This report was commissioned by the Scottish Government as a result of concerns raised by the diversion working group of the Pre-Disposal Programme Implementation Board. The numbers of cases diverted from prosecution have fallen in recent years (2006 onwards) and it was felt there was a need to investigate the issue further.
To facilitate this, the Scottish Government requested that the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) undertake a small-scale research study on the use of social work related diversion schemes by Procurators Fiscal in Scotland.