Community Payback Orders: Breach Applications
type: Dataset
description: Community payback orders (CPOs) replaced probation, community service and supervised attendance orders. They were introduced for offences committed on or after 1st February 2011. CPOs are now by far the most commonly issued social work order. When local authorities become aware that a person has breached their order, they submit a breach application to the court which the court then considers and takes the necessary action. This data is derived from an annual return made to the Scottish Government by local authority social work departments and gives the number of breach applications during the life of community payback orders which were completed/terminated in each year from 2012-13 by gender. More data which shows the number of different social work order types (encompassing drug treatment & testing orders and fiscal work orders as well as CPOs and their predecessors) back to 2004-05 can be found in the datasets [Social Work Orders Commenced](http://statistics.gov.scot/data/social-work-orders-commenced) and [Social Work Orders Terminated](http://statistics.gov.scot/data/social-work-orders-terminated) on this website. Further data on CPOs at local authority level can be found on the Scottish Government [website](https://www.gov.scot/collections/criminal-justice-social-work/).
issued: 2026-08-13T13:11:05.172151
modified: 2026-08-13T13:12:24.498739
version notes: Data for previous years are revised annually as a result of revised information being received from local authorities. The figures for 2020-21 for Renfrewshire were originally published as estimates but were changed following the receipt of the actual data.
contact point: Organization
contact point: Kind
theme: Crime and Justice
accuracy: These statistics are considered of good quality as they come from recording systems which local authorities use for case management and internal monitoring. The data has, in addition, been quality assured by the Scottish Government via extensive accuracy checks, including identifying any major differences between the current year and previous years. In 2012-13, the gender breakdowns are estimated for 3 councils - Aberdeen City, Fife and Moray.
comment: Breach applications during the life of Community Payback Orders which were completed/terminated in each year from 2012-13, by gender.
completeness: This data brings together gender breakdowns for all years in the one place.
confidentiality: The data on Breach Applications In Community Payback Orders does not contain any directly identifiable personal information.
consistency: Community payback orders were introduced for offences committed on or after 1st February 2011. Numbers on breach applications for orders terminated were first collected in 2012-13 and have been collected on the same basis since then.
geographical coverage: S12
geographical coverage: S92
license id: uk-ogl
next update: 2026-01-01
quality management: Extensive quality assurance is conducted to ensure the data received from local authorities is as accurate as possible. Part of this involves the data loading system putting the data through a number of checks and identifying issues with the data which local authorities then need to look at and fix. Checks are also made by the Scottish Government to ensure there is consistency across the data for different years for every individual order.
reference period: PeriodOfTime
  end date: 2024
  start date: 2012
timeliness: As a large volume of data is collected at unit level for both community payback orders and drug treatment & testing order, these statistics are normally updated around January.
uniqueness: Not assessed
update frequency: annual
validity: These statistics help provide trends related to the workload of community payback orders and the type of orders which local authorities deal with.
will be updated: true

community-payback-orders-breach-applications.csv
type: Distribution
description: Data file for Community Payback Orders: Breach Applications
format: CSV
issued: 2026-08-13T13:12:24.508318
modified: 2026-08-13T13:12:24.504789
table schema: Schema
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: DateCode
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: GeographyCode
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: GeographyType
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: Units
  column: Column
    datatype: int
    name: Value
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: GeographyName
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: Gender
  column: Column
    datatype: text
    name: Measurement
access URL: https://admin.data.gov.scot/resource/fea5342e-91cd-4c71-bf94-0645d321c381/download
comment: Breach applications during the life of Community Payback Orders which were completed/terminated in each year from 2012-13, by gender.
dictionary: Column
  column: DateCode
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: Units
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: Gender
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: Value
  type: int
dictionary: Column
  column: Measurement
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: GeographyType
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: GeographyName
  type: text
dictionary: Column
  column: GeographyCode
  type: text

Scottish Government
type: Agent

Crime and Justice
type: Concept