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CHAPTER 5: COSTS

5.1 Between 2004/2005 and 2006/2007, £644, 403 funding was provided to the pilot sites overall, with actual expenditure totalling £627,639. This equated to a 4% underspend in Angus, a 10% underspend in Highland, and a 5% overspend in Ayrshire (See Table 26 below).

Table 26: Expected and actual real terms costs per pilot site, 2006/07 prices

5.2 Pilot sites were funded on the basis of expected numbers of cases. In order to make a comparison between pilot areas, costs per case have been calculated based on expected expenditure divided by expected numbers of cases, and actual expenditure divided by actual numbers of cases (see Table 27). Out of the 3 pilot areas, cost per SDS was lowest in Angus, and highest in Ayrshire. This is a result of the need for each pilot site to incur start-up costs, but also take-up rates, which were lower than had been predicted. This particularly affected Ayrshire, where take-up was much lower than expected.

5.3 The actual cost per case was 1.4 times the expected cost in Angus, 1.6 times the expected cost in Highland, and 3.9 times the expected cost in Ayrshire. This means that the actual cost per case overall was twice that anticipated.

Table 27: Expected and Actual Real Terms Cost Per Case, 2006/07 Prices

5.4 The actual unit cost for SDS orders in Angus is similar to the cost of probation, while the cost of SDS orders in Highland, and SDS costs overall, is comparable with the cost of a community service order (see Table 28). However, these cost comparisons are indicative only, as the costs for alternative disposals are based on historic costs. Furthermore, they do not offer a full comparison of value for money across disposals, as it has not been possible to compare the effectiveness of the different interventions.

Table 28: Real Terms Cost Per Case of Different Disposals, 2006/07 Prices

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