Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2024

Question 1

1.  Population

Accepted Answer

The prison population 87,919 on 31 March 2025.

The sentenced prison population stood at 69,946 (80% of the total); the remand prison population stood at 17,582 (20%) and the non-criminal prison population stood at 391 (less than 0.5%).

Figure 1: Prison population, March 2005 to March 2025 (Source: Table 1_Q_1 [31 March 2024 to 31 March 2025] and previous Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publications)

Remand prison population

The 31 March 2025 remand population figure of 17,582 is 7% higher than in March 2024 and is the highest ‘end of March’ figure in at least the last fifty years. The untried prison population rose by 6% (to 11,353) when compared to the end of March 2025 whilst the convicted unsentenced population rose by 8% (to 6,229) over the same period.

The two largest offence groups for those held on remand were ‘violence against the person’ (45% of the untried population and 29% of the convicted unsentenced population) and ‘drug offences’ (11% of the untried population and 18% of the convicted unsentenced population).

There were notable increases in the remand populations for Public Order Offences, 67% untried increase and 40% convicted unsentenced increase since March 2024.

While white prisoners make up 74% of the sentenced population, they make up only 65% of the remand population. All other reported ethnic groups have the same, or greater, proportional representation in the remand population than they do in the sentenced population.

Sentenced prison population

The sentenced population was 69,946 which is a 1% decrease from the same point 12 months earlier. This was largely driven by decreases in the population serving sentences of between 2 and 14 years, resulting from a policy change on Standard Determinate Sentences (SDS40) that took effect on 10 September 2024 (resulting in the release of a large number of offenders on that day)^{[footnote 1]}, together with earlier releases on End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) from October 2023 to 9 September 2024^{[footnote 2]}, and the removal of a maximum sentence length constraint for home detention curfew release in June 2024. Decreases of around 15% were seen in the numbers of prisoners serving sentences of 2 to 7 years, and around 6% for sentences of 7 to 14 years.

Around 7 in 10 prisoners serving an immediate custodial sentence have been convicted of a violence against the person offence (34%), sexual offence (21%) or drug offence (14%). While both the violence against the person and sexual offence sentenced population groups have seen increases over the last year, of 4% and 4% respectively, the population serving an immediate custodial sentence for drug offences has decreased by 21% in the same period. The ‘Public order offences’ immediate custodial sentenced population has increased notably (by 71% compared to March 2024), again likely linked to the disorder in Summer 2024.

Extended Determinate Sentences (EDS)

EDS constitute a custodial term, the majority of which is served in prison, followed by an additional extended period of licence in the community. They can be imposed if the offender is found guilty of, or has a previous conviction for, a specific sexual, violent, or terrorist offence. On 31 March 2025, 8,841 prisoners were serving such sentences. This is a 9% increase since March 2024 and prisoners serving EDS account for over 10% of the total prison population.

Indeterminate sentences

On 31 March 2025, there were 8,503 (8,151 male; 352 female) ‘unreleased’ prisoners serving indeterminate sentences (Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and life sentences). This is virtually unchanged (less than a 0.3% decrease) compared to 31 March 2024.

The number of ‘unreleased’ prisoners serving life sentences (7,491) has increased by 2% compared to one year ago whereas the number of ‘unreleased’ IPP prisoners fell by 14% to 1,012. At point of sentencing, offenders are given a minimum time period (“tariff”) that they must serve in prison before they can apply to the Parole Board for release. Over two-thirds of the ‘unreleased’ IPP prisoners who have served their minimum tariff period have been held for at least ten years beyond the end of their tariff.

The number of ‘recalled’ prisoners serving life sentences increased by 1% to 864 when compared to 31 March 2024, and the number of ‘recalled’ IPP prisoners has decreased by 5% to 1,532 over that same time period.

Recall to custody

The population recalled to custody (13,583 prisoners) has increased by 10% relative to the total a year earlier. The longer-term increases in the recall population are likely driven by a combination of factors such as increases in the average length of determinate sentences and an increase in the number of people serving indeterminate sentences or sentences with an extended licence. Further information on recent trends in prison recalls can be found in the “Licence recalls” chapter.

Foreign National Offenders (FNOs)

There were 10,838 (3,846 remand, 6,658 sentenced and 334 non-criminal) foreign nationals held in custody on 31 March 2025; representing 12% of the total prison population. The number of FNOs in the prison population increased by 4% compared to 31 March 2024. The most common nationalities after British Nationals in prisons are Albanian (11% of the FNO prison population), Polish (7%), Romanian (7%), Irish (6%) and Jamaican (3%).

Operation Safeguard

On the 31 March 2025 thirteen male prisoners were being held in police cells rather than prisons. This was part of Operation Safeguard^{[footnote 3]}, a measure reimplemented on 18 March 2025 to help cope with prison capacity constraints. This measure was most recently in use between February 2023 and October 2024.

Question 2

2.  Prison receptions and admissions

Accepted Answer

Summary of annual statistics

73,717 individuals were received into custody as first receptions in 2024.

This represents a 4% increase from last year.

First receptions

The number of annual first prison receptions was broadly stable during the 15-year period between 1994 and 2009 (with an average of around 129,200 each year). Since 2011 the number of annual first prison receptions had fallen year-on-year to a low of 59,440 in 2021. However, since 2022 the number of first receptions has increased again, to 73,717 in 2024. This figure marks a return to pre-pandemic levels.

First prison receptions of Foreign Nationals

Around 18% of the total first prison receptions in 2024 were of foreign nationals, this is a similar proportion to that observed since 2020.

Five nationalities accounted for just over 40% of the total foreign national first prison receptions in 2024: Albanian (1,903), Romanian (1,464), Polish (1,129), Irish (614), and Lithuanian (453). First receptions of Malaysian nationals saw a sharp increase in the latest year, from 13 in 2023 to 147 first receptions in 2024. This increase was likely driven by prosecutions for smuggling cannabis into the UK.

Prison admissions

In 2024, there were 39,185 untried prison admissions (i.e. for those on pre-trial remand); this is 8% higher than in 2023, continuing the trend seen since 2021 and reaching the highest level since 2015. Most untried prison admissions during 2024 were for an alleged violence against the person (VATP) or drug offence, with just under half (48%) of untried prison admissions during 2024 being for one of those alleged offences.

There were 25,430 convicted unsentenced entries to custody during 2024 (i.e. after having been found guilty at court but awaiting their sentencing hearing), a 12% increase from 2023, and the highest level within the time series1. When taken together, VATP, drug offences and theft offences represented 57% of all convicted unsentenced admissions with VATP representing around twice as many convicted unsentenced admissions as the other two groups.

