Author: Richards, Patsy
Title: Summary Justice Reform: Evaluation of Fiscal Work Order Pilots
Summary: Fiscal Work Orders ( FWOs), introduced under Summary Justice Reform ( SJR) are the first community-based (unpaid work) disposals that can be issued by procurators fiscal in Scotland, as an alternative to prosecution in the courts. The disposal was also introduced as an alternative to financial penalties where means to pay was at issue; it was implemented on a pilot basis. This RF sets out findings from the evaluation of the first two years of FWO pilots, in relation to the SJR intended outcome - fewer minor cases going to court unnecessarily and the overarching SJR objective - a summary criminal justice system that is fair, efficient, effiective and quick and simple. This report presents the following findings: 1. In two years the pilots received 608 FWO referrals. The orders were run on an 'opt-in' basis and only two-thirds (422) of those referred attended for assessment. Most (404) who attended assessment were deemed suitable for a FWO, however only 345 people went on to start work placements. The two-thirds attrition rate was mostly due to non-attendance, although 35 people declined to take part. 2. A report for all non-attendance and non-compliance was submitted to fiscals for prosecution, those who declined the offer were also returned and 174 returned cases have been prosecuted to date. Completion rates for those who started an order were very high at 75% (259 orders). Although comparisons are not straightforward completion and non-completion rates compared well to other community-based disposals. 3. The efficiency of the pilots was reduced by low and patchy referral rates. This was attributed to the pilot design where only one fiscal office referred to each pilot; during staff absence or turnover, referrals fell (to zero in one instance before recovering). The target of 100 work orders per pilot per year was not achieved. 4. FWOs were regarded favourably by the majority of professionals and participants. The pilots ran work placements flexibly. Joint working between social work and fiscals was a key outcome. 5. In general FWOs were seen as FAIR, EFFECTIVE, QUICK AND SIMPLE. EFFICIENCY would have been improved had more fiscals been referring to each pilot. In fact as they operated on a fixed funding basis and all pilots said they could have handled more referrals unit costs could have been halved had the target of 100 orders per year been met. Notwithstanding, unit costs were still only half that of (longer and higher tariff) Community Service Orders.
Details: Edinburgh: Scottish Government Social Research, 2011. 61p.,; Summary
Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2011 at:
Year: 2011
Country: United Kingdom
URL:
Shelf Number: 120633
Keywords:
Alternatives to IncarcerationCommunity-based CorrectionsProsecution, AlternativesUnpaid Work Orders |
