Offenders on clean-up duty in anti-social behaviour crackdown
New Community Payback teams to clean up fly-tipping or vandalism within 48 hours.
- part of 6-month pilot with offenders carrying out up to 20,000 hours of hard graft
- forms part of government’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, published in March 2023
Offenders will be on call to swiftly clean up egregious instances of fly-tipping, vandalism and littering as part of a new government plan to tackle the scourge of anti-social behaviour.
Rapid deployment teams - made up of offenders serving Community Payback sentences, kitted out in high vis jackets - will be sent to communities up and down the country to carry out local clean-ups, called upon within 48 hours of cases being reported to the Probation Service.
The pilot will see offenders carry out up to 20,000 hours of hard graft in just 6 months, ensuring that they are paying for their crimes while giving back to the communities they have harmed.
Each year, courts hand down more than 50,000 Unpaid Work requirements to punish offenders for crimes including theft, criminal damage and alcohol-related incidents.
The Community Payback website also will be relaunched early next year, making it far easier for members of the public to report anti-social behaviour and nominate potential projects in their neighbourhoods.
This will work alongside the government’s new reporting tool that will allow members of the public can quickly and easily report incidents of anti-social behaviour when they take place.
The payback pilot and the new reporting tool both form part of the government’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, published in March. This sets out how the government plans to crack down on these offences at a local level and give communities a greater say in how justice is served.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk KC MP, said:
Anti-social behaviour is a blight on our society and can leave proud neighbourhoods feeling neglected.
These rapid deployment teams will mean eyesores are dealt with swiftly to restore community pride and ensure convicts are made to give back to the communities they have offended against.
The scheme will be piloted in the Probation Service regions of Greater Manchester, East of England, Wales and the North East, meaning they will benefit some of the towns known to be worst affected by anti-social behaviour in the country such as Middlesbrough and Blaenau Gwent.
Wearing high-visibility jackets emblazoned with ‘Community Payback’ ensures offenders are seen to pay for their crimes while carrying out work that benefits the local community.
Last month, a new law also came into effect requiring local probation services to consult annually with specific community leaders such as charities, victim organisations and elected policing bodies on the type of Unpaid Work that would benefit the region.
We are investing up to £93 million into Community Payback which will see offenders completing millions of unpaid work each year to improve the environment and revitalise our towns and cities.
This year marks 50 years since the launch of the first Community Payback project after the first unpaid work placement was ordered by a judge at Nottingham Crown Court on 2 January 1973.
Notes to editors
- The public can nominate Community Payback projects in their local area. This website will be relaunched early next year, making it easier than ever for the public to report anti-social behaviour.