Payback

A Government sponsored initiative "Community Payback" has been launched involving the National Probation Service.

Unpaid Work - or Community Service as it was once known - has been in operation for over 30 years and is one of probation's most successful interventions. Offenders are sentenced by the courts to perform up to 300 hours of Unpaid Work for the benefit of the community. A sentence of Unpaid Work is often ordered by magistrates for offences such as anti-social behaviour, vandalism and graffiti.

Community Payback is an initiative to involve the public in the selection of Unpaid Work projects which allows the Probabtion service, Metropolitan Police and local authorities to use the Communty Punishment Offenders in a scheme called "Payback". This involves working in the community to improve conditions and public safety.

A group of offenders have been carrying out their "Payback" work on Putney Heath, helping to open up some areas of dense scrub and undergrowth to keep the pathways clear and improve visibility which will help to keep the area safe for regular Commons users.