There were 46,950 sentenced admissions to prison in 2024, a similar figure to that observed in 2023 (46,519). Sentenced admissions for sentences of less than 12 months represented 45% of all sentenced admissions in 2024. This proportion was relatively stable at roughly 57% of all sentenced admissions in the pre-COVID-19 years but has been falling since.

The numbers of immediate custodial (excluding remand and fine defaulter) sentenced admissions in 2024 was 46,909, a similar figure to that observed in 2023 (46,479). The most notable change for immediate custodial admissions between 2023 and 2024 occurred in the public order offence group with a 44% increase, likely associated with the violent disorder during the summer of 2024. Similar observations were made for alleged/proven public order offences in both untried and convicted unsentenced admissions with 54% and 85% increase compared to 2023 respectively.

After being released from custody, if an offender breaches their licence conditions, they can be recalled to custody. During 2024, there were 35,439 recall admissions to custody, this is a 34% increase compared to 2023. The increase in recall admissions is likely associated with the addition to the licence population of early releases schemes, as well as the impacts of the Suitability for Fixed Term Recall Order 2024 (which came into effect in April 2024). This Order effectively removed ‘Standard Recalls’ as an option for those serving determinate sentences of less than 12 months. Recall admissions from determinate sentences of 12 months or more increased by 19% compared to 2023 and represent just under half (49%) of all recall admissions.

Summary of quarterly statistics

18,090 individuals were received into custody as first receptions between October and December 2024.

The total number of first receptions between October to December 2024 was 5% higher than the same quarter in 2023. The number of first receptions are now in line with levels observed pre-pandemic, which were around 17,000 to 18,000 per quarter.

Compared to the same quarter in 2023, sentenced, remand and recall admissions all increased. Untried remand admissions increased by 7%, while convicted unsentenced remand admissions rose by 6%. Recall admissions were up 45%, continuing the trend observed in recent quarters.

Former Members of the Armed Forces

When individuals are first received into custody, they complete a Basic Custody Screening (BCS) process. This serves to identify their needs in areas including employment, childcare and healthcare. As part of this process, they are asked whether they had served in the armed services.

We recommend users consider this data to be indicative, given the limited response rate (typically around 50%) to this veteran’s question. Our ongoing monitoring of data quality has also identified some shortfalls in BCS data, which we will continue to monitor.

Between October and December 2024, 156 matched individuals first received into custody answered that they had served in the armed services - this represented 3% of those who provided a response to the question at the point of their first reception during the latest quarter.

Question 3

3.  Releases

Accepted Answer

Summary of annual statistics

57,277 offenders were released from custody during 2024.

56,834 releases from determinate sentences and 443 from indeterminate sentences.

Prison releases from custodial sentences

In 2024, there were 56,834 offenders released from determinate sentences, an increase of 17% from 2023; however, this remains below pre-pandemic levels (an average of around 69,000 per year from 2015-2019). The increase in offenders released from determinate sentences is likely associated with two different forms of early release in operation in 2024: ECSL (from Oct 2023 to 9 Sept 2024) and SDS40 (from 10 Sept 2024), as well as an expansion in the Home Detention Curfew scheme to include eligible prisoners serving longer determinate sentences.

There was a 50% rise in the number of releases from determinate sentences of ‘4 years or more’ (including extended determinate sentences), as compared to the previous year. The number of releases from determinate sentences of ‘less than 4 years’ rose by 11% compared to the previous year.

443 offenders were released from indeterminate sentences in 2024; a 6% decrease overall compared to 2023. Releases from both IPP and life sentences decreased, by 9% and 4%, respectively.

The mean sentence length for those released from determinate sentences in 2024 increased to 30.0 months, a rise from 25.5 months in 2023. The overall rise in mean sentence length across all determinate sentences was 19%. The mean time served (including time spent on remand) also increased from 2023, from 15.2 months to 16.7 months in 2024.

The equivalent median sentence length for those released from determinate sentences in 2024 rose from 12.0 months to 16.0 months. The median time served (including time spent on remand) also saw an increase, from 6.0 months to 7.3 months. This was the first increase in both median sentence length and median time served since 2020.

Releases on Home Detention Curfew (HDC)

10,134 offenders were released on HDC in 2024, a 28% increase compared to 2023. The expansion of HDC eligibility which came into effect on 17 June 2024 has impacted the number of HDC releases, with 23% of HDC releases in 2024 being of prisoners serving determinate sentences of 4 years or more. There was also a 17% rise in HDC releases of those serving 2 years to less than 4 years, while the remaining shorter sentence bands all saw decreases in HDC releases compared to 2023, possibly linked to alternative forms of early release.

The reporting of HDC eligibility is currently suspended^{[footnote 4]} and as such no comparisons can be made with previous years.

Of offenders released on HDC in 2023 (the latest year for which recall data is currently available), 19% were recalled, an increase on the previous year’s 15%.

Releases on Temporary Licence (ROTL)

In 2024, there were 401,514 incidences of ROTL. This is 4% lower than in 2023, the first decrease seen since the pandemic dip in 2020, and 8% lower than 2019’s figure of 436,531 incidences of ROTL.

However, the number of individuals released on temporary licence rose by 4% from 2023, to 7,675. This figure remains below that seen pre-pandemic, 12% below the highest number of individuals released on temporary licence, which was seen in 2019 (8,740).

Prisoner transfers

Incidences of prisoner transfer increased compared to 2023, rising 10% to 91,771. This figure surpasses that seen immediately pre-pandemic, 7% higher than 2019’s figure of 86,093, although it remains below levels seen between 2015 and 2017. The number of individuals who received at least one transfer in the period also increased, by 9% to 64,386, the highest figure since at least 2015, when 60,896 individuals were transferred.

Summary of quarterly statistics

15,730 offenders were released from custody in the latest quarter.

15,635 releases from determinate sentences and 95 from indeterminate sentences.

Prison releases from custodial sentences

Between October and December 2024, the number of prisoners released rose by 23% compared to that observed in the same period in 2023. Please see the summary of annual statistics above for factors that have influenced recent increases in releases.

Compared to the same quarter in 2023, large increases in releases were seen for all determinate sentences of 5 years and up (including extended determinate sentences), a 130% rise overall (from 1,448 to 3,324).

There were only two custody types that saw a decrease in the number of prisoners released compared to the same quarter in 2023: less than or equal to 6 months (6% decrease to 4,331 releases) and life sentences (35% decrease to 51 releases).

