FOI Request - Criminal Justice and Recalls to Custody

Request 101003820328

I am seeking information to help us better understand how recalls to custody for people released on licence are managed across Scotland.

Theme: Data on Recalls
1.  How many people were recalled to custody from licence in your local authority area in each of the past ten years (or, if ten-year data is not available, for the most recent years)?
2.  Do you hold any data on the demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender) of those recalled to custody? If so, please provide this.

Theme : Decision-Making and Processes
3.  What criteria or processes are used by your authority to determine whether a recall is necessary?
4.  Does your local authority use any locally developed policies or guidelines in addition to national guidance when making recommendations for recall?
5.  In the case of recalls triggered by third-party information (such as police intelligence), how does your authority verify and record this information before recommending recall?

Theme: Policy and Guidance
6.  Could you please provide copies of, or links to, any local policies, procedures, or practice guidance your local authority uses specifically regarding recalls from licence?
7.  Does your local authority use a standardised system to record the reasons for recall? If so, what categories or coding framework do you use?
8.  What training, quality assurance, or oversight processes are in place for staff involved in recall decisions?
9.  Has your authority conducted any internal reviews or analyses on patterns of recall, including common reasons, trends, or the impact on service users and/or their families? If so, could you please share these documents or direct us to them?

Response 06-08-2025 

1. Not held. We are not required to report on this information so we do not have a means to collect it from our database. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held. In order to be helpful we would suggest requesting this information from the Parole Board for Scotland

2. Not held. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.

3. Breaching of licence conditions as determined by the Parole Board and evidence of increased risk to the public

4. No

5. Verification of information would not be for us to determine, it would be reported to the Parole Board who then determine the relevance of information.

6. No

7. Yes - recall

8. Staff have access to ongoing training in line with their role and recently attended regionally coordinated training provided by the Parole Board for Scotland. All reports with recommendations for recall must be quality assured and sanctioned by a manager. Any information or developments and research is shared throughout the team.  

9. Not currently, tend to use national data and as there are very minimal recalls in Moray, themes around recall tend to be more apparent