Proven reoffending statistics quarterly bulletin, July 2013 to June 2014
Source: data.gov.uk (2018-05-25)

Proven Re-offending statistics. Key statistics on proven reoffending in England and Wales. It gives proven reoffending figures for offenders who were released from custody, received a non-custodial conviction at court, or received a caution or reprimand.

Proven Reoffending Statistics 
Quarterly Bulletin 
July 2013 to June 2014, 
England and Wales 
Ministry of Justice 
Statistics Bulletin 
28 April 2016 

 
 
 
 
2
Contents 
  
Introduction ................................................................................. 3 
Key findings ................................................................................. 5 
Main report ................................................................................... 7 
Overall - adult and juvenile offenders .........................................7 
Males and Females ....................................................................8 
Age ............................................................................................9 
Index offence ............................................................................ 10 
Previous offences ..................................................................... 11 
Index disposal (sentence) type ................................................. 12 
Comparing the effectiveness of sentences ............................... 14 
Measuring proven reoffending ................................................. 17 
Contact points ........................................................................... 19 
 

 
 
 
 
3
Introduction 
This quarterly bulletin provides key statistics on Proven Reoffending for adult 
and juvenile offenders who were released from custody, received a non-
custodial conviction at court, or received a caution in the period July 2013 to 
June 2014. It presents the proportion of offenders who reoffend (proven 
reoffending rate) and the number of proven reoffences by offender history, 
demographics, individual prisons, probation trusts, local authorities and youth 
offending teams. 
 
How is proven reoffending measured? 
A proven reoffence is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-
up period that leads to a court conviction or caution in the one year follow-up 
or within a further six month waiting period to allow the offence to be proven 
in court as shown in the diagram below. 
 
An offender enters cohort if they are released from custody, received a non-custodial conviction at court, or 
received a caution in the period July 2013 to June 2014. 
 
Latest figures are provided with comparisons to July 2012 to June 2013, and 
the calendar year 2003 in order to highlight long-term trends. The full set of 
results is published separately in a set of Excel tables which provide headline 
Proven Reoffending statistics, and data tools which provide more detailed 
breakdowns. 
 
Annex A the final interim re-conviction estimates from the Peterborough 
Payment by Results pilots is published separately alongside this bulletin. 
 
Public consultation 
In October 2015, we published a public consultation on proposals to change 
the presentation of the data in reoffending statistics produced from October 
2017. These changes will be the direct consequence of reforms made to the 
probation services through introducing the Offender Rehabilitation Act in 
February 2015. We have published a response to this consultation alongside 
this bulletin. 
 
01-Jul-13
31-Jan-14
30-Jun-14
31-Jan-15
31-Jul-15
31-Jan-16
Offender A 
enters cohort
One year period in which 
reoffences are measured 
Offender B
enters cohort
We report on the offences that 
lead to a court conviction, 
caution, reprimand or warning 
within the year 
OR within a further 
six months to allow 
the offence to be
proven in court
Offender C
enters cohort

 
 
 
 
4
Publication of National Probation Service Community Rehabilitation 
Companies and proven reoffending rates 
Probation Trusts ceased to exist on 1 June 2014, and were replaced with the 
National Probation Service (NPS) and 21 Community Rehabilitation 
Companies (CRC). On 1 February 2015, new providers took ownership of, 
and began running, the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies.  
 
This publication in April covers the period from July 2013 to June 2014. It has 
a probation trust breakdown for the 11 months that these entities were 
operational. The July publication will provide proven reoffending rates by 
regions for offenders starting a court order and managed by NPS or CRCs in 
the period from June 2014 to September 2014. 
 
Early estimates 
Alongside the current proven reoffending tables, early estimates of proven 
reoffending for young offenders by Youth Offending Team (YOT) are 
published as management information. This provides an earlier indication of 
proven reoffending trends for young offenders.  
 
Under changes to the proven reoffending measure as announced in the 
accompanying consultation response. This measure is no longer relevant for 
future reporting, and therefore this will be the last set of early estimates in the 
series. It will, however, be replaced by an interim reoffending measure in the 
future, further details on the interim measure can be found in the consultation 
response. 
 
