Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services Data Report - November 2020

Sixth release of a monthly data report on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the justice system in Scotland, including information from Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, and Scottish Prison Service.

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Prisons

Prison population

While the total prison population has fallen with reduced court business, the number of people held on remand remains at a historic high level.

In November 2020 (up until the morning of 1st December):

  • the population rose by 139 to 7,578
  • 2,074 were on remand: 1,754 (23%) untried & 320 (4%) awaiting sentence
  • 65% of arrivals in October were untried (644 of 901), and 19% awaiting sentence (183)
Total prison population decreasing from March 2020 but beginning overall rise from June 2020. Remand populations decreasing from March 2020 but untried population rising substantially from May 2020.

Remand Arrivals

There were 727 un-sentenced arrivals to prison with known offence types in November, awaiting trial or sentencing for the following alleged offences

Note: Double-counting may occur where an individual is absent from prison for a night in the week and then returns. Where an individual has multiple alleged offence types, the offence towards the top of the list in the chart is used as the index offence.

Bar chart showing the number of remand arrivals by offence type, with the highest number of arrivals (untried or awaiting sentence) for crimes against public justice.

Further Information:

Latest published annual prison population statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-prison-population-statistics-2019-20/

Contact

Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot

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