Releases on Home Detention Curfew (HDC)

The number of offenders released on HDC in the latest quarter rose to 3,407, an increase of 73% compared to the same period last year. As discussed above, the expansion of HDC eligibility which came into effect on 17 June 2024 means that those serving determinate sentences of 4 years or more may now be released on HDC, contributing to the observed increase.

The reporting of HDC eligibility is currently suspended and as such no comparisons can be made with previous quarters.

Releases on Temporary Licence (ROTL)

There were 84,984 incidences of ROTL during the quarter ending December 2024, a decrease of 23% compared to the same quarter in 2023. Of the ROTL incidences in the latest quarter, 63% were for ‘Work Related’ reasons.

The number of individuals receiving at least one incidence of ROTL between October and December 2024 also fell, down 9% from the same quarter in 2023, with 4,113 individuals released on temporary licence in the latest quarter.

There were 205 Temporary Release Failures (TRF) between October and December 2024, however this still indicates that more than 99.5% of ROTL incidences in the latest quarter did not result in a failure.

Prisoner transfers

Between October and December 2024 there were 24,494 incidences of prisoner transfer, with 20,860 prisoners having at least one incidence of transfer. Both figures represent increases since the same period of 2023, with rises of 14% and 13% respectively.

Question 4

4.  Adjudications

Accepted Answer

Changes to adjudications data sources and processing

In January 2024 the operational system for recording prisoner adjudications switched from prison NOMIS to a new Adjudications Digital Prisons Service. This has resulted in a number of changes to data recording and processing, including a large number of historic open cases which were administratively ‘closed’ by prisons when they were migrated across to the new system.

We have sought to exclude these historic cases where they do not represent a substantive outcome in the reporting period (for example, adding a new filter to remove cases with a ‘Not Proceeded With’ outcome where the Incident Date was more than 18 months before the start of the reporting quarter, i.e. prior to 1st July 2022 for the ‘January to March 2024’ reference period, prior to 1st October 2022 for the ‘April to June 2024’ quarter, prior to 1st January 2023 for the ‘July to September 2024’ quarter, and prior to 1st April 2023 for the ‘October to December 2024’ quarter), to prevent their inflating the latest statistics and giving an inaccurate impression of recent trends in adjudications. However, these changes to data processing rely on proxies to identify which cases to exclude, so users should be aware that there is the potential for adjudications to be under- or over-reported as a result.

Additionally, under the new system, adjudications covering more than one [alleged] offence are recorded as separate adjudications, whereas previously they were grouped under the same adjudications reference number. This has resulted in an increase in the number of reported adjudication outcomes (as these were previously de-duplicated in our data processing). The number of ‘punishments’ are likely to have also increased as a result of this change – this is due to the ability to record multiple punishments for linked offences.

Amendment to the Prison Rules 1999 and 2000

On 31st May 2024, amendments to the Prison and Young Offender Institution (Adjudication) Rules were made. These new rules amend the Prison Rules 1999 and the Young Offender Institution Rules 2000, which can be found in the link below: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/212/made

The amendments remove offences in Prison Rule 51 and Young Offender Institution Rule 55 concerning “racially aggravated” or “racist” behaviour and substitute new offences concerning behaviour demonstrating or motivated by hostility towards persons sharing any of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010, including race.

The amendments also insert three new sexual offences into Prison Rule 51 and Young Offender Institution Rule 55. A new punishment of “payback punishment” is also inserted into Prison Rule 55 and Young Offender Institution Rule 60 with a new offence of “fails to comply with any payback punishment”.

In light of these statutory instruments, this publication release includes an additional offence category Sexual offence. It also includes a new sanction Payback, to mean unpaid work served by offenders for the purpose of reparation. Also, all detailed offences that contain the word/phrase “racist” or “racially aggravated” have been revised to reflect the change in language and ethnicity terminology.

Summary of annual statistics

There were 265,525 adjudication outcomes in 2024.

61% of these adjudications were proven.

During 2024 there were 265,525 adjudications – this is a rise of 30% compared to 2023. Of these, proven adjudications increased from 132,202 to 162,960 (a 23% increase) over the same period. The rise in adjudications can be seen across demographic and offence groups.

After a substantial fall observed between 2020 and 2022, the total number of proven adjudications for ‘unauthorised transactions’ (those include possession of alcohol, drugs and other prohibited items), increased by 29% (to 52,164). Proven adjudications for ‘disobedience and disrespect’ offences, increased by 17% (to 49,005). These offences account for 32% and 30% of the total respectively in 2024 and are the two biggest offence groups for proven adjudications.

Use of ‘Additional Days’ as punishment

The upward trend in the number of occasions where additional days were awarded reached a peak in 2018. While periods of national lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions saw decreases in the use of ‘additional days’ as punishment, this has risen from 4,430 in 2023 to 6,738 occasions in the latest year . This remains lower than pre-pandemic levels (of around 20,000 incidences of additional days awarded per year).

When additional days were awarded as punishment in 2024, an average of 16 additional days were added (this remains lower than pre-pandemic levels and is unchanged since 2021).

Summary of quarterly statistics

There were 70,280 adjudication outcomes between October and December 2024.

This is an increase of 27% on the same quarter in the previous year. Additional days were awarded as punishment on 1,695 occasions in this quarter.

Around 3 in 5 (61%) of adjudications were proven.

There was a 23% increase in the number of proven adjudications (to 42,602) from the same quarter in 2023. The number of punishments rose by 76% (to 126,132) between October and December 2024.

There were increases in the number of proven adjudications across all major adjudication offence types. The largest increase in volume was for ‘unauthorised transactions’, which rose by 26% (to 13,986) while ‘disobedience or disrespect’ offences increased by 17% (to 12,543). Together these two offences account for 62% of the total and are the two biggest offence groups for proven adjudications.

The number of proven adjudications for ‘violence’ (13% of the total) in the latest quarter increased by 21% (to 5,635) compared to the same period in 2023. This has slightly exceeded pre-pandemic levels (there were on average 5,242 proven adjudications for ‘violence’ per quarter in 2019).

Additional days were awarded as punishment on 1,695 occasions in this quarter; this is a 25% rise compared with the same period in 2023. This in turn contributed to a 19% rise in the number of extra days resulting from punishments of ‘additional days added’, a total of 26,316 days were awarded in this quarter.

More information about the trends in Adjudications between 2011 and 2018 can be found in ‘The Adjudications Story’ publication.