 
If you have any feedback, questions or requests for further information 
about this statistical bulletin, please direct them to 
xxx@xxx.xx. 
 

 
 
 
 
5
Key findings 
Overall - adult and juvenile offenders 
In July 2013 to June 2014 around 504,000 adult and juvenile offenders1 were 
cautioned, received a non-custodial conviction at court or released from 
custody. Around 131,000 of these offenders committed a proven reoffence 
within a year.  
 
This gives an overall proven reoffending rate of 26.0%; this rate has 
remained fairly stable, fluctuating between around 26% and 28% since 2003. 
 
Around 410,000 proven reoffences were committed over the one year follow-
up period, with those that reoffended committing, on average, 3.13 
reoffences each. This is an increase of 2.8% compared to the previous 12 
months and a fall of 7.3% since 2003.  
 
The highest reoffending rate by age group is 39.1%, for offenders aged 10 to 
14, the number of offenders in this cohort has fallen by around 81% since 
2003. The reoffending rate for offenders aged 15 to 17 is second highest, at 
37.4%. 
 
Less than 1% of all proven reoffences committed over the one year follow-up 
period were serious violent or sexual offences with very little change since 
2003. 
 
Adult offenders 
Adult offenders had a proven reoffending rate of 24.9%, representing a small 
decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous 12 months and 
a fall of 2 percentage points since 2003, this rate has been fairly flat since 
2003 fluctuating between around 24% and 27%. 
 
Around 361,000 proven reoffences were committed by adults over the one 
year follow-up period. Those that reoffended committed on average 3.13 
reoffences each. 
 
Adult offenders with 11 or more previous offences have a higher reoffending 
rate than those with no previous offences – 46.1% compared to 7.8%. 
 
In the July 2013 to June 2014 cohort, adult offenders with an index offence of 
‘Theft’ had the highest proven reoffending rate of 42.7%. Those with the 
lowest rate had an index offence of ‘Fraud’ and reoffended at a rate of 
10.4%. 
 
                                                 
1 A certain proportion of offenders who could not be matched to the Police National Computer (PNC) 
are excluded from the offender cohort. Therefore, this number does not represent all proven offenders. 
This means that the number of offenders in this bulletin will be different from the numbers published in 
Offender Management Statistics Quarterly and Criminal Justice Statistics. Please refer to the 
‘Definitions and Measurement’ document for further information.  

 
 
 
 
6
Adult offenders starting a court order 
The proven reoffending rate for adult offenders starting a court order 
(Community sentence or Suspended Sentence Order) was 33.6%, a fall of 
6.3 percentage points since 2003, and a slight decrease of 0.4 percentage 
points compared to the previous 12 months. 
 
Adult offenders released from custody 
The proven reoffending rate for adult offenders released from custody in July 
2013 to June 2014 was 45.6%. This represents a fall of 5.9 percentage 
points since 2003 and a small increase of 0.4 percentage points compared to 
the previous 12 months. Since 2004, the overall rate for those released from 
custody has remained relatively stable at around 45% to 50%; 
 
The rate for those released from short sentences has been consistently 
higher compared to those released from longer sentences. Adults who 
served sentences of less than 12 months reoffended at a rate of 59.7%, 
compared to 33.6% for those who served determinate sentences of 12 
months or more. The trends for those released from short and long 
sentences have both remained broadly flat since 2005 and are consistent 
with the overall trend. 
 
Juvenile offenders 
Around 41,000 juvenile offenders were cautioned, convicted or released from 
custody in July 2013 to June 2014 and around 15,000 of them committed a 
reoffence.  
 
This gives a proven reoffending rate of 37.8%, up 1.2 percentage points from 
the previous 12 months and an increase of 3.6 percentage points since 2003, 
the cohort has fallen by around 70.4% since 2003. 
 
