Scandal of the Scots criminals allowed to roam the streets
Offenders ‘not properly supervised’ say off icials
DANGEROUS criminals are being freed to roam the streets without proper supervision, according to an official watchdog.
Under-pressure justice workers are failing to risk-assess offenders and protect potential victims, they warn.
Community Payback Orders (CPOs), a common alternative to prison sentences, are supposed to involve a mix of supervision, unpaid work, and rehabilitation.
However, unpaid work is often delayed or unsuitable, the Care Inspectorate watchdog found.
It added that, in many cases, ‘individuals were unable to identify the difference supervision was making to their lives’.
They also warn the situation ‘can only be made worse’ by the presumption against sentences of less than a year, introduced by the Scottish Government last July.
That means judges and sheriffs can no longer jail people for less than 12 months, unless they believe no other sentence would be appropriate.
Last night, Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘The SNP has effectively abolished short-term sentences without any consideration of the state of local authority justice social work provision.
‘These reports have identified a number of concerns within justice social work, including a lack of monitoring, delays and lack of unpaid work for offenders. Many criminals are avoiding jail and any meaningful community punishment.’
There were 16,990 community payback orders issued in 2018-19, although only 11,200 were successfully completed.
There were almost 10,000 people sentenced to less than a year in 201718, the latest figures available.
They include convictions for attempted murder, robbery and sexual offences. The Care Inspectorate published reports on three justice social work departments, at Scottish Borders, West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde councils.
Two of those reports flagged up failings. Inverclyde received a more positive verdict.
The report into Scottish Borders Council found a ‘declining trend in performance over several years’.
Staff working in justice social work described it as a ‘forgotten service’.
In West Dunbartonshire, the Care Inspectorate said there had been ‘poor performance in the delivery of unpaid work over a sustained period’ although it added that recent improvements were ‘encouraging’.
West Dunbartonshire Council insisted improvements had been made since last year’s report.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The draft Budget proposes record investment of over £117 million, an increase of more than £6.5 million, for community justice services, and investment was allocated to build capacity ahead of the extension to the presumption against short sentences.’