7. Structured deferred sentences

(Tables 1, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b)              

Key statistics for 2025-26:

• Structured deferred sentences commenced for 2025-26 was 1,560, its 2nd highest level since the first collection in 2018-19.
• 69% of structured deferred sentences commenced were for males.
• Those over of 40 years old accounted for the highest proportion (30%).
• Where employment status was known, 62% were unemployed.

Structured deferred sentences (SDS) allow justice social work and relevant partners to provide a short-term intervention post-conviction but before final sentencing by the court.

There were 1,560 structured deferred sentences commenced in 2025-26. This was 3% less than in 2024-25 and the 2nd highest level in the last 8 years.

Chart 4: Structured deferred sentences fell in 2020-21, then rose in each of the following four years before decreasing for the first time in 2025-26.

Number of structured deferred sentences imposed, 2018-19 to 2025-26, Scotland

After falling sharply to 450 in the first pandemic year of 2020-21, the number of SDS imposed in Scotland rose in each of the next four years, reaching its highest level of 1,606 in 2024-25 and decreasing 3% in 2025-26 to 1,560.

In 2025-26, 26% of SDS were for less than three months. A further 48% were for at least three months but less than six months, while the remaining 26% were for six months or more.

There were 1,473 structured deferred sentences that finished during 2025-26. Of these, 39% resulted in the person being admonished, while a further 18% resulted in a community payback order. Figures on outcomes by local authority area are available in the additional justice social work datasets published alongside this report. Differences in outcomes may reflect judicial decision-making, as well as variation in how local authorities use structured deferred sentences.