Community Service and Custody in Scotland

The recent Home Office and Scottish Office National Standards are aimed, among other things, at encouraging the use of community service as an alternative to custody. Research in twelve Scottish schemes revealed that community service was replacing imprisonment for less than half the offenders on orders and that the percentage of offenders diverted from custody has decreased over the years. Standardisation of practice, increased risk‐taking by schemes and increased dialogue with the courts may enhance the diversionary potential of community service but a major revision of sentencing practice is unlikely in the absence of specific guidelines or legislative change.