Individuals given non-court disposals by number of previous non-court disposals: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for:

1. Number of Alternatives to Prosecution rejected by an accused.
2. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used when the accused has 1 previous conviction.
3. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used when the accused has 2 previous convictions.
4. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used when the accused has 3 previous convictions.
5. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used when the accused has 5 previous convictions.
6. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used when the accused has more than 5 previous convictions.
7. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used where the accused has previously had 1 previous alternative to prosecution used.
8. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used where the accused has previously had 3 previous alternatives to prosecution used.
9. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used where the accused has previously had 5 alternatives to prosecution used.
10. Number of times whereby an alternative has been used where the accused has previously had more than 5 alternatives to prosecution used.
11. Number of times whereby an accused has previously had an alternative to prosecution and has been subsequently convicted of an offence within 1 year.
12. Number of times whereby an accused has previously had an alternative to prosecution and has been subsequently convicted of an offence within 3 years.
13. Number of times whereby an accused has previously had an alternative to prosecution and has been subsequently convicted of an offence within 5 years.
14. Gender break down of persons offered an alternative.
15. Race breakdown of persons offered an alternative.

and if the information could be provided for each of the following years: 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in an Excel spreadsheet.

The first tab in the Excel spreadsheet includes the information requested in parts 7-10. This includes direct measures issued by the police and COPFS (non-court disposals). Note that we also included where the individual had none, 2, and 4 previous non-court disposals for context and completeness.

Please note the footnotes in the table about how previous non-court disposals are counted, and the data on the types of non-court disposals that are held by the Scottish Government.

The second tab in the Excel spreadsheet includes the gender breakdown of people who received direct measures issued by the police and COPFS (non-court disposals) to answer part 14. This may only partially answer your request as we do not hold information on the number of people who were offered direct measures by the police or COPFS but declined them.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested, which covers parts 1-6, 11-13, and 15. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because: For all parts, we do not hold data on direct measures issued by the police and COPFS before 2008-09.

For part 1, the Scottish Government does not hold data on the numbers rejected. We only hold data on the numbers of direct measures accepted. This may also apply to parts 14 and 15 if this is for breakdowns for all individuals who were offered a direct measure by the police or COPFS, including those who rejected them.

For parts 2-6 and 11-13, although the Scottish Government holds data on numbers of convictions and direct measures, these are held separately from each other and there is no current capability and method to combine the data and obtain the answers.

For part 15, the Scottish Government does not hold any data on the ethnicity of people given direct measures by the police and COPFS.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

However, you may wish to contact Police Scotland at foi@scotland.pnn.police.uk who may be able to help you with information on numbers offered police disposals but rejected them.

About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI/202000089679 - Information Released

File type

Excel document

File size

12.7 kB