National Care Service - justice social work: overview

Criminal Justice Social Work Reports

The criminal justice social work report (CJSWR) is intended to assist in the sentencing process and to complement the range of other considerations, such as victim information and narratives from the Procurator Fiscal. The report includes key information, including the social worker's professional assessment and advice on social work interventions and how these may prevent or reduce further offending.

A CJSWR must be requested:

• before imposing a custodial sentence for the first time or where a person is under 21
• when imposing a community payback order with a supervision requirement or level 2 (over 100 hours) unpaid work or other activity requirement
• when imposing a drug treatment and testing order.

There were 28,500 criminal justice social work reports submitted in 2019-20. This was four per cent higher than in 2018-19 but four per cent lower than in 2015-16.

Social work orders

Total social work orders include community payback, drug treatment & testing and fiscal work orders.

• There were 17,600 social work orders commenced in 2019-20, a fall of one per cent on 2018-19, though 15 per cent lower than the peak in 2016-17 (Chart 3).
• The vast majority of social work orders are community payback orders. The last five years this has been over 90 per cent.
• In 2019-20, Glasgow City had the most social work orders commenced (2,600) and Na h-Eileanan Siar had the lowest (40)

Community payback orders

The community payback order was introduced by the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 and replaced provisions for community service, probation and supervised attendance orders for offences committed from 1 February 2011 onwards. It is available to all courts, with some restrictions applying to justice of the peace courts in relation to treatment and program requirements. There are several different requirements which can be issued with a CPO, the most common of which are unpaid work or other activity and offender supervision.

• The number of community payback orders (CPOs) imposed increased in the initial years following their introduction, reaching 19,500 in 2015-16. This rise was expected due to CPOs replacing legacy orders for offences committed on or after 1 February 2011.
• The total CPOs imposed then fell in the next three years to 16,500 in 2018-19. There was a small rise in 2019-20 of two per cent to 16,800.
• Up to 2019-20, unpaid work or other activity has been the requirement most issued as part of a CPO. (Chart 5). Every CPO must have either an unpaid work or other activity requirement or an offender supervision requirement, or both. However, the composition of orders has changed since 2015-16, with greater use being made of offender supervision and less being used of unpaid work or other activity

• In each of the years 2015-16 to 2019-20, 85 per cent of CPOs imposed were for males.
• Around 70 per cent of CPO recipients in the last five years have been either unemployed or economically inactive.
• In 2019-20, where ethnicity was known, four per cent of people getting a CPO were of minority ethnicity. This proportion has been around the same over the last five years.
• The average age of people getting CPOs has risen, with 54 per cent aged over 30 in 2019-20, compared to 48 per cent in 2015-16.

• There were typically around 15,500 to 17,500 CPOs in existence at a set point in time, with trends roughly in line with the changes in CPOs imposed over the same period (Chart 7).

• The successful completion rate for CPOs terminated in 2019-20 was 69 per cent. Apart from the higher level in 2013-14, this rate has generally been around 70 per cent since CPOs were introduced.
• Completion rates in 2019-20 varied by age and employment status:
  • Rates were relatively similar for all age groups up to age 40, ranging from 64 per cent for those aged 18 to 20 to 68 per cent for under 18s (and 66 per cent for those aged 40 or under as a whole). However, for people aged over 40, the rate was much higher at 77 per cent.
  • Eighty-two per cent of those who were employed or self-employed completed successfully, compared to 63 per cent of those who were unemployed or economically inactive.

Drug treatment and testing orders

The drug treatment and testing order (DTTO) is available to courts (excluding justice of the peace courts) as a high tariff disposal for people with substance-related offending who might otherwise get a custodial sentence.

• The total number of DTTOs commenced fell in both 2015-16 and 2016-17 to a low of 480, before rising in each of the next two years (Chart 8).
• Numbers fell again in 2019-20, by 14 per cent, to 520, around the same as in 2015-16.
• Around 80 per cent of people who are given a DTTO are male.
• Around 90 per cent are unemployed or economically inactive.
• In 2019-20, over three-quarters of DTTOs were for people aged over 30.
• Just over one per cent of DTTO recipients in 2019-20 were of minority ethnicity.

• The successful completion rate for DTTOs was 50 per cent in 2015-16 but fell in each of the next three years, to 37 per cent in 2018-19. It rose only slightly to 39 per cent in 2019-20.

Fiscal work orders

Fiscal work orders (FWOs) were introduced nationally on 1 April 2015 and allow Procurators Fiscal 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 six months.

• The number of FWOs commenced in Scotland increased from the base level of 510 in 2015-16 to 1,030 in 2017-18. However, numbers then dropped sharply, to 630 in 2018-19 and 250 in 2019-20.
• Successful completion rates have consistently been high for FWOs, over 78 per cent in the last five years.

Structured deferred sentences

Structured deferred sentences (SDS) offer courts the option to provide a short period of intensive supervision to individuals post-conviction but prior to final sentencing. They are designed to help individuals address their underlying issues, improve their employment prospects and build a sense of routine and self-esteem, allowing them to move away from offending. SDS are not a statutory order and as such are not used by every local authority. Areas with SDS schemes may utilise it as part of an early intervention approach, as an alternative or precursor to a community sentence or as an alternative to a short period of custody depending on the needs of the local area.

• There were 890 structured deferred sentences imposed in 2019-20.
• Three-quarters of structured deferred sentences were given to males.
• Just over half of structured deferred sentences were given to people aged over 30.

Throughcare

Justice social work departments are expected to provide a throughcare service to all those who are subject to statutory supervision on release from prison. This includes people serving sentences of four years or more (or six months or more for sexual offences) 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 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.

• There were 1,900 statutory throughcare cases commenced in 2019-20, 97 per cent of which were for males.
• Just over half of all throughcare cases commenced (1,000 individuals) were for people who are subject to statutory supervision on release.
• The number of statutory throughcare cases in force as of 31 March 2020, was 6,100.
• There were 2,000 voluntary throughcare cases commenced during 2019-20, 87 per cent of which were for males. There were also 1,800 individuals who received assistance.

Pre-release report statistics

Part of statutory throughcare involves preparing reports to inform temporary release from prison on home leave and liberation on licence. Social workers did the following number of such reports in 2019-20:

• The number of home leave reports completed was 1,600.
• There were 2,300 parole/non-parole reports.