Notts backlog for community payback hits 24,000 hours

EAST Midlands Probation Service has in excess of 100,000 hours of unpaid work yet to be carried out by offenders across the region.

As of September, the service had in excess of 100,000 hours across the region – and a backlog in Nottinghamshire of 24,000 hours.

The discharge of these sentences has proved problematic due to a lack of supervisors in the Probation Service, according to Caroline Henry, Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire.

The Ministry of Justice says there are also a national backlog of cases due to the pandemic.

Mrs Henry has told the Post that there are now discussions with the regional director as well as other public sector partners to try to rectify this.

Mrs Henry said: “The discharge of these sentences has proved problematic.

“I spotted what an opportunity this is so I have had conversations with the regional probation director, and I’m also speaking to a couple of other partners across the region, with the view of having these agencies taking on this unpaid work.

“So we can use these 100,000 hours of unpaid work – it’s community payback. I want to increase visibility and public confidence and get this unpaid work done, doing stuff that needs to get done. That’s one of the things I really want to concentrate on moving forward.”

When an offender is ordered to carry out community payback as part of a community sentence that work must be carried out within 12 months.

The Ministry of Justice [MOJ] state that between August and October 2021, over 11,000 hours were worked across Nottinghamshire, compared to 2,500 from November 2020 to January 2021.

A Probation Service spokesperson said: “Community payback was disrupted by the pandemic but has continued when possible and has increased fourfold in the East Midlands in the last year. We are also recruiting dozens more supervisors in the area and making projects Covid-safe so even more work can be carried out.”

The MOJ said another 36 supervisors were being recruited over the next four months, plus seven placement co-ordinators and additional managers. This will enable the East Midlands to deliver 155 percent of the number of hours worked before the pandemic.