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4. Probation Orders ( POs) (Chart 10 to 15 and Tables 4.1 to 4.10)
4.1 A total of 8,404 POs (including POs with a Requirement of Unpaid Work) were made in 2006-07, or 23.0 per 10,000 population. This is an increase of two orders from the 2005-06 total of 8,402 Orders.
Chart 10: Number of Probation Orders (1), 2002-03 to 2006-07
1. Includes Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work.
4.2 Male offenders accounted for 82 per cent of POs. The incidence of POs was highest amongst 18 to 20 year olds (77.0 per 10,000 population) and was also relatively common amongst 16 to 17 year olds (68.8) and 21 to 25 year olds (48.0).
4.3 Males receiving Probation tended to be younger than females, with 31 per cent of POs for males and 23 per cent of those for females being given to offenders aged under 21 years.
Chart 11: Probation Orders (1) by Age and Gender of Offender, 2006-07
Orders per 10,000 population
1. Includes Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work.
2. Includes a small number of Orders relating to offenders aged under 16 years.
4.4 In 2006-07, forty-three per cent of all POs were 12 months in length, which is the same as in recent years. A further 25 per cent were of length 18 months and 17 per cent were of length 2 years. Females (55 per cent) were more likely than males (50 per cent) to receive orders of length 12 months or less. Only 8 per cent of orders were for lengths of less than one year.
4.5 The average length of a Probation Order in 2006-07 was 16 months for males and 15 months for females.
Chart 12: Probation Orders (1) by length of order, 2002-03 to 2006-07
1. Includes Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work.
4.6 As with Community Service, the employment status of offenders provides an indication of the availability of offenders (see paragraph 3.6). Seventy-three per cent of POs were for offenders who were unemployed or not seeking employment. The proportion of POs for offenders who were unemployed or not seeking work was higher for females (81 per cent) than for males (71 per cent). A further 19 per cent of POs were for offenders in full-time employment, self employed, in full time education or on a government sponsored training scheme.
4.7 Thirty-nine per cent of all POs had standard conditions only. A Requirement of Unpaid Work was made in 27 per cent of Orders, while 16 per cent included conditions of Alcohol and/or Drug Treatment/Education. Information was collected for the first time in 2005-06 on POs with a condition of attendance on a domestic abuse programme or of attendance on a sex offender programme (accredited or non-accredited). POs with a condition of attendance on a domestic abuse programme has remained unchanged since then at 2 per cent and the number of POs with a condition of attendance on a sex offender programme has remained virtually unchanged (79 cases in 2005-06 and 80 in 2006-07).
4.8 Probation Orders with standard conditions only were more likely to be imposed on females (47 per cent) than males (37 per cent). A Requirement of Unpaid Work was more common amongst males (28 per cent) than females (20 per cent).
Chart 13: Percentage of POs (1) by conditions, 2002-03 to 2006-07
1. Includes Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work.
2. Other includes Venture Trust, electronic monitoring, licence of attendance on a sex offenders programme and other intensive conditions.
Breach Applications of Probation Orders
4.9 There were 3,650 breach applications made to the Courts in 2006-07 in respect of POs, an increase of 8 per cent compared to the 2005-06 total of 3,375 applications.
4.10 The number of breach applications is not directly comparable with the number of orders provided previously (which covers new orders only) as some of the breach applications may relate to orders started in previous years. However, a rough estimate of the number of orders running during the year can be made using information on the length of orders started in 2004-05 to 2005-06. This gives an estimated total of around 13,000 POs running in 2006-07, which suggests that around one in four orders result in a breach application.
4.11 Thirteen per cent of breach applications resulted in the original order being revoked and a custodial sentence imposed, 10 per cent resulted in the order being revoked and a new probation order imposed, 1 per cent in the order being revoked and a community service order being imposed and 7 per cent in the original order being revoked and some other action taken (including a monetary penalty). In 18 per cent of applications, the original order was continued and no further action taken by the court. The outcome was not yet known in 35 per cent of applications.
Chart 14: Breach applications of POs (1) by outcome, 2002-03 to 2006-07
1. Includes Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work.
4.12 Males accounted for 84 per cent of breach applications. For all applications, the majority of breaches (53 per cent) were caused by non compliance, 44 per cent by a further offence (committed during the period of the PO) while the remainder resulted from both non compliance and a further offence.
Terminations of Probation Orders
4.13 A total of 6,755 POs were terminated in 2006-07, an increase of 7 per cent from the 2005-06 total of 6,328. Just over 60 per cent of these orders were successfully completed (including early discharge following a review). Twenty-seven per cent were terminated following a breach application. The remaining 13 per cent of orders were terminated for other reasons (including transfer to another area and death of the offender).
Chart 15: Terminations of POs (1) by reason, 2002-03 to 2006-07
1. Includes Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work.
2. Includes orders terminated by early discharge following review.
3. Includes transfers out of the area and death.
4.14 Females (62 per cent) were slightly more likely to complete orders successfully (including early discharge following a review) than males (60 per cent). The same proportion of orders were terminated following a breach for both males and females (26 per cent).
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