Community Payback Orders

Submit a request for Community Payback Team to carry out work

A Community Payback Order (CPO) is a sentence served in the community rather than prison, by a person convicted of a lower level (or lower tariff) crime in a court.

Community Payback Orders are designed to ensure that those who commit offences:

1. Pay their dues to the communities that they have harmed - often in the form of the requirement to carry out unpaid work of between 20 to 300 hours - to be completed with a specified timeframe. This can benefit (Pay Back) the community, see bullets for examples:
   • Harnessing Social Enterprises in Justice System - Community Payback
   • Opening the Gates to Improved Lives
2. Reduce the risk that the person will re-offend by addressing any underlying problems (drivers of offending behaviour) that may be fuelling crime.  This is done through imposing one or more of a further eight provisions or requirements available to sentencers:
   • offender supervision
   • compensation
   • programme
   • mental health treatment
   • drug treatment
   • alcohol treatment
   • residence
   • conduct

The minimum requirements are offender supervision or / and unpaid work.

You can read more about Community Payback and the 9 requirements in the information pack  'A Summary of Community Options'.

Submit a request for Community Payback Team to carry out work

Further Information

• Community Payback Order: practice guidance
• Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010

Related Links

• Justice Services
• Justice Useful Information