Criminal justice social work statistics in Scotland: 2013-14

6 Statutory/voluntary throughcare and throughcare addiction service

(Tables 1 and 29 - 31)

6.1 Criminal justice social work departments are expected to provide a throughcare service to all offenders who are subject to statutory supervision on release from prison. This includes those serving sentences of four years or more and sex offenders serving six months or more, as well as those subject to an extended sentence or supervised release order. Throughcare begins at the start of the sentence and is implemented through the Scottish Prison Service's integrated case management process. Voluntary throughcare (or assistance) services are also available to those who are not subject to supervision on release from prison. These services may be requested while in custody or up to 12 months after release. A throughcare addiction service was also introduced in 2005 which provides a more intensive motivational service to help the offender address their addiction and associated difficulties, and includes referral services. More information on these services can be found in Annex B.

6.2 Commencements for statutory throughcare in custody have fluctuated between just under and just over the 1,000 mark over the past five years, with 1,050 cases in 2013-14 (Table 29). Almost half involved determinate sentences of four years or more, while supervised release orders and extended sentences accounted for about a fifth each.

6.3 The number of commencements for statutory throughcare cases in the community have consistently totalled about 1,000-1,100 in the last five years - 1,030 in 2013-14 (Table 30). Just over a quarter of all cases commenced in 2013-14 related to non-parole licences, while parole licences and supervised release orders accounted for about a further fifth each.

6.4 The statutory custody- and community-based throughcare caseload has been gradually increasing over the years, reaching a peak to date of 6,000 in total on 31 March 2014 (Tables 1, 29 and 30). The custody-based caseload is 55 per cent of the total.

6.5 The number of completions of statutory throughcare cases in the community was 910 in 2013-14. The trend for completion numbers has been fairly flat over the last five years (Table 30).

6.6 The number of voluntary throughcare cases commenced fell for the fourth year out of the last five, to 2,500 in 2013-14 compared with the high point of 2,900 in 2008-09 (Tables 1 and 31).

6.7 The number of individuals receiving voluntary throughcare each year has fluctuated around 2,300-2,500 for the past six years, with the 2013-14 figure representing the lowest over that period (Tables 1 and 31).

6.8 Use of the throughcare addiction service involved around 1,400-1,500 commencements between 2007-08 and 2011-12, but the figures have fallen in each of the last two years to around 1,300 in 2012-13 and 1,200 in 2013-14 (Tables 1 and 31).