Annex A - Data and Methodology

The information in the Unpaid work hours requirements progressed in 2024-25 section is sourced from accredited official statistics. The high level data has been published as part of the Justice Social Work Statistics - Part 2 - 2024-25. There has been some new analysis done to support this narrative and this data can be found in the supporting excel document.

In the Unpaid work hour imposed section, the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard is used, which publishes management information based on the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service’s (SCTS) administrative database (COPII). Information from this administrative database is based on management information and an approximation was created for number of unpaid work hours imposed.

Chart 4: Comparing two different data sources which show the number of hours imposed as part of unpaid work requirements.

Unpaid work hours imposed, Scotland, 2024-25

The disposals dashboard provides data at charge level, while local authorities report at CPO unit level. To align the two, the model uses the maximum unpaid work hours per case‑accused as an approximation. Although not identical to unit‑level calculations, this method closely reflects actual figures: in 2024‑25. The estimated total for the financial year 2024-25 was only about 4% lower than CPO unit‑level data (Chart 4). Dashboard data is also used to estimate figures for 2025‑26; without it, information on hours imposed would lag by 11 months rather than five.

The monthly data for CPOs published in SCTS Monthly Criminal Management Information has been used to create further estimates on the number of unpaid work hours for the last five months of this publication. This information can be copied and published as public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v 2.0.

Using SCTS data where Justice Social Work data is not available as the two data sources differ only slightly at national level, with reporting variations within ±1.9%. Differences arise mainly from how concurrent CPOs are counted and from revisions accepted in Justice Social Work Statistics for up to three years. Some changes also reflect the inclusion of CPOs in Justice Social Work Statistics from the current financial year that were missed from earlier returns.

Table 1: Comparison of data sources, Scotland, 2020-21 to 2024-25

In the previous publication, estimates were created using monthly SCTS CPO data. Average unpaid work hours per CPO, which is a minimum of 87 and a maximum of 98 hours, (calculated from April 2023 to September 2024), was applied to estimate hours for the missing period October 2024 to February 2025, giving a range of 563,100 to 633,900 hours. For 2024‑25, the first 11 months were based on estimates ranging from 1.34 to 1.41 million hours, while the actual figure was 1.43 million, around 1.5% above the upper estimate

The Management information on unpaid work hours section uses management information collected quarterly from justice social work teams within local authorities. There are a number of quality issues that must be considered when this data is being used. These are provided in the Introduction and Management information on unpaid work hours section. This information is considered an estimation and there is variation due to the collection time, COVID-19 related restrictions (earlier data), statistical approximation being used for missing data and seasonality of unpaid work hours being imposed.

Additional information

As two of the data sources for this publication are management information, revisions may occur. Any revisions will be flagged in the current publication and /or tables and the current data will supersede any previously published. Other statistics are taken from Justice Social Work Statistics - Part 2 - 2024-25. This publication had information imputed for one local authority at the time of publishing (January 2026). This data has been supplied and the updated information has been used in this publication. The minor revisions will be updated in the 2025-26 publication.

Difference between publications:

• Number of CPOs imposed in 2024-25 changed from 16,477 to 16,475 (difference = - 0.01%)
• Number of unpaid work hours imposed in 2024-25 changed from 1,560,411 to 1,560,333 (difference = - 0.005%)
• Number of CPOs imposed with an unpaid work requirement in 2024-25 stay the same at 11,420 (difference = 0%)
• Number of unpaid work requirements in existence on 31 March 2025 changed from 18,297 to 18,172 (difference = - 0.7%)

The data from SCTS Monthly Criminal Management Information was taken from February 2026, published on 17 March 2026. The information for March 2026 was just outwith the timescale for creating this publication.

The aim is to publish this supplementary publication at least annually. The need to continue collecting the management information on unpaid work hours to be progressed will be reviewed annually by Scottish Government with advice sought from stakeholders. This collection was originally intended to support decision making through the COVID-19 years and the subsequent recovery period. So far it has been agreed that data will be collected during the financial year 2026-27.

Due to the size of the numbers, rounding is applied to the key point statements. CPOs figures and unpaid work hours are rounded to the nearest hundred. When reporting unpaid work hours in millions, these are rounded to two decimal places. All percentages, minimum and maximum values are applied to unrounded data.

England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have different judicial systems. This makes comparing information on Community Payback Orders statistics difficult.
Statistical information on their judicial systems can be found at:

• England and Wales: Statistics at Ministry of Justice
• Northern Ireland: Department of Justice

There are a range of other statistics on the Scottish judicial system:

• Scottish Government Crime and Justice Statistics
• Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service – Official Statistics