Covering Letter
Police and Community Safety Directorate
Justice Analytical Services
T: 0131-244 2147
E: elizabeth.fraser@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
27 November 2009
Dear colleague
PRISON STATISTICS SCOTLAND 2008-09 AND BEYOND
Please find enclosed the latest statistical bulletin on the prison population in Scotland. There have been some changes in the format of this bulletin in that most of the tables presented in previous bulletins have been restructured in order to improve their usability. Some of the more detailed tables no longer appear in the printed bulletin, and are instead included in the web tables published alongside the bulletin on the Scottish Government website ( www.scotland.gov.uk).
We are planning to further develop our web tables over the course of the next year, and publishing a more streamlined and informative Key Trends document alongside the annual tables. We will also be exploring the possibility for releasing data on a quarterly basis in order to improve the timeliness of reporting. Given the focus on developing our web dissemination, we will be discontinuing print publication of the bulletin in its current format and seeking users' views to inform our future dissemination strategy.
If you have any questions or comments about our dissemination, or would like to be more actively involved in helping us improve this, please feel free to get in touch with me.
Yours sincerely
ELIZABETH FRASER
Prison Statistics
Justice Analytical Services
Scottish Government