Community Payback - Frequently Asked Questions

A1. No. Offenders and staff are wearing high visibility and/or protective clothing for health and safety reasons. Once the work itself is finished it will be badged to show that it is unpaid work performed by offenders as part of their court order.

A2. No. Community service was launched over 30 years ago and has been one of the Probation Service's most successful projects. Communities have benefited from millions of pounds work of unpaid work over the years. What is different is that we are now asking local people to have a say in the sort of work offenders carry out. We want them to nominate projects, see them completed and know that offenders have done something to pay back for their crimes.

A3. No. The work is specifically work that would not otherwise be carried out because local authorities, schools or charities do not have the funds.

A4. No. All offenders are carefully risk-assessed before they are put on a community order. We would not have an offender who poses a high risk to the public working on this type of project. Public protection is our main objective.

A5. Theoretically, any offender who is sentenced to a community rather than a custodial order could be asked to perform a period of unpaid work. Generally this type of sentence is given to someone who has committed an offence against the community. It could be a public order offence, shoplifting, criminal damage or high-level drink driving.

A6. The Judge or magistrate determines the number of hours which can be between 40 and 300 and should normally be completed within 12 months.