Around 49,000 proven reoffences were committed by juveniles over the one 
year follow-up period. Those that reoffended committed on average 3.14 
reoffences each, the similar to adults. Juvenile offenders with 11 or more 
previous offences have a higher reoffending rate than those with no previous 
offences – 73.6% compared to 24.5%. 
 
Juvenile offenders (disposal type) 
The reoffending rate for juvenile offenders given a youth caution, reprimand 
or warning was 30.7% an increase of 3.6 percentage points from the 
previous year and 5.2 percentage points from 2003. 
 
Around 1,200 juvenile offenders were released from custody in July 2013 to 
June 2014; their proven reoffending rate was 67.7%.  
 
In spite of the increase in the overall juvenile reoffending rate, the reoffending 
rate for juveniles released from custody continues to fall with a decrease of 
0.8 percentage points compared to the previous 12 months and a fall of 7.1 
percentage points since 2003. 
 

 
 
 
 
7
Main report 
Overall - adult and juvenile offenders (Table A1) 
 
Adult offenders accounted for 92% (around 463,000) of the July 2013 to June 
2014 offender cohort, and juvenile offenders accounted for 8% (around 
41,000). A certain proportion of offenders who could not be matched to the 
Police National Computer (PNC) are excluded from the offender cohort. 
Therefore, this number does not represent all proven offenders. 
 
Figure 1: Proportion of adult and juvenile offenders in England and 
Wales who commit a proven reoffence, 2003 to June 2014 
 
 
Around 115,000 of all adult offenders were proven to have committed a 
reoffence within a year. This gives a proven reoffending rate of 24.9% which 
represents a small decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to the 
previous year. Since 2003, there has been little change in this rate, as 
illustrated in Figure 1. Over this time it has ranged from around 24% to 27% 
and since 2004 it has remained steady at around 25%. 
 
The proven reoffending rate for juvenile offenders is higher, and in the last 
12 months it has increased from 36.6% for the year ending June 2013 to 
37.8% for the year ending June 2014. While the juvenile reoffending rate has 
seen an increase of 3.6 percentage points since 2003, the cohort has fallen 
by around 70%. The average number of previous offences per juvenile 
offender was 2.53 in July 2013 to June 2014 and 1.83 in 2003.  
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%)
Number of offenders in cohort ('000s)
Cohort
Adult offenders
Juvenile offenders
Adult proportion (%)
Juvenile proportion (%)
For 2006 to 2014 , data are for the 12 months ending June

 
 
 
 
8
Males and Females (Table A2) 
 
 
In the July 2013 to June 2014 cohort, 82% were male and 18% were female 
– a split that has changed little since 2003. Male offenders from the July 2013 
to June 2014 cohort reoffended at a higher rate of 27.5% compared to female 
offenders who reoffended at a rate of 19.1%. Both rates have remained 
broadly stable since 2003 (Figure 2). Between 2003 and July 2013 to June 
2014, the proven reoffending rate for male and female offenders decreased 
by 2.5 and 2.4 percentage points respectively. 
 
Figure 2: Proportion of adult and juvenile offenders in England and 
Wales who commit a proven reoffence, by sex, 2003 to June 2014 
 
 
 
A summary report was published by Ministry of Justice in November 2014 
which related to the experience of women in the criminal justice system.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%)
Number of offenders in cohort ('000s)
Cohort
Male offenders
Female offenders
Male proportion (%)
Female proportion (%)
For 2006 to 2014 , data are for the 12 months ending June

 
 
 
 
9
Age (Table A3) 
 
 
The highest reoffending rate by age group is 39.1%, for offenders aged 10 to 
14, this cohort has fallen by around 81% since 2003. The age group with the 
second highest reoffending rate was for those offenders aged 15 to 17, at 
37.4%. 
 
Figure 3 shows that the proven reoffending rate generally falls with 
increasing age. Since 2003 the distribution of proven reoffending by age 
group has changed. Compared to 2003, the proven reoffending rate has 
increased for 10 to 17 year olds and for those aged 35 and over, but has 
fallen for offenders aged 18 to 34.  
 
