Nearly 800,000 hours of unpaid work handed out to criminals through community sentences have still not been completed, the Scottish Conservatives can reveal.
Responses by 29 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities to a series of Freedom of Information requests show that 794,277.5 hours of unpaid community sentence work remain outstanding – the equivalent of more than 90 years.
With the SNP effectively banning short-term prison sentences of less than 12 months, community payback orders have been handed out as an alternative to those convicted of crimes such as rape and domestic abuse.
Some councils have also confirmed that offenders were carrying out tasks such as making bird tables and doing tasks categorised as ‘arts & creative’ as part of their ‘punishment’.
Shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr has condemned the SNP’s failure to crackdown on this issue, accusing them of being more focused on keeping criminals out of jail than delivering justice for victims.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr MSP said: “It’s a disgrace that 90 years’ worth of community payback hours are still outstanding.
“Many feel the sentences handed down to these criminals are already too light – the fact these orders aren’t being completed makes that all the more galling.
“This is a symptom of the SNP’s weak justice system, which is more focused on emptying Scotland’s prisons than delivering justice for victims.
“It is no wonder crime is rising when offenders can see the lack of consequences for their actions.
“The Scottish Conservatives will always stand up for victims and ensure that criminals are made to carry out their punishments in full.”
Notes to editors
Across Scotland, nearly 800,000 hours of unpaid community sentence work remain outstanding. Freedom of Information responses from 29 out of 32 local authorities confirm that there are 794,277.5 hours of outstanding unpaid work that offenders are obliged to carry out as part of Community Payback Orders that have been issued by a judge. East Renfrewshire and West Lothian didn’t reply, whilst Aberdeen didn’t hold the information. (Various Freedom of Information requests, available on request).
Under SNP-run councils, criminals are let off with building bird tables as punishment for their crimes. In SNP-run Glasgow Council, criminals get to build bird tables for their punishment. In SNP-run Renfrewshire Council, one of the categories for ‘type of work’ is ‘arts & creative’ but it gave no further detail. In SNP-run Dumfries and Galloway, ‘health and safety briefing’ was completed. (Various Freedom of Information requests, available on request).
Community Payback Orders have been given to those convicted of rape and domestic abuse. In 2022-23, Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics confirm that two criminals convicted of rape were given Community Payback Orders, along with 444 people convicted under the Domestic Abuse Act 2018. (Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2022-23, 17 December 2024, link).