Community Payback Order: practice guidance

2. Legal Framework

The Community Payback Order (CPO) replaced community service orders, supervised attendance orders and probation orders on 1 February 2011, and is available to courts for offences committed on or after that date. Sections 227A to 227ZO, and Schedule 13 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 ("the 1995 Act") provide the legislative framework for CPOs.

In addition, section 82 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 provides for the situation where an individual is convicted of a sexual offence and the court imposes a CPO on that individual with an offender supervision requirement. In those circumstances the individual is required to comply with the sex offender notification requirements for the specified period of the offender supervision requirement.

The Community Payback Orders (Prescribed Persons for Consultation) (Scotland) Regulations 2011, made under section 227ZL of the 1995 Act, prescribe the persons and classes of persons which local authorities must consult annually about the nature of unpaid work and other activities to be undertaken by individuals subject to CPOs in their area.

Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016

This Act places a duty of co-operation on community justice partners (as defined by section 13) which includes local authorities, to work together to plan and decide how services are tailored locally, having regard to the National Strategy for Community Justice. This includes services which deliver CPOs. Such co-operation may include the sharing of information, providing advice and assistance, organising activities to prevent unnecessary duplication of effort and jointly funding activities where it is practical to do so.

The Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019 allows the court to include a restricted movement requirement at first disposal. This complements the suite of options available to justice social work to help promote a person-centred package of support and monitoring, tailored to the needs, risks, and circumstances of the individual.