Figure 3: Proportion of adult and juvenile offenders in England and 
Wales who commit a proven reoffence, by age, 2003 and July 2013 to 
June 2014 
 
 
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
10 to 14
15 to 17
18 to 20
21 to 24
25 to 29
30 to 34
35 to 39
40 to 44
45 to 49
50+
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%)
Age
2003
Jul 2013 to Jun 2014

 
 
 
 
10
Index offence (Table A4a,b) 
 
 
The offence that leads to an offender being included in the offender cohort is 
called the index offence. In the July 2013 to June 2014 cohort, adult 
offenders with an index offence of ‘Theft’ had the highest proven reoffending 
rate of 42.7%. This was followed by those with an index offence of ‘Robbery’ 
with a rate of 36.4%. Those with the lowest rate had an index offence of 
‘Fraud’ and reoffended at a rate of 10.4%. Additionally, with a fall of 10.8 
percentage points, the ‘Fraud’ index offence category saw the largest 
decrease between 2003 and July 2013 to June 2014. In contrast, the largest 
increase of 6.7 percentage points over the same period occurred for those 
with an index offence of ‘Public Order’ with a reoffending rate of 30.0%. 
 
In the July 2013 to June 2014 cohort, juvenile offenders with an index offence 
of ‘Miscellaneous crimes against society’2 had the highest proven reoffending 
rate of 45.2%. Those with the lowest rate had a ‘sexual’ index offence and 
reoffended at a rate of 12.4%. The ‘Summary Motoring’ index offence 
category had the largest decrease between 2003 and July 2013 to June 2014 
with a fall of 17.3 percentage points. The largest increase over the same 
period occurred for those with an index offence of ‘Theft’, up by 9.4 
percentage points. 
 
Figure 4: Proportion of adult and juvenile offenders in England and 
Wales who commit a proven reoffence, by index offence, July 2013 to 
June 2014 
 
 
                                                 
2 Miscellaneous crimes against society comprises a variety of offences. The largest volume offences 
include: handling stolen goods, threat to commit criminal damage and perverting the course of justice. 
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Theft
Robbery
Public Order
Miscellaneous Crimes
Against Society
Possession of
Weapons
Criminal Damage and
Arson
Drug
Summary Non-
motoring
Violence Against the
Person
Sexual
Summary Motoring
Fraud
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%)
Index offence
Adult
Juvenile

 
 
 
 
11
Previous offences (Table A5a, b) 
 
 
Generally, offenders with a large number of previous offences have a higher 
rate of proven reoffending than those with fewer previous offences and this is 
true for both adults and juveniles. In the July 2013 to June 2014 cohort, for 
adults, the proven reoffending rates ranged from 7.8% for offenders with no 
previous offences to 46.1% for offenders with 11 or more previous offences. 
For juveniles these figures were 24.5% and 73.6% respectively.  
 
Between 2003 and July 2013 to June 2014 the proven reoffending rate for 
adults who had committed 11 or more previous offences decreased by 5.5 
percentage points. For juveniles who had committed 11 or more previous 
offences, and over the same period, the proven reoffending rate decreased 
by 8.7 percentage points.  
 
Adult offenders with 11 or more previous offences represented just under a 
third of all adult offenders in the July 2013 to June 2014 cohort, but 
committed more than two thirds of all adult proven reoffences. For juvenile 
offenders this group made up only 6% of all juvenile offenders, but committed 
just over a sixth (17%) of all juvenile proven reoffences. 
 
 
Figure 5: Proportion of adult and juvenile offenders in England and 
Wales who commit a proven reoffence, by number of previous offences, 
July 2013 to June 2014 
 
 
 
 
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
No previous offences
1 to 2 previous
offences
3 to 6 previous
offences
7 to 10 previous
offences
11 or more previous
offences
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%)
Previous offence band
Adult
Juvenile

 
 
 
 
12
Index disposal (sentence) type (Table C1a, b) 
 
The index disposal of the offender is the type of sentence the offender 
received for their index offence. For the Proven Reoffending Statistics 
Quarterly Bulletin, this is defined as custody, court order, or other disposal 
resulting from a conviction at court, such as a fine or discharge, or caution. 
 
