Justice Social Work Statistics in Scotland: 2023-24 – Part 2

3 Statistical context

Interpretation of the trend data supplied in this publication needs to consideration the impact of the Coronavirus (Covid) pandemic. There were significant public health measures, including two national lockdowns, in place during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 recording years. For example, many courts were temporarily closed early in 2020-21. There was also reduced capacity when courts reopened. This means that statistics for most areas of justice social work were impacted in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Caution is advised in comparing data from these two years to other years.

The numbers quoted in the text in this publication are rounded. The tables and charts published alongside this report contain unrounded figures. More information on this is available in section 7.

Revisions to earlier years' data have been made back to 2019-20 for community payback orders and back to 2020-21 for drug treatment and testing orders, as a result of more up to date data being provided by local authorities.