Low-level offenders to work on the streets

The fast-track plan will see offenders taken from the dock to be assessed, allocated and sent out to join a community payback squad.

The pilot scheme will take place at Glasgow Sheriff Court and bring together community service and social work staff within the building or in nearby offices.

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "We want to see low-level offenders out paying back communities by doing some tough manual labour.

"Punishment should be tough and justice should be immediate which is why we are piloting this new initiative. The aim is to get these low-level offenders out doing manual work to improve communities within hours of being sentenced.

"Whether it is cleaning streets of graffiti, renovating elderly care homes, restoring fallen gravestones or, as we saw during the recent severe weather conditions, helping to clear pavements of snow, these offenders should be repaying their dues to communities they have harmed."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "The council can see the benefits of using community reparation as a sentence in appropriate circumstances, both for the communities affected by crime and also the offenders themselves."

The Scottish Government said new figures show 33,707 hours of snow clearing were undertaken by low-level offenders this winter. The move comes before new rules come into force this week to establish a "presumption" against prison sentences of three months or less.