Adult offenders released from custody or commencing a court order  
 
Between July 2013 and June 2014, around 171,000 adult offenders were 
released from custody or commenced a court order. Around 60,000 of these 
offenders were proven to have committed a reoffence within a year. This 
gives a proven reoffending rate of 35.2%. Between 2003 and 2005 this rate 
fell by 4.1 percentage points and since 2005, it has fallen by 3.2 percentage 
points. 
 
Adult offenders commencing a court order 
 
Between July 2013 and June 2014, around 123,000 adult offenders started a 
court order and around 41,000 of these (33.6%) committed a proven 
reoffence within a year. This represents a slight decrease of 0.4 percentage 
points compared to the previous 12 months, and a fall of 6.3 percentage 
points since 2003. 
 
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 introduced 
Suspended Sentence Orders (SSOs) without requirements attached. 
Offenders sentenced to such SSOs are not supervised by the Probation 
Service. There have been increasing numbers of such orders given since 
they were introduced in December 2012. The reoffending rate for these SSOs 
without requirements is 36.3%. The reoffending rate for SSOs with 
requirements is 30.1%. 
 
These figures should not be compared to assess the effectiveness of different 
types of SSOs, as there is no control for known differences in offender 
characteristics and the type of sentence given. Please refer to the chapter 
‘Comparing the effectiveness of sentences’ on page 17 for more details. 
 
Adult offenders released from custody 
 
Between July 2013 and June 2014, around 57,000 adult offenders were 
released from custody and around 26,000 of these (45.6%) were proven to 
have committed a reoffence within a year. The rate has decreased by 5.9 
percentage points since 2003, and has increased slightly by 0.4 percentage 
points to 45.6% since the same period 12 months ago.  
 
Just under half of the adult offenders released from custody in July 2013 to 
June 2014 were released from a custodial sentence of less than 12 months. 
These offenders had a proven reoffending rate of 59.7% compared to 33.6% 
for those who served sentences of 12 months or more. The rate for those 
released from short sentences has been consistently higher compared to 

 
 
 
 
13
those released from long sentences, as shown in Figure 6. However, the 
reoffending rate for those released from sentences of more than 10 years 
saw an increase between year ending June 2009 and 2012, and now stands 
at 16.5%.  
 
Figure 6: Proportion of adult offenders released from custody who 
commit a proven reoffence, by sentence length, 2003 to June 2014 
 
 
Juvenile offenders given a reprimand, warning or youth caution (Table 
C1b) 
 
The reoffending rate for juvenile offenders given a youth caution was 30.7% 
an increase of 3.6 percentage points from the previous year and 5.2 
percentage points from 2003. Reprimands and warnings for youths were 
abolished under Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 
2012 with effect from 8 April 2013 and replaced with youth cautions.  
 
Youth cautions are a formal out-of-court disposal that can be used as an 
alternative to prosecution for juvenile offenders in certain circumstances. A 
youth caution may be given for any offence where the young offender admits 
an offence, there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction 
but it is not in the public interest to prosecute. 
 
Juvenile offenders released from custody (Table C1b) 
 
The reoffending rate for juveniles released from custody continues to fall. In 
July 2013 to June 2014 around 1,200 juvenile offenders were released from 
custody and around 800 of these (67.7%) were proven to have committed a 
reoffence within a year. This represents a decrease of 0.8 percentage points 
compared to the previous 12 months and fall of 7.1 percentage points since 
2003. 
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%)
Cohort
Less than 12 months
12 months to less then 4 years
4 years to 10 years
More than 10 years
For 2006 to 2014 , data are for the 12 months ending June

 
 
 
 
14
 
Figure 7: Proven adult reoffending: Offenders, reoffenders and 
proportion of offenders who reoffend by index disposal and custodial 
sentence length, July 2013 to June 2014 
 
The first event within each disposal is taken as the start point. Therefore, some offenders will 
appear in more than one disposal category and number of offenders in each disposal 
category do not sum to the total number of offenders. Please see the definitions and 
measurement paper for more information. 
 
