Reconviction Rates in Scotland: 2018-19 Offender Cohort

Table 12: Reconviction rates and average number of reconvictions per offender, by local authority group based on court areas: 2018-19 cohort

1. Approximate areas are based on where the courts of the offenders' index convictions are located, including high courts. Some sheriff court boundaries include more than one local authority area, so they are grouped together so that there are 25 groups of local authorities rather than all 32 being displayed separately. See relevant footnotes below.

2. Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire (Aberdeen, Banff, Stonehaven and Peterhead Sheriff Courts).

3. Rothesay Sheriff Court closed in 2013 and the business moved to Greenock Sheriff Court. Therefore,i some of the Argyll and Bute figures are included under Inverclyde.

4. East, North, and South Ayrshire (Kilmarnock and Ayr Sheriff Courts).

5. East and West Dunbartonshire (Dumbarton Sheriff Court).

6. Parts of East Dunbartonshire are also served by Glasgow Sheriff Court, but the figures for Glasgow Sheriff Court are only included within the Glasgow local authority area.

7. Cupar Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Court closed in 2014 and the business was moved to Dundee Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Court. Therefore, some Fife figures are counted under Dundee City.

8. City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, and Midlothian (Edinburgh Sheriff Court).

9. Glasgow Sheriff Court also serves parts of East Dunbartonshire, and North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire. However, since this analysis is based on approximation of court areas, numbers for Glasgow Sheriff Court are only included within the Glasgow local authority area.

10. Includes the Stipendiary Magistrates court.

11. North and South Lanarkshire (Airdrie, Hamilton and Lanark Sheriff Courts). Some parts of North and South Lanarkshire are also covered by Glasgow Sheriff Court, but the figures for Glasgow Sheriff Court are only included within the Glasgow local authority area.

12. Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire (Paisley Sheriff Court).

13. The High Court sits permanently in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. It also periodically sits in Dumbarton, Lanark, Livingston, Paisley and Stirling. In previous years, these were included in the local authority group that contained the High Court. These are now presented separately under "High Court" as the appearance of offenders at a particular High Court does not necessarily have any reflection on the local authority they were from, or where the offences were committed. Removing these slightly elevates the reconviction rates by less than 1 percentage point for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh and Midlothian, and Glasgow City where the High Court permanently sits, as offenders convicted for more serious offences typically have low reconviction rates. It has had little effect on rates for Dunbartonshire, East and West; Lanarkshire, North and South; Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire; Stirling; and West Lothian where the High Court periodically sits. The additional tables present revised reconviction rates for previous cohorts.