On 6 October 2020, reoffending statistics for 2017-18 were published. They contained detailed analyses of reconviction rates and the average number of reconvictions per offender by: offender characteristics, sentence type, crime type, and local authority.

The latest cohort in the reconvictions statistics is the 2017-18 cohort, with reconvictions counted up to the 31 March 2019 at the latest for this cohort. This was before the extended presumption against short sentences came into force on 4 July 2019.

Key points:

-       the reconviction rate for offenders has fallen to its lowest level since comparable records began

-       the percentage of offenders who were reconvicted in a year was 26.3% – a one percentage point decrease from 27.3% in 2016-17

-       the average number of reconvictions fell from 0.48 to 0.46, a reduction of 4%

-       offenders given a short custodial sentence of one year or less were reconvicted nearly twice as often as those given a Community Payback Order (CPO).

On 12 August 2020, HMIPS published an inspection report on a Liaison Visit to HMP Kilmarnock. Much of it advised of activities to be re-commenced i.e. at planning, not implementation stage. Again, it advised “Whilst acknowledging that HMP Kilmarnock were providing more time out of cell than we had seen on previous liaison visits, along with allowing prisoners access to a phone while isolated under rule 41 (COVID-19), there is still a tension between the rights set out under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the restrictions having to be imposed”. We are concerned that prisoners' human rights are being breached and that this needs to be addressed directly. We are therefore raising this with HMIPS and partners in the criminal justice system.