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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

11/12/2003

The Statistical Bulletin Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics, 2002-03 is published today by the Scottish Executive.

The main points to emerge include:

* There was a total of 38,123 Social Enquiry Reports (including supplementary reports) submitted by Local Authorities to the Courts between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003, up 10 per cent from the 2001-02 total of 34,780.

* A total of 34,570 Social Enquiry Reports (excluding supplementary reports) were submitted to the Courts in 2002-03, an increase of 15 per cent from 30,065 in 2001-02.

* 7,359 Community Service Orders (including 2,393 Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work) were made in 2002-03, a 13 per cent increase over the previous year's total of 6,509. The total of 7,359 equates to 20.4 Orders per 10,000 population.

* Excluding Probation Orders with a Requirement of Unpaid Work, there were 4,966 Community Service Orders, up 9 per cent from the previous year's total of 4,565.

* 1,310 breach applications were made to the Courts in respect of Community Service Orders (excluding Probation Orders with Requirement of Unpaid Work) in 2002-03, an increase of 14 per cent from the previous year's total of 1,154.

* Of a total 3,803 Community Service Orders (excluding Probation Orders with Requirement of Unpaid Work) which were terminated in 2002-03, 2,444 were successfully completed, a decrease of 10 per cent from the previous year's total of 2,718. A total of 757 Community Service Orders were revoked due to breach, down 21 per cent from 957 the previous year.

* A total of 7,417 Probation Orders were made in 2002-03, representing a 5 per cent increase from 7,071 in 2001-02. The total of 7,417 corresponds to 20.5 Orders per 10,000 population.

* 2,491 breach applications were made to the Courts in respect of Probation Orders in 2002-03, a 2 per cent increase compared to the total of 2,452 in 2001-02.

* Of a total 4,687 Probation Orders which were terminated in 2002-03, 2,443 were successfully completed, representing an increase of 32 per cent from the previous year's total of 1,846. A further 1,357 were revoked due to breach, up 24 per cent from the previous year's total of 1,092.

* A total of 2,700 Supervised Attendance Orders were made in 2002-03, up 4 per cent from the previous year's total of 2,602. The total of 2,700 corresponds to 7.5 Orders per 10,000 population.

* 824 breach applications were made to the Courts in respect of Supervised Attendance Orders in 2002-03, a decrease of 5 per cent from the 2001-02 total of 871.

* Of a total 1,709 Supervised Attendance Orders which were terminated in 2002-03, 1,250 were successfully completed, down 24 per cent compared to the previous year's total of 1,647. A further 272 were revoked due to breach, down 29 per cent from 383 the previous year.

Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics, 2002-03 is the fourth in a series of annual statistical publications.

Every effort has been made to ensure that data has been collected on the same basis for each local authority. However, as a result of an improved data collection system, there may be slight differences between figures for 1999-00 to 2002-03 and those for earlier years.

Glossary:
Social Enquiry Report - the main purpose of this report is to provide information about the offender and their background circumstances, prior to sentencing, to help the court decide how to deal with the case. Community Service - this order provides for offenders to carry out unpaid work in the community as an alternative to a custodial sentence.
Probation - this order provides an opportunity to address offending behaviour. Additional conditions can include unpaid work, place of residence, curfew, financial recompense to the victim or attendance at a specialist programme. Supervised Attendance - this order requires an offender who has failed to pay a fine to undertake a programme of designated activities for a specified number of hours.

Page updated: Wednesday, July 21, 2004