Data are rounded to the nearest 1,000; except for indeterminate sentences which are 
rounded to the nearest 100. 
 
25%
All Adult Offenders: 
463,000
32%
Absolute/Conditional 
Discharge: 57,000
17%
Caution: 
145,000
34%
Court Order: 
123,000
46%
Custody: 57,000
35%
Custody or Court 
Order: 171,000
28%
Fine: 135,000
47%
Other: 18,000
35%
Community Order: 
84,000
34%
Determinate - 12 
months or more: 
30,000
60%
Determinate - Less 
than 12 months: 
27,000
10%
Life: 600
Suspended 
Sentence Order -
with requirements: 
36,000
30%
36%
Suspended 
Sentence Order -
without 
requirements: 
4,000
Offenders 
Proportion of 
offenders who
reoffend  
Legend

 
 
 
 
15
Comparing the effectiveness of sentences 
 
 
Proven reoffending rates by index disposal (sentence type) should not be 
compared to assess the effectiveness of sentences, as there is no control for 
known differences in offender characteristics and the type of sentence given. 
 
The ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, Community Orders and 
Suspended Sentence Orders on reoffending’ compares like for like offenders 
which enables a more reliable comparison of proven reoffending rates 
between offenders receiving different sentences. 
 
Short-term custody (less than 12 months in prison, without supervision on 
release) for the 2008 to 2011 cohorts was consistently associated with higher 
rates of proven reoffending than community orders and suspended sentence 
orders (‘court orders’).  
 
Over a one year follow-up period, a higher proportion of people reoffended 
having been sentenced to short term custody than other, similar people 
given: 
 
 a community order, of 3 percentage points higher; 
 
 a suspended sentence order, of 7 percentage points higher. 
 
Short term custody was associated with up to one more reoffence per person 
on average than both community and suspended sentence orders. 
 
 
In the ‘2013 Compendium of Reoffending Statistics and Analysis’, non-
custodial sentences were also compared: 
 
 Suspended sentence orders had a lower reoffending rate than 
community orders (3.2 percentage points for 2010); 
 
 Community orders had a higher reoffending rate than fines, though the 
difference was small (0.9 percentage points in 2010); 
 
 Conditional discharges had a lower reoffending rate than: Community 
orders (5.1 percentage points for 2010); and Fines (5.5 percentage 
points for 2010). 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
16
Adult offenders by individual prison (Prison/youth secure 
accommodation/probation trust data tool) 
 
 
Among prisons that released 30 or more offenders in July 2013 to June 2014, 
proven reoffending rates varied considerably from 10.9% to 78.7% for 
offenders with a sentence of less than 12 months and from 1.2% to 56.9% for 
offenders with a sentence of 12 months or more. A large part of this 
variability reflects the mix of offenders who are held in different prisons and, 
therefore, comparisons between prisons should not be made using these raw 
reoffending rates. 
 
 
Adult offenders by probation trust (Prison/youth secure 
accommodation/probation trust data tool) 
 
 
This publication covers the period from July 2013 to June 2014. It has a 
probation trust breakdown, but not an NPS/CRC breakdown, as it only covers 
one month of these organisations being operational. Proven reoffending rates 
for these offenders are presented by probation trust in the Prison/youth 
secure accommodation/probation trust data tool. This takes the first court 
order from within each probation trust as the start point for measuring 
reoffending and subsequent events as proven reoffences. 
 
Proven reoffending rates varied considerably between probation trusts from 
29% to 43.6%. A large part of this variability reflects the mix of offenders who 
are given a court order and, therefore, comparisons between probation trusts 
should not be made using these raw reoffending rates. 
 
 

 
 
 
 
17
Measuring proven reoffending 
There is no agreed international standard for measuring and reporting 
reoffending. An offender’s journey through the criminal justice system can be 
a complex one; offenders can appear on numerous occasions. 
 
