Correctional Services - StatRes (discontinued), 2011

The Norwegian Correctional Services’ expenses for own production, i.e. the sum of labour costs and the purchase of goods and services, was NOK 3.9 billion in 2011. This is 3.3 per cent more than in 2010.

New prison led to continued higher labour costs in 2011

Labour costs increased by NOK 138 million, or 5.7 per cent. A substantial part of this increase relates to Halden prison, which received its first inmate on 1 March 2010. After this date, the number of employees and capacity gradually increased until the end of the year. The total increase in labour costs generated by the opening of the new prison was thus spread over two years, since 2011 was the first year with almost full staffing throughout the year. In November 2011, Halden prison had a total of 268 man-years (cf. Norwegian Correctional Services - StatRes, 2010 ).

Relative to a normal operating year and other units in the Norwegian Correctional Services, the cost of purchases of goods and services was also relatively high in Halden prison in 2010. However, these costs fell once the prison was fully operational. This meant a 0.8 per cent decrease in the total cost of purchases of goods and services in the Norwegian Correctional Services as a whole from 2010 to 2011. Thus, the share of labour costs in own production expenses in the Norwegian Correctional Services increased from 63.8 per cent in 2010 to 65.3 per cent in 2011, which was on a par with 2009.

No increase in man-years

The number of man-years in the Norwegian Correctional Services was 4 368 in 2011; a 0.5 per cent drop from the corresponding reference period the year before (see text box). These statistics date back to 2005, and 2011 is the first year with no annual increase in the total number of man-years. However, the Norwegian Correctional Services had a relatively large increase in the preceding years, and had 22 per cent more man-years in 2011 than in 2005.

With 3 424 man-years, the prisons have by far the largest share of all the man-years in the Norwegian Correctional Services, with 78 per cent in 2011. The 344 man-years in the probation offices made up 8 per cent of all man-years, while the remaining 14 per cent were related to other units - including 322 trainee man-years in the Norwegian Correctional Services’ education centre.

Fewer man-years for security personnel and trainees

Overall, the number of man-years for security personnel and trainees has been fairly stable in previous years. From 2008 to 2010, there was a yearly increase of security personnel, together with a corresponding reduction in the number of trainee man-years. The fall in trainee man-years continued in 2011, when there was also a reduction in the number of man-years for security personnel. Security and trainee positions in total decreased by 88 man-years, or just over 3 per cent, from 2010 to 2011. From representing around 64 per cent of all man-years in the Norwegian Correctional Services in the years 2007-2010, the percentage was thereby reduced to 62 per cent in 2011.

A total of 1 655 man-years are grouped under positions other than security personnel and trainees in 2011; a 4 per cent increase from 2010. Almost two thirds of these man-years relate to the prisons, which had by far the largest increase in the number of man-years from the year before. The number of man-years in other positions in the other parts of the Norwegian Correctional Services also increased, but the probation offices only experienced a moderate increase. For all positions as a whole, however, only the probation offices had a real increase in the number of man-years from 2010 to 2011, by almost 3 per cent.

More prison stays but fewer remanded in custody

According to figures from the Prison and Probation Central Administration, there were more than 1 383 000 prison stays in 2011 (excluding electronic monitoring). This is 3 per cent more than in 2010 and over 19 per cent more than in 2005.

The number of unconditional prison sentences was almost 58 400 more in 2011 than the year before, while the number of days in custody was 20 800 fewer. The number of days in custody in 2011 saw a yearly fall for the first time since 2006. Out of all prison stays in 2011, 25 per cent were spent in custody. This share is somewhat lower than in 2010, but is still considerably higher than in all the preceding years.

New prison and high utilisation rate

Prisons executed a total of 114 500 more prison stays in 2011 than in 2009. This means that Norwegian prisons had an average of 300 more inmates in 2011 than two years previously. Most of this increase is related to the increase in capacity when the new Halden prison opened. The 95 per cent utilisation rate of prisons throughout Norway in 2011 was also reflected in the 9.5 per cent increase in prison stays from 2009.

More punitive sentences, but fewer community sentences

In 2011, probation offices implemented a total of 5 178 punitive sentences. The number of implemented and completed/discontinued cases on both the anti-drink driving programme and electronic monitoring, i.e. “home detention” with an ankle tag as a result of an unconditional sentence, was also somewhat higher.

Community sentences make up around 60 per cent of all probation service cases being served. In 2011, a total of 2 545 community sentences were implemented, which is 4 per cent fewer than in 2010. In terms of numbers, this reduction was on a par with the total increase in the number of implemented cases on the anti-drink driving programme and electronic monitoring.

Indications of somewhat poorer results from the probation offices

The completion rate and the share of sentences that are implemented within 60 days of passing sentence are two of the key performance indicators for the activity in the probation offices. The anti-drink driving programme and community sentences together accounted for 60 per cent of all completed/discontinued punitive sentences implemented by the probation offices in 2011. Compared to the year before, a somewhat higher share of these types of sentences had an implementation period of more than 60 days. The completion rate for most types of sanctions is also lower in 2011 compared to 2010, with the most significant decline in the anti-drink driving programme. Both the completion rate and the share that completed the anti-drink driving programme on time were considerably lower than in all the six preceding years.