Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics 2011-12
This statistical bulletin presents national level information on activity relating to community penalties in Scotland, including Criminal Justice Social Work Reports and “social work orders” - made up of Community Payback Orders (CPOs), the predecessors to CPOs (Community Service Orders, Probation Orders and Supervised Attendance Orders) and Drug Treatment & Testing Orders.
7. Diversion from Prosecution (DPs)
7.1 A total of 1,260 DP cases commenced in 2011-12, a substantial increase of 32 per cent from the 2010-11 total of 960 (Table 1). These 1,260 cases related to 1,230 individuals. Other DP totals for 2011-12 included 1,900 referrals (a 20 per cent increase on 2010-11), 1,700 assessments (21 per cent increase) and 900 cases successfully completed (12 per cent increase) (Table 28). There was also a large increase in the number of cases referred to drug treatment/ education, which rose from 31 to 129.
Chart 9 Diversion from Prosecution cases commenced per 10,000 population by age and gender, 2011-12
Notes relating to DPs in Chart 9:
Rates are based on mid-year population estimates, with the rates for "Males", "Females" and "All" based on those aged between 16 and 70 inclusive and the rate for "Over 40" based on those aged 41 to 70. the 16-17 year old category includes a small number of reports relating to clients aged under 16 years.
7.2 The 32 per cent increase in the number of DP cases is not consistently due to an increase within all local authorities, although the number of councils which showed an increase exceeded the numbers showing a decrease. Further information is provided in the extra datasets on DPs at CJA/LA level which accompany this publication.
7.3 Approximately 62 per cent of DP cases commencing in 2011-12 involved males (Table 2) - this was substantially higher than in 2010-11 when only 52 per cent were male. A very high proportion of DP cases in 2011-12 were for people aged 16 or 17 - almost 28 per cent were in this age group, with some councils reporting higher numbers due to improved recording practices and some advising that more work was being done via diversion for young people.
7.4 Table 2 also shows that 52 per cent of DP cases which commenced in 2011-12 related to offenders who were unemployed. This was lower than the equivalent figures for all types of social work orders, with the exception of CSOs.
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