Measuring true reoffending is complex. Official records are taken from either 
the police or courts, but they will underestimate the true level of reoffending 
because only a proportion of crime is reported and/or detected and not all 
crimes are recorded on one central system. Furthermore, other methods for 
measuring reoffending, such as self-report studies, which do not identify the 
offender, are likely to be unreliable. Therefore, this report aims to estimate 
proven reoffending for a specified group of offenders using data mainly from 
the Police National Computer. 
 
Since this report measures reoffending on a consistent basis across all 
groups, it is possible to tailor analysis of reoffending to meet specific 
requirements. 
 
The headline measure 
This is the overall measure of reoffending and is presented for different 
demographic groups and by offence. To provide this overview of proven 
reoffending, offenders are tracked and their proven reoffending behaviour is 
recorded, taking the first event3 in the relevant period as the start point and 
subsequent events as proven reoffences. Users should refer to tables A1 to 
A6, B1 to B4 and the proven reoffending overview data tool for these 
statistics. 
 
Index disposal 
In this measure offenders are tracked and their proven reoffending behaviour 
is recorded within each disposal (caution, court order, release from custody, 
etc.) Users should refer to tables C1 to C2b for these statistics and the 
proven reoffending by index disposal data tool for these statistics. 
 
Prison/Probation Trust 
In this measure offenders are tracked and their proven reoffending behaviour 
is recorded within each operational unit (prison or probation trust) taking the 
first event within each as the start point and subsequent events as 
reoffences. 
 
Probation Trusts ceased to exist on 1 June 2014, and were replaced with the 
National Probation Service and 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies. 
However, since the reporting period for this bulletin covers July 2013 to June 
2014, we have continued to publish statistics at Probation Trust level in the 
accompanying tables. 
                                                 
3 An event is one of the following: a release from custody, convicted at court with a non-custodial 
sentence, received a caution. 

 
 
 
 
18
Early estimates 
An early estimate of proven reoffending for young offenders– this uses a 
shorter follow-up and waiting period, but otherwise measures reoffending in 
exactly the same way as the headline measure. This provides an earlier 
indication of proven reoffending trends for young offenders and is published 
as management information alongside the accompanying proven reoffending 
tables. 
 
Reconviction measure – Payment by results 
A reconviction measure for use by payment by results pilots – this is the 
measure used in the prison pilots at HMP Peterborough and HMP Doncaster 
which measures court convictions. For more details, please refer to Annex A. 
 
For a more detailed explanation, please see the accompanying ‘Definitions 
and Measurement’ document.  
 
Consultation 
 
This quarterly bulletin was developed in response to a consultation in late 
2010 and early 2011 by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on “Improvements to 
Ministry of Justice Statistics”. 
 
Users 
 
The contents of this bulletin will be of interest to Government policy makers, 
the agencies responsible for offender management at both national and local 
levels, providers, practitioners and others who want to understand more 
about proven reoffending. 
 
In particular there are two MoJ impact indicators which will be monitored 
using results from this bulletin: 
 
 Adult and juvenile reoffending – the percentage of adult and juvenile 
offenders who reoffend. 
 
 The percentage of adults released from custody who reoffend. 
 
Government policy makers also use these statistics to develop, monitor and 
evaluate key elements of its policies including those on payments by results, 
legal aid and sentencing guidelines. Offender management agencies use 
these statistics to gain a local understanding of the criminal justice system, 
understand performance and to highlight best practice. Key agencies include: 
the National Offender Management Service, the Youth Justice Board, private 
and voluntary sector providers of prison and probation services and local 
authorities. 
 

 
 
 
 
19
Contact points 
Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office: 
 
Tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx 
 
Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to: 
 
Nick Mavron 
Ministry of Justice 
Justice Statistics Analytical Services 
7th Floor 
102 Petty France 
London 
SW1H 9AJ 
 
General enquiries about the statistical work of the Ministry of Justice can be 
e-mailed to: xxx@xxx.xx 
 
General information about the official statistics system of the United Kingdom 
is available from http://statisticsauthority.gov.uk/about-the-authority/uk-
statistical-system 
 
 
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