Offenders payback to communities
30 May 2014 04:12 PM
More social work orders than ever before contain an
element of unpaid work, according to figures released
yesterday.
Unpaid work
totalling almost 1.8 million hours was imposed on offenders in Scotland as
punishment for their offences last year.
Communities the length and breadth of Scotland are directly benefiting from the
work which includes the construction of cycle paths; the removal of graffiti;
refurbishing community centres, churches and sports facilities; and snow
clearing and gritting during periods of bad weather.
Thereport
confirmed that:
- Of the
19,400 social work orders commenced in 2012-13, 79 per cent contained an
element of unpaid work. The total number of unpaid hours - 1,794,854 -
signifies a three per cent increase on 2011-12.
- Community
payback orders accounted for 15,900 of the social work orders, with 80 per cent
including an element of unpaid work.
Justice Secretary
Kenny MacAskill said: “Recorded crime in Scotland is now at its lowest
level for 39 years and reconviction rates are at their lowest levels for 14
years, supported by the work of more than 1,000 extra police officers in our
communities.
“The figures
represent the second full year of use for the Community Payback Order and I
welcome the continued hard work from local authorities to consistently embed
and deliver this sentence.
“The
evidence shows that short prison sentences do not work to rehabilitate
offenders or to reduce the risk of reoffending. Our main social work order, the
Community Payback Order, makes offenders payback to the community and address
the underlying causes of their offending behaviour. Through Phase 2 of our
Reducing Reoffending Programme we are working to secure further reductions in
reoffending.”
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.