Question 5

5.  Licence Recalls

Accepted Answer

There number of licence recalls between October and December 2024 was 10,401, of which 549 were recalls from Home Detention Curfew (HDC).

The total number of recalls increased by 45% compared to the same quarter in 2023.

We have now published a separate document of annual recall tables alongside the usual quarterly recall tables. The annual tables present annual versions of some of the quarterly tables, and work is ongoing to extend coverage to other quarterly tables where possible.

The total number of quarterly recalls trended upwards between October-December 2016 and July-September 2019. There was a marked increase in the number of quarterly recalls from early 2018 to July-September 2019, mostly due to increases in the number of HDC recalls and recalls of offenders from determinate sentences of 12 months or more. These numbers then began to fall, and the downward shift was accelerated by the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions.

From 2021, the number of quarterly recalls has generally gone up, with the latest figure being the highest in the series and an increase of 45% from a year ago. The increase from 2021 has largely come from recalls of offenders released from a sentence of under 12 months (ORA recalls).

Recall numbers have risen sharply in the last three quarters in both ORA and non-ORA recalls. This is likely to be associated with the introduction of (a) End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) in October 2023, (b) Fixed-Term Recall Statutory Instrument (FTR-SI) in April 2024 and (c) Standard Determinate Sentences 40% (SDS40) in September 2024. ECSL allowed some determinate-sentence offenders to be released up to 70 days earlier than they would have been released previously. FTR-SI mandated fixed-term recalls and automatic release after 14 days in prison on recall (retrospectively applied) for most ORA offenders. SDS40 allows certain prisoners serving a standard determinate sentence (with a 50% conditional release point) to be released at the 40% point of their sentence. The combined effect expected from these changes is an increased number of offenders released on licence and therefore more opportunities for offenders to be recalled.

Following relative stability up to January-March 2020, the number of quarterly ORA recalls noticeably began to fall, falling below 2,000 for the first time since July-September 2016, partly due to the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions. The relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, the unification of the probation services in June 2021 (where ORA recalls are now under a set of requirements different from that under the old Community Rehabilitation Companies), early releases from October 2023 and FTR-SI have in turn likely contributed to increases in these numbers. The sharp increase in ORA recalls from April 2024 was largely due to the introduction of FTR-SI (see the paragraph before this). The latest figure (4,975) represents an increase of 64% from a year ago and a slight increase from the previous quarter. Increases in ORA recalls mostly drove increases in overall quarterly recall numbers since the unification in mid-2021 up to March 2024.

The pattern in quarterly recalls of offenders with a sentence of 12 months or more (including those with indeterminate sentences) used to mirror that of the overall quarterly recalls during relative stability in ORA recalls. In recent quarters, the share of these recalls has dropped from about 2 out of 3 to about 1 out 2 recalls, coinciding with increases in ORA recalls. Between October and December 2024, there were 5,426 recalls of such offenders, representing an increase of 8% from the previous quarter and an increase of 31% from a year ago. These recalls mostly accounted for the increased number of recalls in the latest two quarters.

Ethnicity proportions in quarterly recalls have remained relatively stable, with about 8 in 10 recalls being white, 8% being black and 5% being Asian in the latest figures.

There usually is more than one reason for recalling an offender on licence. Of recalls in October-December 2024, about 74% involved non-compliance, 35% involved failure to keep in touch, 23% involved a charge of further offending, and 23% involved failure to reside. These proportions have remained relatively stable in recent quarters.

Between October-December 2024, 151 IPP prisoners and 80 prisoners serving a life sentence were rereleased, having previously been returned to custody for a breach of licence conditions. The total of these releases is an increase of 13% from a year ago, an increase of 5 releases for IPP prisoners and 22 releases for life-sentence prisoners.

Offenders not returned to custody

Of all those released on licence and recalled to custody due to breaching the conditions of their licence between April 1999 and December 2024, there were 2,729 who had not been returned to custody by the end of March 2025.

A further 15 offenders had not been returned to custody as of March 2025 after recall between 1984 and April 1999, meaning the total number of offenders not returned to custody at the end of March 2025 was 2,744. These figures include some offenders believed to be dead or living abroad but who have not been confirmed as dead or deported.

Of the 2,744 not returned to custody by 31 March 2025, 405 had originally been serving a prison sentence for violence against the person offences and a further 72 for sexual offences.

Question 6

6.  Probation

Accepted Answer

Summary of annual statistics

The total number of offenders on probation (i.e., court orders and pre/post-release supervision) in England and Wales at the end of December 2024 was 240,362.

With an increase of 0.7%, this remains largely unchanged compared with the end of December 2023 but represents a larger increase of 11% compared with the end of December 2014.

Probation data process transition update

In the October 2023 edition of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication,^{[footnote 5]} the Probation Statistics team announced its intention to transition its legacy systems to more modern data processing methods. Since then, we have provided regular updates on the progress of this work through our quarterly releases.

The quarterly probation statistics in this edition of the bulletin are the third to be produced using the new data pipeline. Initially implemented in October 2024 for periods from January 2024 only, this pipeline has been specifically used to compile the figures for probation starts, caseload, and terminations. Data for earlier periods remain unchanged as a comparison between the old and new data pipelines showed minimal differences, making it unnecessary to revise figures for those periods. The court reports data pipeline has now also been transitioned, and this publication edition is the first to include figures produced using the new pipeline for all periods since January 2024. The annual probation statistics for 2024 are, therefore, the first year to be fully produced using the new data pipeline.

The ‘Probation data process transition’ section at the end of this chapter provides more detail on this work and continues to present data from both the new and old data pipelines for comparison. As the transition has now completed, this will be the final time a comparison between the two processes is included.

Caseload

Probation caseload is a snapshot of all supervision by the Probation Service which was active on the last day of each reporting period.

As at 31 December 2024, there were 240,362 offenders supervised by the Probation Service in England and Wales (Figure 3). This has remained broadly stable over the last year, increasing by just 0.7% compared to 31 December 2023 and, more recently, decreasing by 0.1% compared to 30 September 2024.

Following year on year decreases up to 2014, the number of offenders supervised by the Probation Service reached a series peak of 267,146 in 2016. However, at the end of December 2020, the total probation caseload stood at 223,973, representing a 10% decrease compared to the figure of 247,759 reported at the end of 31 December 2019 and a 16% decrease since 2016. By the end of December 2021, the probation caseload had risen to 238,500 and then stabilised, increasing by less than 1% between December 2021 and December 2024 (240,362), indicating that caseload figures have recovered to pre-pandemic levels^{[footnote 13]}.

