Reconviction Rates in Scotland: 2010-11 Offender Cohort

2 Key points

• Over the past nine years there has been an overall decline in the one year reconviction rate. In 2002-03 the one year reconviction rate was 32.9 per cent, whereas in 2010-11 it is 28.4 per cent; a reduction of 4.5 percentage points. Over the same time period there has been a reduction in reconviction frequency rate from 63.9 to 50.2; a 21 per cent reduction of nearly 14 reconvictions for every 100 offenders (Table 1).
• There has been a marked fall over time in the number of reconvictions for the under 21 age group. In 1997-98 this group had a reconviction frequency rate of 93.4 and in 2010-11 the reconviction frequency rate is 59.3; over fourteen years a 37 per cent fall of just over 34 reconvictions for every 100 young offenders (Table 3).
• There were 8,340 offenders given a community payback order (CPO) / legacy community sentence⁴ in 2010-11. These offenders have a 31.6 per cent one year reconviction rate and have a reconviction frequency rate of 54.9 (Table 6).
• Offenders given a Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO) have the highest reconviction frequency rate compared to other disposals. This has declined over the past nine years: in 2002-03 the one year reconviction frequency rate was 240.6 and in 2010-11 the rate is 146.9, representing a 39 per cent reduction of nearly 94 reconvictions for every 100 offenders.
• Offenders who commit a crime of dishonesty have the highest reconviction frequency rate compared to those who commit other crimes, and offenders who commit a sexual crime have the lowest reconviction frequency rate. In 2010-11, the reconviction frequency rate is 91.7 for offenders who committed crimes of dishonesty and 15.7 for offenders who committed a sexual crime (Table 7).
• For any given year, offenders who were released from a custodial sentence of 3 months or less have the highest reconviction frequency rate compared to those who were released from longer sentences. In 2010-11, the reconviction frequency rate for those released from a sentence of 3 months or less is 126.0. This compares with a reconviction frequency rate of 63.7 for those released from a sentence of over 6 months to 2 years. Over time there is some evidence of a reduction in the reconviction frequency rate. In nine years, there has been a reduction of over 23 reconvictions for every 100 offenders who served a sentence of 3 months or less (Table 8).
• In 2010-11, 80.2 per cent of police disposals were anti social behaviour fixed penalty notices and 27.4 per cent of offenders who were given these disposals were given another non-court disposal within one year (Table 14).
• In 2010-11, 55.5 per cent of Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service disposals were fiscal fines and 22.9 per cent of offenders who were given these disposals were given another non-court disposal within one year (Table 15).