§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many places are now available in Scotland for offenders subject to a community service order made in the courts; how many such orders have been made in the latest convenient period; if he can make any estimate of the number of reports indicating that an offender is suitable for community service but no place is available which have been submitted to the courts in the latest convenient period; and if he will list those local authority areas where the community service order scheme is not in operation.
§ Mr. John MacKay:Information is not available centrally about the number of places available for offenders subject to a community service order, or about the number of cases in which reports may have indicated that an offender was suitable for community service but no place was available. Statistics of community service orders are processed on an annual basis: the most recent figures available are for 1981, when a total of 1,192 offenders were sentenced to undertake community service.
There are at present no schemes in operation in the Dumfries and Galloway and Borders regions: a scheme was prepared in Highland region for Inverness but was suspended in August 1981. Some parts of Central, Fife, Grampian and Strathclyde regions are not yet covered by the regional schemes.