Criminal justice social work statistics in Scotland: 2015-2016

5.4 Fiscal work orders

( Tables 2 and 30-31)

5.4.1 Fiscal work orders ( FWOs) were introduced nationally on 1 April 2015 and allow fiscals to offer unpaid work orders as an alternative to prosecution. They can be for a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 50 hours and should be completed within 6 months.

5.4.2 Prior to their introduction nationally, fiscal work orders were piloted in the council areas of Highland, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian from June 2008 and in the areas Aberdeen City, Dundee City and City of Edinburgh from early 2011.

5.4.3 In Scotland, during 2015-16, there were 800 fiscal work order assessments undertaken by local authorities, 550 of which resulted in the orders being accepted ( Table 30). There were 510 orders commenced and 360 orders finished during the year. Eighty per cent of orders finished were successfully completed.

5.4.4 People given fiscal work orders tended to be younger than those given community payback orders. Over half (52 per cent) of FWOs commenced were for people aged 25 and under, while only 12 per cent were for those aged over 40 ( Table 31). Unlike other orders, more people were employed or self-employed (42 per cent) than any other category of employment. Just over a third were either unemployed or economically inactive. The average length of a fiscal work order was just under 32 hours, with the majority (53 per cent) for 30 hours and less than 10 per cent for 50 hours.