About this report

The Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) Annual Caseload Statistics reports provide an overview of the number of service users and the caseload i.e. the number of individual Orders and Licences supervised by PBNI at the end of each financial year, as well as providing comparisons with previous years. The latest annual report and accompanying data tables are available here.

This quarterly series is a subset of the annual information with data provided for key aspects of the work carried out by PBNI. Not all tables presented in the annual report have been replicated quarterly, as in some cases there is minimal change in the figures from quarter to quarter. For example, the gender breakdown of service users and victims remains largely consistent over time.

The quarterly updates for reports completed and victims registered should be treated as provisional as they may be revised when figures are finalised during the production of the end of year annual report.

This publication is in a new HTML format which includes interactive graphics and the ability to automatically download the data presented in the charts.

Statistics on PBNI caseload are collated and produced by statisticians seconded to PBNI from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). 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 by emailing statsandresearch@probation-ni.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

Background information about the different types of Orders and Licences, as well as the different reports completed by PBNI, is available in Appendix 1. Technical notes about the source, presentation and quality of the data are available in Appendix 2.

Data in all tables and charts in this report are available from the PBNI website.

Key Facts

On 31 December 2024:

  • 4,202 service users were supervised by PBNI, a decrease of 0.8% on the equivalent figure for 31 December 2023 (4,238).

  • The caseload i.e. the number of individual Orders and Licences supervised by PBNI was 5,830, an increase of 0.4% on the equivalent figure for 31 December 2023 (5,807).

  • Determinate Custodial Sentences accounted for the largest proportion of caseload (36.7%) supervised by PBNI, followed by Probation Orders (28.9%).

  • Over one-third (34.7%) of service users supervised by PBNI were aged 30 to 39.

  • Of the service users being supervised by PBNI, 28% were identified as high risk under the Assessment, Case Management & Evaluation System (ACE).

  • 679 service users (16.2% of all service users supervised by PBNI) were categorised under the Public Protection Arrangements for Northern Ireland (PPANI).

  • 4.2% of service users supervised by PBNI (175 service users) were assessed as Significant Risk of Serious Harm to Others (SROSH).

Between 1 October 2024 and 31 December 2024:

  • PBNI commenced supervision of 796 new Orders and Licences. This new caseload involved 683 service users. This is a reduction (4.8%) on the equivalent figure for Quarter 3 2023/24 (836).

  • 1,599 reports were completed by PBNI staff (excluding letters); the corresponding figure for 2023/24 was 1,664. There has been an overall reduction in the number of reports completed by PBNI annually. There were 7,101 reports (excluding letters) completed between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, this compares to 6,421 reports between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

  • The number of new victims registered with PBNI was 94, a 13.3% increase on the figure for 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023 (83).

Appendix 1: Technical Notes

Data Source

In this report the primary data source is the PBNI’s electronic case management system (ECMS), used for the day to day management of cases and orders supervised by PBNI. Prior to April 2020 data was sourced from the Probation Information Management System (PIMS).

Data relating to victims is collated and validated by the PBNI Victim Information Unit and provided to the PBNI Statistics and Research Team on request.

Analysis and Presentation of Statistics

The data used in this report is extracted using the reporting tool within ECMS (Report Studio) and a custom build query tool called ‘the Cube’ which operates within Microsoft Excel. The data is validated, maintained and analysed using a combination of Microsoft Excel and the programming language R.

For ease of use, figures are presented as whole numbers throughout the text, tables and charts. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Data tables are published alongside this bulletin in Microsoft Excel.

Data Quality and Validation

The PBNI’s electronic case management system (ECMS) is a live system with multiple users that relies on staff to input information. Therefore, like many administrative systems, the resultant statistics are potentially subject to error, timely updating of information or to the system not being able to cater for every scenario encountered. As the system is used for the day to day case management, this helps to moderate these issues. A suite of validation reports have been designed to help administrative staff identify errors and make corrections, where possible.

Appendix 2: Definitions

See Appendix 2: Definitions here.