Reconviction rates for recent offenders in Scotland rose in the past year, according to the latest official figures.
The statistics show the proportion of offenders who are reconvicted within a year after being released from a custodial sentence or given a non-custodial sentence. Figures for the 2018-19 offender cohort show a reconviction rate of 28.3%, up from 26.4% in 2017-18, going against the general downwards trend over the past decade.
The average number of reconvictions, a measure of how often offenders are reconvicted, also increased over the same period from 0.47 to 0.50, an increase of 6%.
Over the longer term, in the decade between 2009-10 and 2018-19, the reconviction rate has decreased from 30.6% to 28.3%, while the average number of reconvictions per offender decreased by 11% from 0.56 to 0.50.
Male offenders recorded an average of 0.51 reconvictions per offender, compared with 0.48 for females – both up on the previous year.
Offenders who committed a crime of dishonesty had the highest reconviction rate (45.6%), while sex offenders had the lowest (10.4%).
The reconviction rate for custodial sentences was 43.8% in 2018-19, up from 41.0% in 2017-18. However for offenders who received community payback orders the rate was unchanged at 29.2%.
For individuals given a non-court disposal by the police in 2018-19 (such as a warning or fine), or by COPFS, 18% and 15% respectively received another non-court disposal within a year.
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