8 Statutory/voluntary throughcare

(Tables 1, 10 & 11)

Key statistics for 2024-25:

• There were 1,200 statutory custody-based throughcare cases commenced in 2024-25, the highest in the last ten years.
• There were 1,000 statutory community-based throughcare cases commenced in 2024-25, the 2nd highest in the last ten years.

• Ninety-seven per cent of both statutory custody-based throughcare and community-based throughcare cases commenced were for males in 2024-25.
• There were 1,400 voluntary throughcare cases in 2024-25, the 2nd lowest in the last ten years.
• Seventy-nine per cent of voluntary throughcare cases commenced were for males in 2024-25.

Justice social work must provide throughcare services to those under statutory supervision upon release from prison. This includes individuals serving sentences of four years or more (or six months or more for sexual offences) and those with extended sentences or supervised release orders. Voluntary throughcare services are available to those not under supervision, requested while in custody or up to a year after release, lasting up to 12 months.

Chart 5: Statutory throughcare cases commenced for custody increasing since 2020-21 to be the highest in ten years.

Number of statutory throughcare cases commenced, custody and community-based 2015-16 to 2024-25, Scotland

Commencements for statutory throughcare in custody generally fluctuated around 1,000 in the years 2015-16 to 2019-20. Numbers fell at the start of the pandemic in 2020-21 to 630 cases but have risen in each of the following four years, reaching the highest in ten years at 1,200.

Thirty-one per cent of cases in 2024-25 involved determinate sentences of four years or more. Supervised release orders accounted for a further 25 per cent.

The number of commencements for statutory throughcare cases in the community increased by 20 per cent to 1,000 in 2024-25. The largest increases from 2023-24 to 2024-25, were in categories extended sentence and short-term sex offender. Supervised release orders are still the biggest category for 2024-25, contributing 26 per cent.

Chart 6: Statutory throughcare custody cases in force have risen in the last ten years while community cases have fallen slightly.

Number of statutory throughcare cases in force on 31 March, custody and community-based 2015-16 to 2024-25, Scotland

The statutory custody-based throughcare caseload was 4,300 individuals on 31 March 2025. This was eight per cent higher than in 2023-24 and the highest in the last ten years.

The statutory community-based throughcare caseload was 2,000 individuals on 31 March 2025. This was six per cent higher than last year but the 4th lowest in the last ten years.

Data was collected on the split of recalled prisoners in 2024-25 for the first time. There were 290 recalled prisoners in 2024-25. Sixty-five per cent were recalled due to non-compliance with licence conditions, with the rest (35 per cent) recalled due to both non-compliance of licence conditions and commission of an offence.

On 31 March 2025, 68 per cent of the caseload was custody-based and 32 per cent was community-based. This differed from the position in March 2016 when 58 per cent was custody and 42 per cent community.

The number of completions of statutory throughcare cases in the community has ranged from 830 to 1,120 over the last ten years. The total of 890 in 2024-25 was the 3rd lowest over this period.

New data for the number of voluntary throughcare referrals was collected for the first time in 2024-25. There were around 2,000 referrals reported in that year. As this is the first year of data collection, there may be revisions to the figures for referrals as guidance is improved in the future.

The number of voluntary throughcare cases commenced in 2024-25 was 1,400. This was the 2nd lowest in the last ten years - the lowest was the pandemic year of 2020-21. Twenty-one per cent of cases commenced in 2024-25 were for females.