The increase in the probation caseload between 2014 and 2016 can be explained by the implementation of the Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) in February 2015 under which all offenders on a custodial sentence are subjected to statutory supervision on release from prison. Previously, only adults sentenced to over 12 months in custody and all young offenders were subject to statutory supervision.

Between the end of December 2023 and the end of December 2024, court order caseload decreased by 0.2% from 107,785 to 107,616, with the number of offenders on a community order (CO) decreasing by 5% and those on a suspended sentence order with requirements (SSO) increasing by 7%. In addition, the number of offenders subject to a Supervision Default Order decreased by 43% over the same period, coinciding with the implementation of probation reset.

The total court order caseload rose slightly between 2014 (109,353) and 2015 (111,422) and then increased in 2016 by 12% to 124,643. Following a gradual decline between 2016 and 2019, it decreased over the next year by 12% to stand at 93,027 at the end of December 2020. It then rose by 19% to 110,965 in the year up to December 2021 and again to 112,851 at the end of December 2022. This then decreased by 4% to 107,785 at the end of December 2023 and remained stable at 107,616 by December 2024.

The number of offenders on a community order (CO) also fluctuated over the years, peaking at 76,694 in 2016, dropping to 58,402 by the end of 2020, then rising by 20% to 70,371 in 2021. After stabilising between 2021 and 2022, it has gradually been decreasing again by 7% in 2023 and by a further 5% in the latest year to sit at 61,663 as of 31 December 2024. The number of offenders on a suspended sentence order (SSO) with requirements has followed a similar trend, increasing from 39,251 in 2014 to a series peak of 49,541 also in 2016. The number subsequently decreased again to stand at 35,198 at the end of December 2020, followed by increases of 19% and 6% to 41,892 and 44,258 in years 2021 and 2022 respectively, before stabilising between 2022 and 2023. However, in contrast to the decreases in COs after stabilising, a further increase of 7% to 47,350 was seen in SSOs between 31 December 2023 and 2024.

The total caseload of offenders supervised before or after release from prison at the end of December 2024 was 137,406, representing an increase of 2% compared to the end of December 2023, but still 6% below the figures recorded at the end of December 2019. This increase is driven by a rise in the post-release supervision caseload, which has been steadily increasing since the end of September 2023 and coincides with the introduction of both the ECSL and SDS40 schemes. The number of offenders supervised under post-release supervision rose by 6% to 63,156 between 31 December 2023 and 2024, whereas the number of offenders supervised under pre-release supervision fell by 2% to 74,349 over the same period.

Figure 2: Number of offenders under Probation Service supervision, 31 December 2014 to 2024^{[footnote 14]}

Source: The table of data that this graph is based on is labelled as ‘Table 6.6’ in the quarterly probation tables from 2023. In probation tables published between 2018 and 2022, this table is labelled as ‘Table 4.6’. In probation tables published prior to 2018, this table is labelled as ‘Table 4.7’.

Starts

Probation starts cover all court order or pre-release supervision by the Probation Service which commenced within the reporting period.

The total number of offenders starting court order or pre-release supervision by the Probation Service in 2024 increased by 3% to 145,404 compared with 2023, and this was primarily due to a 9% increase in the number of offenders starting suspended sentence order (SSO) supervision. Of these:

94,098 offenders started court order supervision – this is a 5% increase since 2023 and the highest number since 2019
58,133 offenders started pre-release supervision – this is a 1% increase since 2023

Of those under court order supervision:

59,650 offenders started community orders (COs) – this is an increase of 2% since 2023
36,225 offenders started suspended sentence orders with requirements (SSOs) – this is an increase of 9% since 2023 and the highest number since 2017

Of those under pre-release supervision, 1,502 offenders started a committal for breach of post-sentence supervision in 2024. This is a decrease of 29% from 2,102 in 2023 and corresponds with the implementation of probation reset which suspended this contact for some offenders.

The average length of CO starts increased slightly from 13.6 months in 2023 to 13.8 months in 2024. The average length of SSO with requirements starts remained at 18.1 months over the same period.

Between 2014 and 2019, the number of court order starts decreased by 25% to 104,038, and then by a further 23% to a series low of 79,621 in 2020. In 2021, court order starts increased by 16% to 92,718 but subsequently decreased again by 3% to 89,885 in 2022 and remained constant in 2023. There was then a 5% increase to 94,098 in 2024.

As a result of ORA being implemented in February 2015, the number of offenders starting pre-release supervision in custody increased by 114% from 45,063 in 2014 to 96,594 in 2016. Between 2019 and 2020, this figure decreased by 20% to 65,505 and then, unlike court order starts, which saw an increase in 2021, decreased by 8% in 2021 and by 12% in 2022. The number of pre-release supervision starts increased by 8% in 2023, the first year-on-year increase in pre-release supervision since 2016, then increased again by 1% in 2024.

Pre-sentence reports

Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) cover all Standard Delivery, Fast Delivery written, and Fast Delivery oral reports prepared by Probation Service staff for Magistrates’ and Crown Courts. They contain information on the offender and offence(s) committed to assist sentencing.

Between 2014 and 2019, the total number of pre-sentence reports (PSRs) prepared by the Probation Service decreased by 27% to 103,004, reflecting the downward trend in the number of offenders sentenced in all courts over the same period^{[footnote 15]},^{[footnote 16]}. This number then fell by 34% in 2020 to a series low of 68,077 before increasing by 30% in 2021 to 88,657^{[footnote 17]}. A decrease of 6% was seen in 2022 to 83,240, however, this was followed by year-on-year increases of 10% in 2023 and 8% in 2024 to reach 99,006.

Summary of quarterly statistics

Starts

Between October and December 2024, 42,270 offenders started court order or pre-release supervision by the Probation Service (Figure 4). This remains broadly the same as the previous quarter but is an increase of 6% compared to the same quarter a year ago. Of these:^{[footnote 18]}

24,756 offenders started court order supervision – with a small decrease of 0.8%, this remains around the same level as the previous quarter, and represents an increase of 4% compared with the same quarter in the previous year
17,536 offenders started pre-release supervision – this increased by 1% in comparison with the last quarter, and also increased by 9% compared with the same quarter last year

Of those under court order supervision:

15,578 offenders started community orders (COs) – this is unchanged since the previous quarter and an increase of 3% compared to the same quarter in 2023
9,092 offenders started suspended sentence orders with requirements (SSOs) – this is a decrease of 2% compared to the previous quarter but an increase of 6% compared to the same quarter in the previous year

Of those under pre-release supervision, 209 offenders started a committal for breach of post-sentence supervision. This represents a decrease of 35% compared to the previous quarter and a decrease of 69% compared to the same quarter a year ago. This noticeable change coincides with the implementation of the probation reset.

