Michael Matheson unveils funding for community service punishments

Scotland’s Justice Secretary Michael Matheson has announced £4m of extra funding to help deliver community service punishments for offenders as an alternative to short-term prison sentences. 

Matheson said the cash would be used to help community justice bodies and voluntary groups increase the use of such sentences, where offenders are forced to carry out unpaid work.

The minister said the additional investment showed the Government’s commitment to move away from “ineffective short-term prison sentences towards “robust community alternatives”.

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Meanwhile, official figures showed that the use of community sentences is on the rise, with more than 1.8 million hours of unpaid work imposed in 2014/15 as part of community payback orders (CPOs).

Matheson, announced the funding on a visit to Clydesmill Fire Station Community Garden, which is being built by people carrying out unpaid work.

He said: “Community sentences are a vital part of our bold approach to reduce the number of people in Scottish prisons. We have one of the highest imprisonment rates of any country in Western Europe and one of my main priorities in this next Parliament is to make more effective use of community alternatives rather than short prison sentences.

“Ensuring that robust community sentences, like community payback orders, are available is critical to that, which is why we’ve invested this additional £4 million. CPOs are much more effective at reducing re-offending than short-term prison sentences and offer people the chance to pay back to their communities and make a real difference in their local areas.

“The number of CPOs imposed by the courts continues to rise since their introduction five years ago and they are having a huge impact, both on our local communities and the individuals who can use them to turn their lives around. And with reconviction rates at a 17-year-low, it shows our approach is beginning to work. Increasing the use of robust community sentences is part of our wider approach to reducing reoffending which includes reducing the use of remand, strengthening our use of electronic monitoring and a new model for the female custodial estate.

“As well as this inspiring community garden, South Lanarkshire is also running a pilot court-based improvement project which aims to reduce the number of people held in custody while on remand. These are both excellent examples of our reforming penal policy at work.”