The level of incomplete community service work has tripled in five years, figures show

More than 30 years of community service work was effectively written off in 2023, data reveals.

The 280,000 hours of incomplete unpaid work is three times more than five years ago and represents a ten-year high, figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) show.

The shocking data reveals more than a third of all community work was avoided last year, with criminals dodging more than 1.3million hours since 2019.

The Labour Party, which uncovered the statistics, claims the figures mean thousands of criminals have effectively escaped punishment.

Shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said it showed victims had been abandoned and the public had no faith that justice would be done.

Suspended sentences are normally handed to criminals when their offence warrants less than two years in prison.

Judges can impose conditions such as community payback, with rules that offenders need to abide by or they face imprisonment.

The community payback can involve removing graffiti, clearing wasteland, painting railings or decorating public places while wearing orange high-vis vests and under supervision.

But the suspended sentence order cannot legally be extended beyond the 'length of the operational period of the order' set by the judge, the MoJ said.

So if work is delayed and there is some remaining after this period expires then it no longer needs to be completed and is written off.

Other reasons for work not being completed could include offender deaths, deportation, orders revoked and resentenced, successful appeals and the possibility a criminal was sent to prison after breaking the conditions of a suspended sentence.

More than a third of all community work was avoided in 2023, with criminals handed suspended sentences or community sentences dodging over 19,000 pieces of work.

This is higher than any other year since 2014, though a larger proportion of work in previous years was incomplete.

Ms Mahmood said a functioning justice system was the foundation of any democracy but Britain's criminal justice system was in chaos.

'Victims expect sentences to be completed and community payback work to be carried out, but Rishi Sunak's Government can't even get the basics right,' she added.

'Under the Conservatives, victims have been abandoned, and the public have no faith that justice will be done. Nothing could be more damning for this Government.'

She said that Labour planned to roll out community and victim payback boards to oversee service in their local areas, ensuring criminals carried out their payback.

Responding to Labour's questions, justice minister Edward Argar said the number of incomplete hours should be viewed in the context of complete community payback work, which he said totalled 'over 4.7 million hours' between April 2022 and March 2023.

He added: 'The disruption caused by the pandemic added to a backlog of unpaid work hours.

'The Government is investing an additional £93m in community payback over three years. This will allow us to increase delivery of community payback back to pre-Covid levels of delivery.

'We have launched a national campaign to recruit more than 500 additional community payback staff to bolster resources in every probation region and new staff are arriving in post. The additional staffing will enable us to boost delivery of community payback to pre-Covid levels.

'There will be a particular focus on delivering more outdoor projects that improve local areas, sustainability-focused and allow the public to see justice being done.'