3 Statistical Context

The trend data supplied in this publication needs to consider the impact of the Coronavirus (Covid) pandemic. There were significant public health measures, including two national lockdowns, in place during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 recording years. For example, many courts were temporarily closed early in 2020-21. There was also reduced capacity when courts reopened. This means that statistics for most areas of justice social work were impacted in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Caution is advised in comparing data from these two years to other years.

The numbers quoted in the text in this publication are rounded. The tables and charts published alongside this report contain unrounded figures. More information on this is available in section 11.

There has been a number of changes to guidance and data collected for 2024-25:

1. Updated data collection guidance on supervised bail with an additional question on supervised bail cases in progress on 31 March 2025, and a one-off question on bail assessments for policy requirements. Also, the number of supervised bail cases commenced in 2024-25 was split into age groups.
2. New census ethnicity categories added for Roma and Showperson.
3. New category for unknown added to employment status.
4. New outcome category of 'Monetary penalty' added to structured deferred sentence outcomes.
5. Changes to guidance:

• New data collection guidance with clearer definitions for some licence types.
• Additional information requested on recalled prisoners to understand the main reasons for recall.
• New voluntary throughcare guidance with a detailed definition of required data collections. A new question on the number of referrals for voluntary throughcare, replacing the previous question on the number of individuals who received assistance.

The new questions introduced for supervised bail in 2022-23 are now in the third year of collection. The collection of this information has therefore stabilised and is now considered to be accredited official statistics. A new question was introduced in 2024-25 for the number of supervised bail cases open on 31 March 2025. This question is still considered as a statistic under development, as there is the possibility of revisions due to improvement of guidance in the future.