Figure 3: Number of offenders starting supervision under the Probation Service, January 2022 to December 2024^{[footnote 19]}

Source: Table 6.1 of the quarterly probation tables published from 2023. Table 4.1 in quarterly probation tables published prior to 2023.

Overall, between October and December 2024, 26,306 requirements were started under COs and 17,399 under SSOs, representing an increase of 5% and 10% respectively compared to the same period in the previous year.

In the latest quarter, increases were seen across most requirement types under COs and SSOs. Furthermore, rehabilitation remains the most common requirement included within a CO and SSO. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, the number of rehabilitation requirements started under COs rose by 4% to 11,611 and rose by 9% to 7,777 under SSOs.

Under COs, some of the most notable changes in requirements commenced between October and December 2024 compared to the same quarter in 2023 were:

accredited programmes increasing by 28% to 1,849
mental health treatment (MHTR) increasing by 28% to 838
exclusion increasing by 22% to 295
electronic monitoring decreasing by 20% to 619
drug rehabilitation (DRR) increasing by 12% to 1,339

Under SSOs, some of the most notable changes in requirements commenced between October and December 2024 compared to the same quarter in 2023 were:

mental health treatment (MHTR) increasing by 45% to 547
accredited programmes increasing by 26% to 1,830
alcohol abstinence and monitoring (AAMR) increasing by 23% to 635
alcohol treatment (ATR) increasing by 19% to 621
electronic monitoring decreasing by 16% to 569

The increase in MHTRs within COs and SSOs since July 2020 is linked to a scaling up of the availability to sentence to this requirement across the criminal courts of England. This follows the introduction of new MHTR services provided by NHS England and is part of an initiative^{[footnote 20]} that aims to reduce reoffending and short custodial sentences by addressing the underlying mental health issues which may be contributing towards offending behaviours.

The decline in electronic monitoring requirements is likely to be associated with the continued mandating of domestic abuse and safeguarding enquiries in all cases where electronically monitored curfews are proposed. This policy mandates that electronically monitored curfews should not be recommended to the courts unless these enquiries have been made first, and this requirement has likely led to the observed decrease in the overall number of electronically monitored curfews issued.

This was introduced in April 2022 and the decline was initially observed in curfew figures only. However, reforms to recording practices from October 2022, to more accurately record curfew requirements with and without electronic monitoring, mean this decline has now switched to being observed in electronic monitoring figures instead.

In terms of the most frequently used combinations of requirements commenced between October and December 2024, rehabilitation was the most common requirement to be combined with other requirements.

Compared to the same quarter in 2023, under COs, rehabilitation requirements combined separately with:

MHTR increased by 22% to 356
AAMR increased by 9% to 430
DRR increased by 7% to 854
ATR increased by 7% to 682

In contrast, rehabilitation requirements combined with accredited programmes and unpaid work together under COs decreased by 22% and rehabilitation requirements combined with accredited programmes only decreased by 19% over the same period.

Compared to the same quarter in 2023, under SSOs, rehabilitation requirements combined separately with:

MHTR increased by 23% to 185
AAMR increased by 17% to 216
ATR increased by 11% to 330
DRR increased by 7% to 512

In contrast, rehabilitation combined with accredited programmes decreased by 24%, rehabilitation combined with accredited programmes and unpaid work together decreased by 15% and rehabilitation combined with electronic monitoring decreased by 13% over the same period.

Terminations

Probation terminations cover all community order (CO) and suspended sentence order (SSO) supervision by the Probation Service which terminated within the reporting period.

Of the 14,681 COs and 7,823 SSOs terminated between October and December 2024, 72% and 77% respectively were terminated successfully, i.e., ran their full course, or were terminated early for good progress.

Pre-sentence reports

In the quarter October to December 2024, at 24,797, the total number of PSRs prepared by the Probation Service increased by less than 1% from those seen in the last quarter, and by 8% compared to the same quarter in 2023.

The number of SSOs proposed in PSRs declined steeply from 12,762 in the year ending December 2018 to 2 in the year ending December 2024. This decline is associated with a change in 2018 of the guidelines to probation staff on recommending suspended sentence orders in PSRs.^{[footnote 21]} As a result, concordance rates for SSOs should be interpreted with caution.

In the year ending December 2024, 88% of immediate custodial sentences proposed in PSRs resulted in that sentence being given, representing the highest concordance between sentence proposed and sentence given, excluding SSOs. Furthermore, immediate custody represented 9% of all sentences proposed in PSRs over the same period.

Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) offenders

Following the reforms to IPP licence termination criteria which were introduced on 1 November 2024, the number of IPP offenders on licence in the community as at 31 December 2024 fell to 1,376. This is a decrease of 52% compared to 30 September 2024 and of 54% compared to the end of December 2023.

Probation data process transition

In the October 2023 edition of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication,^{[footnote 22]} the Probation Statistics team announced its intention to transition its legacy systems to more modern data processing methods to enable greater functionality that, in turn, will present further opportunities for more thorough, accurate and timely analysis, and insight.

Since the October 2023 release, this section of the Probation chapter has provided updates on the progress of this work. While the October 2024 release introduced the first official figures produced using the new data pipeline, this section has continued to include data from both the new and old data pipelines until the end of the reporting year to enable comparisons between the two systems.

The January 2025 release included a new update on the progress that had been made in transitioning the court reports data to the new data pipeline. This transition has now been completed and court reports figures in the April 2025 release are now based on the new data pipeline, however, comparison figures for the latest quarter are still provided in this section.

Explanations of some of the more apparent differences that have arisen using the new process can be found at the end of each table.

Starts

Table 1: Offenders starting court order and pre-release supervision by the Probation Service, by sentence type, October to December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.1)

Sentence type	Old	New (Published)	Difference
All court orders and pre-release supervision	42,501	42,270	-0.5% (-231)
All court orders	24,758	24,756	<-0.1% (-2)
All community sentences	15,661	15,660	<-0.1% (-1)
Community orders	15,579	15,578	<-0.1% (-1)
Other sentences	9,098	9,097	<-0.1% (-1)
Suspended sentence orders with requirements	9,093	9,092	<-0.1% (-1)
Pre-release supervision	17,765	17,536	-1.3% (-229)

While most of the differences under the new data process are minimal, the most apparent variance arises when comparing pre-release supervision starts figures. Most of the difference between the new and old data process for pre-release supervision starts can be attributed to duplicate records of offenders within the old data. While these records are not filtered out using the old process, due to limitations of the data extraction process, the slightly lower figure of pre-release supervision starts produced by the new process is more reflective of the actual number of offenders that began pre-release supervision in this period.

