A staggering backlog of unpaid work for Scottish criminals has reached over 731,000 hours, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the justice system
Glasgow: There’s a huge backlog of unpaid work that criminals in Scotland are supposed to do. It’s almost 750,000 hours! This situation has folks worried that the justice system is really struggling.
Recent figures show that offenders with community payback orders (CPOs) have racked up 731,533 hours of work that they haven’t completed. That’s like 83.5 years of work just sitting there!
Most councils are reporting thousands of hours still outstanding. In fact, during this financial year alone, over 921,000 hours of CPO work were handed out. But it seems like not much is getting done.
Stephen Kerr, a Tory MSP, is calling out the SNP government for what he sees as a “soft-touch” approach to crime. He believes this system is broken and isn’t really punishing offenders as it should.
He argues that the CPOs are just a formality now, not translating into real consequences for those who break the law. The SNP, on the other hand, thinks community punishments are better than short prison sentences.
CPOs can involve various activities, like supervision or drug treatment, but the unpaid work part is meant to help the community. You know, things like cleaning up litter or painting public spaces.
But there’s a catch. Local authorities are struggling with staff shortages, which makes it tough to keep an eye on these offenders. As of mid-November, Glasgow had over 125,000 hours of unpaid work not done, and Edinburgh had around 81,000 hours.
Other areas like Fife and South Lanarkshire are also facing high numbers of uncompleted hours. Some councils are saying there’s no backlog, just work in progress, but that’s hard to believe with these numbers.
Kerr is adamant that the SNP has failed on justice. He claims they’ve been hiding this massive backlog and that every hour left undone means a criminal is getting away with it.
He’s also pointed out that funding for councils to manage these orders isn’t enough, and without a solid plan to tackle the backlog, things could get worse.
During the pandemic, over 250,000 hours of unpaid work were written off, but now the backlog is creeping back up. A government spokesperson said it’s normal to have some unpaid work hours in the system, as it takes time for offenders to complete them.
They also mentioned that last year, 760,000 unpaid work hours were finished successfully. Edinburgh and Glasgow councils insist they don’t have a backlog, just hours that are still being worked on.