Data obtained from a freedom of information request indicates that there were 104,862 absences from payback orders recorded over the period 2018-19 to 2022-23.

The figures are from 15 of Scotland’s 32 councils – of the remainder one did not respond and the rest said they did not collect such data even though they are meant to under the relevant guidance.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Jamie Greene said: “Not only have SNP ministers been content to write off hundreds of thousands of hours of payback orders, now an eye-watering level of absenteeism among criminals has been exposed.”

He added: “It makes a mockery of the justice system when criminals are effectively being given the green light to be absent from community sentences, which, in many cases, are considered lenient in the first place.

“These absences are an insult to victims. Community sentencing is failing victims at every turn on the SNP’s watch.

“The new SNP justice secretary must finally put victims first, as well as ensuring our cash-strapped councils are given every resource they need to tackle absenteeism.

“Questions must also be asked as to why half of Scotland’s local authorities are not recording this data when government guidance clearly states they should be. Their failure to do so means that the true number of absences will be significantly higher.”

A Scottish government spokesman said: “The reconviction rate for individuals given community payback orders is consistently lower than for those given short sentences. Seventy-nine per cent of orders which finished during 2021–2022 did not involve any breach applications during the lifetime of the order.”