Socio-demographic Profile of FPN Recipients

Younger people were far more likely to receive FPNs than older people. This fits with research suggesting that young people were less likely to comply with the Regulations. 

Four out of five FPN recipients had a prior criminal history, and one in five had first come to the attention of the police over 20 years ago.  It could be that those with a prior history of offending were less willing and/or able to comply with the Regulations, or it is possible their non-compliance was more visible to or less tolerated by the police.

There was a significant skew in the deprivation profile of FPN recipients, as shown below. A third of all FPN recipients were living in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in Scotland (2020 Scottish Index of Deprivation). 

People living in top decile of deprived Scottish neighbourhoods were 11.2 times more likely to receive an FPN than those living in the bottom decile.  Possible reasons for this disparity could include different levels of compliance with the restrictions, public reporting practices or local deployment of policing resource.

These socio-demographic differences reflect an additional degree of inequality in the way the pandemic has been experienced amongst certain groups within Scottish society.