The Scottish Government has hailed its use of ‘Community payback orders’, typically whereby offenders build cycle paths; remove graffiti; and refurbish community centres, public parks and sports facilities. Do the actual statistics bear that out as an alternative to prison?
The SNP pointed to some 20,400 social work orders commenced in 2013-14, of which nearly four in five, 78 per cent contained an element of unpaid work. Community payback orders accounted for 18,600 of the social work orders, with 80 per cent including an unpaid work requirement. These requirements totalled 1.8 million unpaid hours. Three-quarters, 75 per cent of offenders with an unpaid work requirement started work within seven days of leaving court. However the stats in detail show that the completion rate for social work orders was 71 per cent in 2013-14; in other words, near three in ten offenders never finished them. Why? Typically, they never turned up. For instance, the first direct contact with the offender should take place on the same day as the order is imposed, or the next working day; yet almost two-fifths of delays in first direct contact were due to offenders missing their appointment. Or, a social worker was not available; or the offender was in prison.
Only 69 per cent of the unemployed finished their CPO, and 66 per cent of the under 20s. In other words, three in ten of the out of work and teenagers never finished their CPO.
The Scottish Government could point to a completion rate for community payback orders (CPOs) as highest for the over 40s, at 81 per cent, and those in employment, at 82 per cent; except few of the CPOs were for the over 40s, and most of the offenders getting a CPO, about 62 per cent, were unemployed; the CPO went mostly to those in their late teens or 20s.
The SNP Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: “This Government is working hard to ensure that Scotland is a safe place to live, work and visit. Recorded crime is at its lowest level for 40 years, supported by the work of more than 1,000 extra police officers in our communities.
“The figures represent the third full year of use for the community payback order – an order imposed by the courts to make offenders work hard in our communities, on both short and long term projects, as payback for their crimes – and it’s clear that the orders are doing exactly that.
“The punishment should always fit the crime, and prison is the right place for those who commit serious crimes or pose a danger to communities. However, we know that short prison sentences do not work to rehabilitate offenders or to reduce the risk of reoffending. Community sentences are more demanding, start more quickly and allow offenders to payback to the community while also addressing the underlying causes of their offending behaviour. This is a smarter, more sophisticated option and we know it works.”
Social work orders include community payback, community service, probation, supervised attendance and drug treatment and testing orders. The community payback order replaced provisions for community service orders, probation orders and supervised attendance orders for offences committed on or after 1 February 2011.
