UK Department of Health & Social Care

03/19/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/19/2026 04:22

Pathways between probation and addiction: a follow-up study

Official Statistics

Pathways between probation and addiction: a follow-up study

Study of alcohol or drug treatment requirements assessing engagement and reconviction outcomes using justice (including probation notes) and health data.

From: Ministry of Justice and Department of Health and Social Care Published 19 March 2026
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Applies to England

Documents

Pathways between probation and addiction treatment in England: a follow-up study

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Pathways between probation and addiction treatment in England: a follow-up study - Data Tables

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Pathways between probation and addiction treatment in England: a follow-up study: Methodology

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Details

Background

This follow-up to the 2023 report links probation case management data (nDelius) with National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) records and introduces Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyse probation contact notes. This improves identification of treatment engagement for people on Alcohol Treatment Requirements (ATRs) and Drug Rehabilitation Requirements (DRRs) and examines associated reconviction outcomes.

Coverage

Community Orders and Suspended Sentence Orders with ATRs or DRRs issued in England between August 2018 and March 2023.

Key findings

  • Up to 90% of ATRs and DRRs showed some form of treatment engagement when combining data linkage with NLP contact-note analysis.
  • Reconvictions were lower for people linked to structured treatment, especially those who completed or remained in treatment.
  • Engagement and reconviction patterns varied by age, sex, accommodation status, region, and time taken to access treatment.

Methodology

  • Probabilistic data linkage was used because there is no shared unique identifier.
    NLP was applied to requirements not linked to structured treatment to identify additional treatment activity.
    Reconvictions represent a minimum estimate due to processing delays.

Previous report

The previous report can be found here - Pathways between probation and addiction treatment in England: report - GOV.UK

Updates to this page

Published 19 March 2026

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UK Department of Health & Social Care published this content on March 19, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 19, 2026 at 10:22 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]