Lady Dorrian

A report by the Scottish Sentencing Council highlights the views of stakeholders who attended a discussion event in March last year, including members of the judiciary, lawyers, social workers, victim groups, police and third sector staff.

Participants were clear that a robust system of alternatives to custody is key to achieving the Scottish government’s aim of only using prison when there is no other option.

Chaired by Lady Dorrian, the lord justice clerk and chair of the council, the event explored four main themes on community sentencing, including gaps in provision, monitoring and management, promoting awareness and understanding, and future developments.

As well as highlighting the need for adequate resourcing, participants were also of the view that confidence in community sentencing could be improved by robust monitoring of the completion of community payback orders – including increased support for offenders and the effective handling of any breaches.

The report also lists a number of barriers to greater use of community disposals, such as gaps in services for certain types of offenders and in different geographical areas, and judicial awareness of the different programmes available to offenders.

Stakeholders rejected the view of community sentencing being a ‘soft-touch’ option; however, it was agreed that there was room to consider making more sentencing options available.

This could include an increase to the maximum number of hours of unpaid work under a CPO (beyond the present 300), or allowing restriction of liberty orders to run beyond the present limit of one year.

There was also some support for the exploration of suspended sentences (which are not presently available in Scotland) or so-called hybrid sentences involving prison and a subsequent community sentence on release.

Lady Dorrian said: “I am grateful to everyone who took part in the discussion, offering their wide-ranging views.

“The council has a statutory duty to assist the development of policy in relation to sentencing, and to promote greater awareness and understanding of sentencing policy and practice.

“This event offered participants from across the criminal justice system the chance to discuss their experiences of, and views on, community sentencing, highlighting gaps or barriers to provision and the measures that might improve judicial and public confidence in community-based interventions.

“It is the council’s hope that this report will help to stimulate further discussion about community-based sentencing, and will play its part in informing policy development in this important area.”