The remaining difference can be attributed to discrepancies in the timing of data extraction between the new and old data process.

Figure 4: Offenders starting court order and pre-release supervision by the Probation Service, October 2022 to December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.1)

Caseload

Table 2: Offenders supervised by the Probation Service by sentence type, at end of 31 December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.6)

Sentence type	Old	New (Published)	Difference
All supervision	240,377	240,362	<-0.1% (-15)
All supervision in the community	167,689	167,575	<-0.1% (-114)
All court orders	107,614	107,616	<0.1% (2)
All community sentences	62,235	62,239	<0.1% (4)
Community orders	61,660	61,663	<0.1% (3)
Other sentences	47,351	47,352	<0.1% (1)
Suspended sentence orders with requirements	47,349	47,350	<0.1% (1)
All pre- and post-release supervision	137,414	137,406	<-0.1% (-8)
Pre-release supervision	74,238	74,349	0.1% (111)
Post-release supervision	63,274	63,156	-0.2% (-118)

Figure 5: Offenders supervised in the community by the Probation Service, at end of period, 31 December 2022 to 31 December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.6)

Again, while most of the differences are minimal, we have found that the majority, particularly in relation to the pre- and post-release supervision split, can be attributed to variations in the timing of data extraction from the data source between the new and old data process.

Figure 6: Offenders under pre-release supervision by the Probation Service, at end of period, 31 December 2022 to 31 December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.6)

Figure 7: Offenders under post-release supervision by the Probation Service, at end of period, 31 December 2022 to 31 December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.6)

Terminations

Table 3: Percentage of terminations of community orders and suspended sentence orders, by reason, October to December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.10)

Reason	Old	New (Published)	Difference
Community orders
Ran their full course	65%	65%	..
Terminated early for good progress	7%	7%	..
Terminated early for failure to comply with requirements	10%	10%	..
Terminated early for conviction of offence	13%	13%	..
Terminated early for other reasons	5%	5%	..
Total community order terminations	14,679	14,681	<0.1% (2)
Suspended sentence orders with requirements
Ran their full course	77%	77%	..
Terminated early for good progress	0%	0%	..
Terminated early for failure to comply with requirements	8%	8%	..
Terminated early for conviction of offence	14%	14%	..
Terminated early for other reasons	1%	1%	..
Total suspended sentence orders with requirements terminations	7,822	7,823	<0.1% (1)

“..” denotes not available.

As seen in previous editions of this bulletin, there are minimal or no differences between the new and old process for both community order and suspended sentence order terminations.

Requirements

Table 4: Most frequently used combinations of requirements for starts of community orders and suspended sentence orders, October to December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.3)

Requirement	Old	New (Published)	Difference
Community orders
Rehabilitation	3,637	3,636	<-0.1% (-1)
Unpaid work	3,221	3,221	0
Rehabilitation and unpaid work	2,963	2,963	0
Rehabilitation and drug treatment	854	854	0
Rehabilitation and alcohol treatment	682	682	0
Rehabilitation and alcohol abstinence and monitoring	430	430	0
All other requirements	3,792	3,792	0
Suspended sentence orders with requirements
Rehabilitation and unpaid work	2,140	2,140	0
Rehabilitation	2,001	2,001	0
Unpaid work	888	888	0
Rehabilitation and drug treatment	512	512	0
Accredited programme, rehabilitation and unpaid work	346	346	0
Rehabilitation and alcohol treatment	330	330	0
All other requirements	2,876	2,875	<-0.1% (-1)

Table 5: Number of requirements commenced under community orders and suspended sentence orders, by type of requirement, October to December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.4)

Requirement	Old	New (Published)	Difference
Community orders
Rehabilitation	11,612	11,611	<-0.1% (-1)
Unpaid work	7,537	7,537	0
Accredited programme	1,849	1,849	0
Drug treatment	1,339	1,339	0
Alcohol treatment	1,147	1,147	0
Alcohol abstinence and monitoring	902	902	0
All other requirements	1,921	1,921	0
Total community order requirements	26,307	26,306	<-0.1% (-1)
Suspended sentence orders with requirements
Rehabilitation	7,778	7,777	<-0.1% (-1)
Unpaid work	4,306	4,306	0
Accredited programme	1,830	1,830	0
Drug treatment	867	867	0
Alcohol abstinence and monitoring	636	635	-0.2% (-1)
Alcohol treatment	621	621	0
All other requirements	1,363	1,363	0
Total suspended sentence order requirements	17,401	17,399	<-0.1% (-2)

Similarly, as seen in previous editions of this bulletin, the differences observed in the number of requirements started under community orders and suspended sentence orders between the new and old process are minimal.

Pre-sentence reports

Table 6: Court reports prepared by the Probation Service, by type of report and court, October to December 2024, England and Wales, sourced using the new and old data process (published data source: Table 6.11)

Report type	Old	New (Published)	Difference
Magistrates’ and Crown Court
Total pre-sentence reports (PSR)	24,712	24,797	0.3% (85)
Standard PSR	1,426	1,427	<0.1% (1)
Fast Delivery PSR written	19,122	19,209	0.5% (87)
Fast Delivery PSR oral	4,164	4,161	<-0.1% (-3)
Magistrates’ Courts
Total pre-sentence reports (PSR)	16,465	16,526	0.4% (61)
Standard PSR	331	331	0
Fast Delivery PSR written	12,256	12,318	0.5% (62)
Fast Delivery PSR oral	3,878	3,877	<-0.1% (-1)
Crown Court
Total pre-sentence reports (PSR)	8,247	8,271	0.3% (24)
Standard PSR	1,095	1,096	<0.1% (1)
Fast Delivery PSR written	6,866	6,891	0.4% (25)
Fast Delivery PSR oral	286	284	-0.7% (-2)

The court reports statistics published in this edition of Offender Management Statistics Quarterly have been produced using the new data pipeline for the first time. As can be seen in Table 6, figures produced using the new pipeline are slightly higher than those produced under the old pipeline, however, they are still comparable, and the differences are less than 1%.

