Reconviction rates in Scotland statistics: FOI release

Information requested

1. Please provide data on recidivism rates categorized by offence type (e.g., drug offenses, violent crimes, property crimes) since 2021.

2. A list of all rehabilitation and reintegration programs provided to ex-offenders in Scotland, and if any assessment has been made on the efficacy these have had on reducing recidivism rates.

3. Please provide statistics on recidivism rates by age group and gender for the past since 2021.

4. Please provide information on the recidivism rates of offenders who were released on parole versus those who served full sentences since 2021.

5. How much government funding has been allocated to recidivism reduction initiatives in the past five years, and has any assessment been made as to its effects on reductions in rates of recidivism.

Response

The Scottish Government do not hold data on recidivism, but do publish data on the related concept of reconvictions. Specifically, the Reconviction rates in Scotland statistics annual bulletin. This bulletin shows reconviction rates for offenders released from custody or given non-custodial sentences broken down by age, sex, sentence type, main crime, conviction history and geographical area. It also includes information on the relationship between reconvictions and recidivism. The most recent bulletin covers the 2020-21 cohort and the 12-month follow-up period (the 2021-22 financial year). Data for the 2021-22 cohort are due to be published in 2025.

All available information in response to parts one and three of your request are already presented in the above publication.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

With respect to part two of your request, the Scottish Government do not centrally hold a complete list of all rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. Numerous programmes and interventions exist across both the justice sector (including custody and community) and the country. These are delivered by a broad range of stakeholders such as prisons and local authorities, as well as two national programmes (Caledonian and MF2C).

With respect to these two national programmes, neither have been assessed on the impact on recidivism, but that is not an optimal measure of programme efficacy due to attribution challenge. However for both programmes Scottish Government are undertaking work to improve data collection, including pre- and post-measures of risk, and seeking opportunities to link that where possible to reoffending data in future.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

With respect to part four of your request, data on parole is not held centrally by Scottish Government but instead sits with the Parole Board for Scotland. The Reconviction rates in Scotland statistics are a separate and unlinked data set. We are therefore unable to provide the requested breakdown.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

However, it may be useful to provide some clarification around your request as worded. Specifically, there is an issue with referring to “those who have served full sentences”, as the majority of determinate sentenced long-term (i.e., four years or over) prisoners will be released “early” in some way. This can either be on Parole Licence any time after half of their sentence or non-Parole Licence six months before their sentence end date. Additionally, some people are not released on non-Parole licence as they have been previously recalled from Parole. It would thus not be simple to provide the requested breakdown were the data available.

With respect to part five of your request, it is not possible to directly answer this as any programme aimed at preventing crime or reducing offending in general would necessarily also be intended to reduce recidivism. In order to be as helpful as possible we provide below the funding for Community Justice Services and Justice Social Work for the years 2020-21 to 2024-25, inclusive.

Year	Community Justice Services	Justice Social Work (allocated)
2020-21	£118m	£105,849,226
2021-22	£134m	£120,149,226
2022-23	£136m	£123,349,226
2023-24	£136m	£123,349,226
2024-25	£118m	£136,349,226

From the budget, the following lines make up the total allocation for justice social work service

Funding allocation (source) - Level 4s draft budget for 2024-25
Funding to Local Government	£86,450,000
Offender Services budget line:-
Community Justice Services and Prog costs	£15,014,000
Nationally Commissioned Community Justice Services	£6,885,226
RRT funding	£15,000,000
Total	£123,349,226
Nationally Commissioned Community Justice Services
Additional investment in justice services 2024-25 £13m of this investment was allocated to JSW services	£14,000,000

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.