Community Payback Orders are a sentence passed down by Scottish Courts, and are a direct alternative to Custody. In the community, an unpaid work order is often a significant part of the Community Payback Order (CPO) disposal.

As well as the opportunity for someone convicted of a crime to pay back to the communities in which they have caused harm, a CPO Unpaid Work Order (UPW) is also an opportunity for services to engage with people, provide supports that contribute to a lower risk of re-offending and provide the offender with an opportunity to develop new skills and opportunities around employability.

Supported by Justice Social Work Services, in Glasgow there are different services providing unpaid work opportunities, including:

• Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability, part of Glasgow City Council, which offers team placements and undertake improvement works in communities across the city.
• Various Personal Placements provided by charitable organisations, for example charity shops and community cafes.

The UPW requirement is measured in hours and can range from 20 to 300 hours. Personal placements are recognised as a very positive option for those undertaking UPW. Personal placements provide an opportunity for individuals to develop new skills and support local communities, working directly with a third sector organisation, often with social enterprises. There’s a strong focus within personal placements for individuals to learn and develop new skills as this can contribute to sustaining future employment opportunities that is a vital factor in reducing reoffending. There may also be opportunities for individuals to volunteer for organisations where they have completed their unpaid work hours.

The benefits to the host organisation are also important, providing a resource in terms of people hours, support from social work justice services and, potentially, a unique community connection through the relationships forged between the individual and the organisation.

Regular information/question and answer sessions online have been carried out over the past number of months and these continue. A film is shown at these sessions and is an opportunity for any potential placement providers to ask any questions about the process.

Service user feedback was taken between 2022 to 2023 using ‘Your Voice’, which is a service user based survey used within Justice Services in Glasgow. It highlighted positive feedback regarding service users’ experience of UPW within justice services as well as ongoing challenges around employability opportunities that continue to a be a significant focus of UPW action plans. Some examples of quotes/feedback from service users include:

• “It was arranged well and the staff were nice people”
• “You could train people for gaps in the job market”
• “The people within the shop were supportive and made my placement a lot less daunting”
• “I was given a rewarding job to help the community and I am happy I helped out”.

Deirdre O’Reilly, Justice Service Manager, said “For many years in Glasgow, personal unpaid work placements have provided opportunities for tailored work experiences for individuals, thereby decreasing the likelihood of re-offending, helps develop employability skills and increases community engagement and cohesion. Glasgow Justice Services are committed to building on this resource for the benefit of both service users and the community”.

Glasgow has developed a Personal Placement action plan, which included the commissioning of a short film to demonstrate the positive impact of community sentences for the judiciary, the public and other stakeholders. This film, created by the Creative Change Collective, was informed by those who have undertaken personal placements and the organisations who hosted them, demonstrating the benefits to each of them. You can see the film below