Next steps

We will continue to monitor, and refine where necessary, the new process for sourcing the probation statistics. This will be the final time a comparison between the two processes will be published in the Probation chapter, however, any major refinements in the future will be communicated clearly.

Further information

This publication presents quarterly data trends.

Our statisticians regularly review the content of publications. Development of new and improved statistical outputs is usually dependent on reallocating existing resources. As part of our continual review and prioritisation, we welcome user feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency, and methodology. Please send any comments you have on this publication including suggestions for further developments or reductions in content.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

A ‘Guide to Offender Management Statistics’, which provides comprehensive information about data sources and quality, as well as key legislative changes.
A document outlining the ‘Users of Offender Management Statistics’
A set of data tables, covering each section of this bulletin, including a prison population data tool.

Accredited official statistics status

National Statistics are accredited official statistics. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2012. They comply with the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. (Note that accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007).

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website: https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for these accredited official statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the OSR promptly. This accredited status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/media-enquiries

Non-Press enquiries about the Probation chapter of this publication should be sent to: probation-statistics-enquiries@justice.gov.uk

Non-Press enquiries about all other chapters of this publication should be sent to: OMSQ-SiC-publications@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 31 July 2025

URL:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly

For further information please see the SDS40 Tranche release data ad-hoc publication:‘https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standard-determinate-sentences-sds40-tranche-release-data’ ↩
For further information please see the ECSL ad-hoc data publication: ‘https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/end-of-custody-supervised-licence-ecsl-detailed-data’ ↩
‘https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025-03-18/debates/25031834000009/PrisonCapacityOperationSafeguard’ ↩
Offender management statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK ↩
‘https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2023/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2023#probation’ ↩
Total caseload as at 31 December 2019 (i.e. the last reporting period prior to the pandemic) stood at 247,759. ‘https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/981212/Probation_Q4_2020.ods’. ↩
Further details are available at: ‘Prisons and Probation: Foreign National Offenders - Hansard - UK Parliament’ and ‘https://democracy.leics.gov.uk/documents/s183789/Probation%20Reset.pdf’. ↩
‘Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Suitability for Fixed Term - Hansard - UK Parliament’ ↩
Figures on the number of prisoners released under the ECSL scheme are available here: ‘https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6723620e46aa392ce3565530/ECSL_Commentary_Transparency.pdf’ ↩
Figures on the number of prisoners released under the SDS40 scheme are available here:‘https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standard-determinate-sentences-sds40-tranche-release-data’ ↩
Most prisoners sentenced to a standard determinate sentence (SDS) are automatically released at their conditional release date, which is the half-way point of sentence. Prisoners serving an SDS are on licence supervision until the end of sentence. ↩
‘End of lifetime licences for rehabilitated IPP offenders - GOV.UK’ ↩
Total caseload as at 31 December 2019 (i.e. the last reporting period prior to the pandemic) stood at 247,759. ‘https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/981212/Probation_Q4_2020.ods’. ↩
The number of offenders on the probation caseload in 2020 was substantially reduced as a result of the operational restrictions that were put in place on the 23 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the impact of these operational restrictions continued into subsequent periods, figures in more recent periods have recovered to pre-pandemic levels. ↩
Table Q5.1a in the Criminal Justice System Quarterly Statistics publication states the number of offenders sentenced at all courts in the 12 months ending September 2014 to the 12 months ending September 2024. This can be found at:‘https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-september-2024’. ↩
In the year ending September 2019, the number of offenders given sentences for community sentences, SSOs and custodial sentences decreased by 20%, 23% and 14% respectively compared to the year ending September 2014; a decrease of 18% was seen when comparing the combined number of these sentences across this period. ↩
A sharp decrease in offenders sentenced between April and June 2020 caused by temporary court closures resulting from COVID-19 operational restrictions was followed by increases over the latter end of 2020 and into 2021 due to courts reopening and increasing workload again. The combined number of offenders sentenced to community sentences, SSOs and custodial sentences, consequently, increased by 6% between June 2020 and June 2021, potentially contributing to the rise in PSRs prepared over 2021. ↩
Each person is counted once only for each type of probation supervision started within the time period. In addition, each person is counted once only in each total or sub-total even if they started several types of probation supervision within the time period. This means that the totals and sub-totals are less than adding the sum of their parts. For example, if a person started a community order and a Supervision Default Order within the time period, then the person would be counted once only within the total of all community sentences. ↩
The number of offenders on the probation caseload in 2020 was substantially reduced as a result of the operational restrictions that were put in place on the 23 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the impact of these operational restrictions continued into subsequent periods, figures in more recent periods have recovered to pre-pandemic levels. ↩
The initiative started in 2017 in five areas, with a national roll out to be completed by mid-2024. ‘https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/918187/a-smarter-approach-to-sentencing.pdf’. ↩
The Sentencing Council guideline, effective from 1 February 2017, provides guidance for sentencers on the imposition of community and custodial sentences, and is available at: ‘https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/overarching-guides/magistrates-court/item/imposition-of-community-and-custodial-sentences/’. ↩
‘https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2023/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2023#probation’ ↩

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1. Population

Remand prison population

Sentenced prison population

Extended Determinate Sentences (EDS)

Indeterminate sentences

Recall to custody

Foreign National Offenders (FNOs)

Operation Safeguard

2. Prison receptions and admissions

Summary of annual statistics

First receptions

First prison receptions of Foreign Nationals

Prison admissions

Summary of quarterly statistics

Former Members of the Armed Forces

3. Releases

Summary of annual statistics

Prison releases from custodial sentences

Releases on Home Detention Curfew (HDC)

Releases on Temporary Licence (ROTL)

Prisoner transfers

Summary of quarterly statistics

Prison releases from custodial sentences

Releases on Home Detention Curfew (HDC)

Releases on Temporary Licence (ROTL)

Prisoner transfers

4. Adjudications

Summary of annual statistics

Use of ‘Additional Days’ as punishment

Summary of quarterly statistics

5. Licence Recalls

Offenders not returned to custody

6. Probation

Summary of annual statistics

Probation data process transition update

Overall results

Probation reset

Other policy changes

Caseload

Starts

Pre-sentence reports

Summary of quarterly statistics

Starts

Terminations

Pre-sentence reports

Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) offenders

Probation data process transition

Starts

Caseload

Terminations

Requirements

Pre-sentence reports

Next steps

Further information

Accompanying files

Accredited official statistics status

Contact

Next update: 31 July 2025

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