Prosecutions for for the offence of supplying or offering to supply a psychoactive substance
Request
How many prosecutions have there been in the five years between 1st January 2018 and 31st December 2022 for the offence of supplying or offering to supply a psychoactive substance (contrary to s. 5 of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016?
If 2022 data is not available, can you provide the number of prosecutions between 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2021.
Response
The table below shows the number of offences charged and reaching first hearing at Magistrates’ Court in which a prosecution commenced with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for the offence created by section 5 of the Psychoactive Substance Act 2016.
It should be noted that the data provided shows figures from January 2017 to the end of June 2022 - in line with the CPS publication policy. The caveats appended to the table should be read in conjunction with data therein.
Under section 16 of the FOI Act we have an obligation to advise what, if any, information may assist you with your request; under this provision, we suggest you refer to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the official statistics holder on prosecutions, and conviction outcomes at this email address: data.access@justice.gov.uk.
Offences charged and reaching a first hearing at magistrates' courts | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (s.5) | 56 | 39 | 20 | 22 | 26 | 15 |
Caveats
- Offences recorded in the Management Information System Offences Universe are those which reached a hearing. There is no indication of final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.
- Data relates to the number of offences recorded in magistrates' courts in which a prosecution commenced, as recorded on the Case Management System.
- Offences data are not held by defendant or outcome.
- Offences recorded in the Offences Universe of the MIS are those which were charged at any time and reached at least one hearing. This offence will remain recorded whether or not that offence was proceeded with and there is no indication of final outcome or if the offence charged was the substantive offence at finalisation.
CPS data are available through its Case Management System (CMS) and associated Management Information System (MIS). The CPS collects data to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions. The CPS does not collect data that constitutes official statistics as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
These data have been drawn from the CPS’s administrative IT system, which (as with any large scale recording system) is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the CPS. We are committed to improving the quality of our data and from mid-June 2015 introduced a new data assurance regime which may explain some unexpected variance in some future data sets.
The official statistics relating to crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office and the official statistics relating to sentencing, criminal court proceedings, offenders brought to justice, the courts and the judiciary are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.