Community Payback Order Annual Report 2024-25
Perth and Kinross Council · 21 January 2026
Back to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee — 21 January 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequality ___________________________________________________________________ Committee or Board: Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee Date of Meeting: 21 January 2026 Report Title: Community Payback Order Annual Report 2024-25 Report Number: 26/19 Report Author: Nicola Rogerson, Service Manager - Community Justice Organisational Lead: Arun Singh, Strategic Lead – Children, Families and Justice ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Purpose 1.1 The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (the Act) places a duty on local authorities to submit an annual return about the operation of Community Payback Orders (CPOs) to Community Justice Scotland (CJS). In turn, CJS have a duty to collate all local authority reports and lay a summary report before the Scottish Parliament. The power to direct local authorities on the content of the return remains with Scottish ministers. 1.2 This report introduces the Perth and Kinross CPO Annual Report for 2024-25 in compliance with that requirement and was submitted to CJS on 28 October, 2025 and tabled at the Perth and Kinross Community Justice and Safety Partnership on 12 December, 2025 for noting. 1.3 Sections 1. Purpose 2. Recommendations 3. Background/Context 4. Conclusion 5. Impact Value Assessment 6. Appendices
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2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Committee: 2.1 Takes assurance about the work being undertaken by the Community Justice Social Work (CJSW) team and the Unpaid Work (UPW) teams in respect of CPOs in Perth and Kinross. 2.2 Endorses the contents of this report. 2.3 Requests the Strategic Lead for Children, Families and Justice bring forward an annual report regarding the activity and performance of CPOs. 3. Background/Context 3.1 The Act, as amended, introduced CPOs as the new statutory community disposal. CPO is therefore a generic term which covers a range of disposal options which includes the following: • An offender supervision requirement. • A compensation requirement. • An unpaid work or other activity requirement. • A programme requirement. • A residence requirement. • A mental health requirement. • A drug treatment requirement. • An alcohol treatment requirement. • A conduct requirement. • A restricted movement requirement. 3.2 When these requirements are imposed by the court, it is mandatory that they are overseen by a suitably qualified social worker, except for low-level UPW which includes ‘other activity’. The level of the latter is determined by the number of hours imposed. CPOs, during the reporting period, were managed and delivered by the Council’s Justice and Community Safety Service, specifically, the CJSW team and the UPW team. CPO Annual Report 2024-25 3.3 The Perth and Kinross CPO Annual Report 2024-25 (Appendix 1) was submitted to CJS in October 2025 and records pertinent CPO activity. 3.4 Chart 1 through to Chart 5, detailed below, all present data from the last three years (2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25; alongside 2018-19 and 2019-20 data, for comparison, which was the last full reporting periods pre-COVID-19. 3.5 Chart 1 below details the number of new CPOs imposed and the number of individuals who received a new CPO.
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During the 2024-25 reporting period, the volume of new CPOs imposed increased by 8%, and the number of individuals by 11%, in comparison to the previous year’s data for 2023-24. However, the volumes have not yet returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Chart 1: Number of new CPOs and Individuals who received a new CPO 3.6 Chart 2 below highlights the total number of CPOs with a supervision requirement. Requirement numbers in 2024-25 indicate an increase of 11% against 2023-24, with the average length in months slightly higher than the previous year and pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Overall, the average length of a supervision requirement continues to remain reasonably stable.
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Chart 2: Total CPOs with new Supervision Requirements and average length (months) During 2024-25, Supervision Requirements exceeded UPW requirement, volumes, which unlike the previous reporting period, when ‘UPW and/or other activity’ was the most imposed requirement by the court. 3.7 Chart 3 below highlights that the volumes of new CPOs with UPW requirements remain similar over the previous three years. However, the average length of the requirement has notably increased by 26% compared to 2022-23 and is 15% higher than the average length of hours pre-COVID-19 pandemic. The reason for this is unclear and is something that will be explored at a future meeting with the local Sheriffs from Perth Sheriff Court.
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Chart 3: New UPW requirements and average length (hours) 3.8 UPW can be imposed for any period between 20 and 300 hours and ‘other activity’ for 30 hours to 30% of the CPO and depends on whichever is lower. The expectation of the CPO is that the individual’s payback through work and learning which will be of benefit to the community. The activities and visibility of UPW is designed to enhance the confidence of the public and improve their understanding of community sentences. The work offered also provides opportunities for individuals to learn new skills which can lead to enhancing their employability prospects and a practical alternative route out of offending. To accommodate and support people to complete their CPOs, sessions are delivered over evenings and weekends which allows those who work to continue with their employment or ensure they can manage their childcare and/or family commitments. 3.9 Chart 4 below provides a breakdown of CPOs by requirement type. The majority of activity is focused on supervision and UPW and while numbers appear lower for the other requirements this does not reflect the complexity and intensity of assessing, monitoring and managing individuals subject to these requirements.
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Chart 4: Breakdown of CPOs by requirement type 3.10 Chart 5 below highlights the trends observed with the main reasons for CPO terminations, namely successful completions, revoked (following review/lack of progress in relation to the CPO/level of risk and potential to re-offend), and revoked (following breach/non-compliance with the CPO). Completions and terminations have largely returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic volumes. Chart 5: Reasons for CPO terminations
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4. Conclusion 4.1 The Council’s CJSW service remains focussed on improving outcomes for individuals in the justice system and our communities. 4.2 From the data over the previous three years, the volume of activity continues to steadily increase and return closer to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. This is set against the continued backlog of work for the courts and challenges for the Scottish Prison Service due to the increasing prison population, which they are attempting to address through mechanisms like Emergency Early Release. In addition, there has been a focus by the Scottish Government on forms of early intervention like Bail Supervision and Diversion from Prosecution. These approaches were adopted early by CJSW to help support and manage people at a lower level in the justice system and remain connected to their families and community. However, this does not negate the requirement for court intervention and the imposition of a CPO or custodial sentence when appropriate. 4.3 Irrespective of the disposal received by a person in the justice system, the aim of CJSW is to manage and support those individuals to address the reasons of why they offend and live a more purposeful, productive and stable life. 5. Impact Value Assessment 5.1 This report has been classified as being an operational report and as such does not require a full Impact and Value Assessment. 6. Appendices 6.1 Appendix 1: CPO Annual Report 2024-25.