10 Home detention curfew assessments

(Table 1)

Key statistics for 2024-25:

• The number of home detention curfew assessment reports completed was 1,100 in 2024-25, an increase of 47 per cent since last year.
• Ninety-one per cent of home detention curfew reports were for males.
• Those between 31 and 40 years old accounted for the highest proportion of home detention curfew reports (41 per cent).

Those serving a custodial sentence can access electronically monitored early release under a home detention curfew (HDC).

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) conducts individual risk assessments for all eligible individuals seeking HDC release. This determines if they can be managed in the community under curfew and licence conditions. If they pass the risk assessment, SPS requests a community assessment report (CAR) from local authority justice social work to evaluate the suitability of the proposed release address. SPS considers the CAR information when deciding on HDC release.

From 2015-16 to 2017-18, there were at least 2,500 reports a year. This declined in 2018-19 to 1,900 and has fallen further since then, averaging 790 in the next five years. The total of 1,100 in 2024-25 was the highest in the last six years, an increase of 47 per cent since 2023-24.

The decline since 2017-18 is the result of a change in the approach to the HDC assessment framework. In 2018, new guidance for SPS's individualised risk assessment for HDC led to a significant decrease in individuals assessed as suitable for HDC release. Consequently, fewer CARs were requested from justice social work departments.

Chart 8: Annual home detention curfew assessment reports in 2024-25 were the highest in the last six years of comparable data.

Number of home detention curfew assessment reports completed 2015-16 to 2024-25, Scotland