- up to £93 million to increase the community work
undertaken by offenders to eight million hours per year
- new outdoor projects nationwide so public see the
benefits and justice being done
- first new initiative will see offenders clean up
country’s waterways
Up to £93 million extra will be invested over the next 3
years to increase the community work undertaken by offenders
to around 8 million hours per year.
The funding will be used to recruit 500 more community work
supervisors and develop new national partnerships between the
Probation Service and major organisations. There will be a
particular focus on outdoor projects that help improve the
environment and allow the public to see justice being done.
Offenders will clean up hundreds of miles of rivers and
canals every year under the first such agreement. The deal
with the Canal and River Trust will see offenders make
reparation to their local communities by clearing litter,
tidying tow paths and maintaining beauty spots along the
2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales.
The move is designed to restore the public’s confidence in
community sentences by ensuring offenders are visibly atoning
for their crimes in a way which benefits local people.
Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor
said:
It is right that the offenders who have damaged their
communities should be seen to pay back with their time and
some hard graft.
With new projects such as the one run by The Canal and
River Trust offenders will learn new skills and do their
bit clearing and maintaining our country’s waterways.
Offenders will wear a high-visibility “Community Payback”
tabard while they work, and the initiative will also provide
training opportunities for them to develop skills to boost
their employability.
Probation services have previously worked with the Canal and
River Trust on projects in the West Midlands and London and
this new partnership will see that type of work replicated
and expanded across England and Wales.
The government is aiming to sign a range of partnerships with
national organisations over the coming months and is working
with local authorities and Police and Crime Commissioners to
identify new projects. It comes after the creation of the new
Probation Service in June which saw the government take on
the delivery of unpaid work.
Community Payback will see a renewed focus on cleaning up
streets, alleyways, housing estates and other open spaces,
helping to cut crime and the fear of crime, and making a real
difference to the quality of life for local people in
neighbourhoods most affected by crime and anti-social
behaviour.
More than £300 million worth of extra funding has been pumped
into the Probation Service since July 2019 helping to more
than double the recruitment of trainee probation officers to
a record high of 1,500 this financial year. Combined with the
innovative use of tags, it means staff can keep a closer eye
on the most dangerous offenders and ensure many more take up
the opportunity to reform their criminal ways.
