Majority of offenders breach probation

Reports reveal good and bad points of offender services in Glasgow and Scotland

News, 19 October 2004

Nearly two thirds of offenders in the Glasgow area have breached their probation or throughcare supervision at least once, according to a report just published.

An inspection of Glasgow’s criminal justice social work services revealed that there is room for "considerable improvement" in many aspects of the service, including the supervision of offenders and the assessment and treatment of violent criminals.

By contrast the sex offenders project was praised as producing good quality assessments and delivering group work to a high standard.

The community service scheme was found to offer a good range of placements and deal effectively with non-compliance, but monitoring standards in the probation service rated merely "adequate" or "poor" in just over two-thirds of cases.

The report coincides with the publication of an independent analysis of responses to the Executive’s consultation on reducing re-offending, which raises concerns about standards and consistency of offender services across Scotland.

These include the high use of custodial sentences, particularly short-term, coupled with lack of consistent availability or use of community disposals - which are found to be efffective in many cases. Other concerns are the lack of continuity in throughcare from prison into community, and a feeling that the system is increasingly punitive and custody-focused.

Strengths in the system are felt to be the knowledge and standards of some services, and co-ordination between services where it exists; but the responses also reveal a need for a more strategic approach and better integration.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said: "The public want to see effective intervention while offenders are in prison and proper supervision on release to address the revolving door of reoffending that is blighting lives and communities in Scotland.

“What is clear... is that, contrary to some reporting, there is widespread acceptance within the professions and services that provide offender management of the need for change and improvement.”

She added that the views expressed during the consultation would inform the overall Criminal Justice Plan to be published before the end of this year.