News In Focus
31 January 2007
Rise in breaches of community sentencing disposals
Breaches of tagging orders increased by 28% in 2005-06, according to a statistical bulletin released yesterday.
The Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics bulletin for the period shows that 986 reports of restricted liberty order breaches were made, an increase of 28% from the total of 770 in 2004-05. Tagging orders were applied in 984 instances in 2005-06, an increase of 7%.
The report’s other main findings show that:
- 5,927 community service orders were made in 2005-06, a 6% increase compared to the previous year's total of 5,573;
- 1,502 breach applications were made to the courts in respect of community safety orders, in line with the previous year's total of 1,498;
- 8,402 probation orders were made in 2005-06, down 1% from 8,465 in 2004-05, and there were 3,375 breaches of these orders, a 22% increase;
- 2,692 probation orders with a requirement of unpaid work were made in 2005-06, down 2% from the 2004-05 total of 2,757;
- 1,110 probation orders with a requirement of unpaid work were breached, an increase of 25% from 2004-05;
- 3,849 supervised attendance orders were made in 2005-06, up 15% from the total of 3,360 in 2004-05, with 1,462 breaches of these, an increase of 22%;
- 599 drug treatment and testing orders were made in 2005-06, up 14% from 2004-05.
The Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said the number of breaches recorded showed that community sentences were enforced and that those who broke the rules faced tough consequences.
She said: "Sentencing is clearly a matter for the courts, taking into account the circumstances of each individual case. It is not - and will not be - my role to instruct judges and sheriffs when to use a prison or a community disposal. But all the evidence points to a better mix of prison and community sentences as the best way to tackle reoffending.
"I have heard community sentences undermined… because of perceived failings in how they are enforced. Well, here is further evidence that those who fail to stick to the rules will face consequences. These are tough sentences that are backed up by effective monitoring - the number of breaches recorded proves that.”
However, Kenny MacAskill, the SNP’s justice spokesman, said the high number of breaches showed a fresh approach was needed and that it was time for real action to tackle offending in Scotland.
The full statistical bulletin can be viewed on the Scottish Executive website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00561 .