Statistical Bulletin: Crime and Justice Series: Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics, 2010-11

2 Key Points for 2010-11

Social Enquiry Reports ( SERs)

• A total of 44,000 SERs were requested by the Courts in 2010-11, down 7 per cent from the 2009-10 total of 47,100. A total of 37,500 SERs (including supplementary reports) were submitted by Local Authorities to the Courts in 2010-11, down 8 per cent from 40,800 in 2009-10 ( Table 1).
• A total of 32,000 SERs (excluding supplementary reports) were submitted to the Courts in 2010-11, a decrease of 8 per cent from 34,700 in 2009-10 ( Table 2).

Social Work Orders

• There was an across-the-board fall in the number of social work orders commenced, with each of Community Service Orders ( CSOs), Probation Orders ( POs), Supervised Attendance Orders ( SAOs) and Drug Treatment and Testing Orders ( DTTOs) falling between 2009-10 and 2010-11 ( Table 1). The total of these orders fell from 19,900 to 18,000, with separate data from the Scottish Court Service showing that approximately an additional 330 of the new Community Payback Orders ( CPOs) were recorded in February and March 2011.
• The number of CSOs and POs commenced both fell by 8 per cent. The fall was even more marked for SAOs commenced, which dropped by 14 per cent from 3,900 in 2009-10 to 3,300 in 2010-11. DTTOs commenced fell by 11 per cent from 740 to 660.
• The overall number of breaches of social work orders fell by 4 per cent from 8,200 in 2009-10 to 7,900 in 2010-11. This was mainly driven by falls of 8 and 4 per cent respectively in the number of breaches of CSOs and POs. The number of DTTO breaches increased by 16 per cent from 200 to 230.
• The number of successful completions of social work orders remained unchanged from the previous year in 2010-11, at 11,300. This was balanced out by decreases of 4 and 10 per cent respectively in CSOs and SAOs and increases of 9 per cent in both POs and DTTOs.
• The number of terminations of social work orders for reasons other than successful completions fell by 6 per cent overall. The main driver behind this decrease was a 22 per cent fall for CSOs. Numbers fell slightly for POs but increased for both SAOs and DTTOs.
• Overall, 64 per cent of all terminations of social work orders in 2010-11 were due to successful completion, the highest in any of the last eight years. In 2010-11, this proportion was highest for CSOs (74 per cent) and lowest for DTTOs (45 per cent).
• The average length of a CSO increased from 145 hours in 2008-09 to 150 hours in 2010-11 ( Table 5). There was also a marked increase in the average length of SAOs from 40 to 47 hours. During the same period the average length of a PO remained constant at around 16½ months.

Statutory Throughcare

• In 2010-11, a total of 1,050 Throughcare cases in the community commenced, a decrease of 2 per cent from the 1,060 cases which commenced in 2009-10 ( Table 1). A further 1,030 Throughcare cases in custody commenced, an increase of 1 per cent from 1,020 in 2009-10.

Diversion from prosecution and bail supervision

• The number of cases commenced for diversion from prosecution decreased by 9 per cent between 2009-10 and 2010-11. There was an increase of 4 per cent in the number of bail supervision cases commenced over the same period.