Community payback comes within week

A fast-track justice scheme has seen nine out of 10 offenders “paying back” to their communities within 24 hours of being sentenced, new figures have shown.

The pilot project at Glasgow Sheriff Court is designed to speed up the punishment of low-level criminals sentenced to a community payback order.

During the first nine months of operation 92% of people on the pilot were working in the community within 24 hours. Early initial results also show that 98% are starting their work within seven days.

The so-called one-stop-shop system saw community service and social work staff being housed directly opposite Glasgow Sheriff Court, meaning offenders can be transferred immediately from the dock down to be assessed, allocated and then taken directly to their first community payback work placement.

An evaluation of the Scottish Government-funded scheme will take place at the end of the one-year pilot and if successful, could be replicated elsewhere in Scotland.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: “We want to see low-level offenders out paying back communities by doing some tough manual labour. Punishment should be tough and justice should be immediate, which is why we are piloting this new initiative.

“The aim is to get these low-level offenders out doing manual work to improve communities within hours of being sentenced. Whether it is cleaning streets of graffiti, renovating elderly care homes, restoring fallen gravestones or helping to clear pavements of snow, these offenders should be repaying communities they have harmed.

“It is early days but the initial results are encouraging, with an overwhelming majority out doing manual labour and making improvements to communities within 24 hours and nearly all of them out within seven days.”

He added: “All the evidence shows that getting offenders out doing some manual labour in the community works far better than short-term prison sentences and actually stops them committing further crimes.

“The facts speak for themselves, with three-quarters of those sentenced to a short prison sentence of three months or less going on to reoffend within two years of getting out. But in direct comparison, three out of five given a tough community sentence do not.”