FALLING reconviction rates have stalled after seven years of steady improvement, according to new official figures.

Exactly the same proportion of criminals were reconvicted of another offence within 12 months for the second year in a row.

The picture has been improving since 2008/09, when almost a third, 31.5 per cent of offenders, were reconvicted within a year of being released from jail or receiving a non-custodial sentence.

However in 2015-16 and 2016-17 the number flatlined at 27.2%.

The average number of reconvictions per offender was also the same in both years at 0.48.

Male offenders were reconvicted more often than females, at 28% to 23.3% in 2016/17.

Under 21s were most likely to reoffend (32.2%), with the over-40s the least likely (19.9%).

Reconviction rates varied significantly across different types of offence.

People committing crimes of dishonesty were the most likely to be reconvicted, with more than two in five back (43.5%) in court within a year, compared to 21.5% of offenders convicted of a violent crime, and 10.6% of those convicted of a sexual crime.

Almost one in ten (9.2%) of offenders convicted of domestic abuse were reconvicted for the same offence within a year, and 11.2% were reconvicted or a different offence.

Reconvictions rates were highest for those given jail time (42.3%) than those on non-custodial sentences, with the reconviction rate for community payback orders 31.2%.

READ MORE: Alistair Grant: Doubts surround SNP bid to break out of short jail terms

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf welcomed the figures as the joint lowest on record, and highlighted the lower reconviction rates for community sentences.

The Scottish Government will this week ask MSPs to extend the presumption against short jail sentences from three to 12 months to help reduce reoffending rates.

Mr Yousaf said: "Scotland’s justice system now provides a broad range of disposals to deal with people who commit crime, with robust sentences to ensure those convicted in the courts pay their debts to society, while helping many – indeed a majority – to turn their lives around and contribute positively to their families and communities.

"I hope Parliament will this week back our reforms to step up the use of community-focused sentences such as CPOs as more effective alternatives to often counter-productive short prison terms of 12 months or less – where about half of those released are reconvicted, and a third returned to custody, within a year.

"Clearly there will always be serious crimes where the court decides prison is the right sentence.

"Our firm focus on rehabilitation and reintegration has helped achieve a reconviction rate over the last two years that is the lowest since comparable records began 20 years ago.

"This remains a key focus of Scotland’s modern justice system in order to continue reducing reoffending – in turn, helping to keep crime down and communities safe, with fewer victims."

However the statistics report pointed out two different classes of offenders were involved in short custodial and non-custodial sentences, affecting the reconviction rates.

It said: “Short custodial sentences have higher reconvictions than longer sentences. This is largely because offenders who are given shorter sentences commit relatively less serious crimes such as shoplifting, and tend to commit more of these crimes than those committing more serious crimes, and so they are reconvicted more often.

“In 2016-17 the average number of reconvictions per offender for custodial sentences under three months was 1.25, compared to 0.13 for those over four years.”

READ MORE: Judge warns MSPs over jail term overhaul

A series of academics recently made the same point to Holyrood’s justice committee.

Judge Lord Turnbull, a former chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council, recently warned killer drivers, drug dealers, serial burglars and child pornography peddlers could escape prison under the change, because of the plea discount given to those deserving 18 months in jail.