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  4. Community sentence aim not being met: Audit Scotland

Community sentence aim not being met: Audit Scotland

15th July 2021 | criminal law | Criminal legal aid

The Scottish Government has yet to achieve its objective of ensuring that people convicted of criminal  offences increasingly receive community-based sentences instead of going to prison, according to a report published today by Audit Scotland.

Despite the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, which established national body Community Justice Scotland and 30 community justice partnerships ("CJPs"), Scotland's incarceration rate remains among the highest in Western Europe. Prison numbers have fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to early release and reduced court capacity, but on current sentencing patterns are likely to rise again in future as more cases are dealt with in court again.

The report accepts that community justice sentences have been shown to be more effective at reducing reoffending as well as being less costly than prison: in 2017-18, 49% of prisoners serving a short sentence were reconvicted within a year of their release, compared with 30% of offenders who completed a community sentence.

Little progress has however been made in increasing the proportion of offenders given community  sentences, as opposed to custody. In 2016-17, 59% per cent received a community sentence; in 2018-19 it fell to 55% before returning to 59% in 2019-20.

Audit Scotland also says it is not clear whether roles and accountability arrangements between  Community Justice Scotland and the CJPs are well understood and working effectively. It finds regional variations in the use of community sentences, while data deficiencies mean progress on national community justice outcomes is not being measured effectively.

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, commented: "Reducing reoffending by shifting the balance of sentencing from prison to the community has the potential to reduce the costs to the individual, taxpayer and wider society. But that Scottish Government aim hasn't yet been achieved.

"Moving forward, it's important that everyone involved in improving our justice system gains a better understanding of the factors that have contributed to successful community sentences."

Click here to access the report.

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