of 2,757. The total corresponds to 7.4 orders per 10,000 population.
• 1,110 breach applications were made to the courts in respect of POs with a requirement of unpaid work in 2005-06, an increase of 20 per cent on the 925 applications in 2004-05.

Supervised Attendance Orders

• 3,849 SAOs were made in 2005-06, up 15 per cent from the total of 3,360 in 2004-05. The total corresponds to 10.6 orders per 10,000 population.
• 1,462 breach applications were made to the courts in respect of SAOs, an increase of 22 per cent from the 2004-05 total of 1,203.
• 2,912 SAOs were terminated, an increase of 22 per cent from the previous year's total of 2,385.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders

• 599 DTTOs were made in 2005-06, up 14 per cent from 526 in 2004-05. The total corresponds to 1.7 orders per 10,000 population.
• There were 233 breach applications and 465 terminations of DTTOs, increases of 15 per cent and 48 per cent respectively on the 2004-05 figures.

Restriction of LibertyOrders

• 984 RLOs were made in 2005-06, an increase of seven per cent from 917 in 2004-05. The total of 984 corresponds to 2.7 orders per 10,000 population.
• 986 reports on RLO breaches were made, an increase of 28 per cent from the total of 770 in 2004-05.

Statutory Throughcare

• 1,105 throughcare (in the community) cases commenced, a decrease of 20 per cent from the 1,373 cases commenced in 2004-05.
• 1,082 throughcare (in custody) cases commenced and, in total, 4,901 individuals were subject to statutory throughcare in the community and in custody as at March 31, 2006.

Voluntary Assistance and the Throughcare Addiction Service

• 1,622 voluntary assistance cases commenced and there were 1,523 individuals receiving voluntary assistance in 2005-06, corresponding to 4.5 cases and 4.2 individuals per 10,000 population.
• Of the voluntary assistance cases commenced in 2005-06, 427 related to the Throughcare Addiction Service (TAS).

Home Circumstances Reports

• 1,361 HCRs, excluding home leave reports, were reported in 2005-06, an increase of two per cent on the 2004-05 figure of 1,339. Including home leave reports, 2,126 HCRs were reported in 2005-06.

Diversion from Prosecution

• 1,198 diversion from prosecution cases commenced in 2005-06, an increase of 13 per cent from the 2004-05 total of 1,064 cases.

Bail Information

• The courts made 8,052 requests to local authorities for bail information in 2005-06, up five per cent since 2004-05. A total of 917 bail supervision cases commenced, relating to 774 individuals.

Court Services

• 1,589 stand down reports were provided to the courts, an increase of 24 per cent on the 1,283 provided in 2004-05. In addition, 14,579 post sentence interviews were carried out and 49,514 SERs were presented to the courts.

Background:

The full statistical bulletin can be viewed on the Scottish Executive website via the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00561

2. A social enquiry report (SER) provides information about an offender and their background, prior to sentencing and helps the court decide how best to deal with the case. They can be requested for any case but this must be done before imposing a custodial sentence for the first time, or if the offender is under 21. A SER must be obtained before making a community service or probation order.

In some cases, supplementary reports may be submitted to the court. These are shorter reports which provide further information, in addition to that previously provided in a SER.

3. From 16 years of age, someone convicted of a crime or offence can be given a community service order by the courts that requires them to carry out unpaid community work, as an alternative to custody. CSOs are for a minimum of 80 hours and up to a maximum of 240 hours under summary procedure and 300 hours under solemn procedure, and must be completed within 12 months.

4. Probation orders enable criminal justice social work services to focus on offending behaviour. The offender's prior consent is required, and the order should be informed by an action plan in which the offender agrees to address their offending behaviour and its underlying causes. Additional conditions can be attached by courts for example requirements to undertake unpaid work, or relating to their place of residence, curfews, financial compensation to the victim or attendance at specialist programmes, for example for alcohol or drug problems. The maximum length of a probation order is three years.

5. Supervised attendance orders require an offender who has failed to pay a fine to undertake a specified programme. These can be educational activities, activities designed to stimulate interest and encourage the constructive use of time; or periods of unpaid community work. These run for between 10 and 100 hours (subject to a limit of 50 hours where the outstanding amount is up to £200) as ordered by the court.

6. DTTOs are available to the High Court, Sheriff Courts and the Glasgow Stipendiary Magistrates Court. In 2005-06 the order was available to almost all such courts with the final courts coming on stream in September 2006. These are a high tariff disposal for offenders who might otherwise receive a custodial sentence and contain features unique to community disposals, including a requirement for regular reviews by the court and a requirement that the offender consents to regular, random drug tests throughout the order.

7. RLOs have been available to the High, sheriff and stipendiary courts in Scotland since May 2002. They can be imposed for up to one year, and involves restricting an individual to or from a specified place during certain hours.

8. Throughcare, voluntary assistance and home circumstance cover a range of services to prisoners and their families from the point of sentence or remand, during the period of imprisonment and following release into the community. Throughcare and home circumstance services are primarily concerned with assisting prisoners to prepare for release and to help them to resettle into the community, within the law, where required by statute as part of a licence. Voluntary assistance provides a similar service where it is not required by statute but is requested by the offender.

9. The new Throughcare Addiction Service commenced on August 1, 2005 and forms part of the voluntary aftercare service. TAS is delivered by local authority criminal justice social work - or by one of their contracted service providers - who will work with the offender in the six week period prior to release from custody through the six week period post-release. The TAS worker will offer a more intensive motivational service and attempt to help the offender address their addiction (and associated) difficulties and link them into appropriate services.

10. Diversion from prosecution schemes aim to provide people accused of minor offences with support and advice for problems associated with their offending. Prosecution is deferred, subject to successful completion of the scheme.

11. Bail information records assistance given to procurators fiscal and courts through verification of information in relation to cases where bail might otherwise have been opposed or refused.