Management information on unpaid work hours

Key Point: The estimated number of unpaid work hours to be progressed in February 2026 was 871,600. This was an increase of 1% on the February 2025 figure of 867,300.

Management information was previously published up to February 2025. Since then, four additional quarterly returns have been added, showing the total hours to be progressed for all open unpaid work requirements, excluding those with a breach.

Due to the data collection methods described in the Introduction, the returned figures are estimates. They may be revised and include statistical approximations where information was missing. The data provides only an indicative snapshot and is also affected by seasonality, as shown in Chart 1, where monthly fluctuations in court‑imposed hours contribute to variation in unpaid work hours to be progressed.

There is a time lag between the data sources used in this publication. Management data on unpaid work hours is around 10 months ahead of Justice Social Work Statistics and five months ahead of court‑level information. Monthly SCTS CPO data is therefore used to estimate the five months of unpaid work hours for which no figures are yet available, providing an indication of trends.

Changes in recent quarterly management information should be interpreted cautiously, as short‑term increases or decreases may reflect seasonality. It is more meaningful to focus on overall trends rather than movements between the last two quarters. The data also cannot show which hours were completed or added between collection points.

Chart 3: Unpaid work hours to be progressed rose to August 2024, then were generally stable

Unpaid work hours (excluding breaches) management information including key events during the pandemic, Scotland, May 2020 to February 2026

Legend:

A: Second mainland lockdown – January 2021

B: Community Orders (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 introduced (reducing hours to be progressed in relevant orders by 35%) – March 2021

C: Scotland moved to beyond level 0, when the legal requirement for physical distancing and limits on gatherings was removed. Some protective measures did stay in place such as the use of face coverings indoors – August 2021

D: Extended time limits for unpaid work requirements (under the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020) ended – September 2022

Scotland’s first lockdown began in March 2020. Data collection started in May 2020 to help the Scottish Government understand COVID‑19’s impact on CPO unpaid work requirements. As social distancing restricted delivery, hours to be progressed rose, and Figure 2 shows fewer requirements finishing in 2020-21. Unpaid work hours to be progressed peaked at around 823,700 hours in February 2021.

In March 2021, the Coronavirus (Scotland) Regulations 2021 were introduced. These regulations reduced the number of hours imposed in relevant orders (with exceptions for orders imposed in relation to domestic abuse, sexual offences, or stalking) by 35%. This was to reduce the overall volume of hours to be delivered and ensure the continued effective operation of the community justice system.

After the implementation of the above regulations, the unpaid work hours being progressed reduced to its lowest point (around 577,000) in April 2021. It starts to increase steadily thereafter.

In 2024-25, unpaid work hours to be progressed increased from 817,100 in May 2024 to 867,300 in February 2025. As of 1 April 2025, there were 9,823 unpaid work requirements being progressed—the highest figure reported since this publication began three years ago. This reflects, in part, the high number of CPOs imposed in 2024-25.

The next available management information figure, for May 2025, estimated 864,600 unpaid work hours to be progressed. This subsequently rose to 871,600 in February 2026, the highest estimate recorded since the collection began in May 2020.

There was a slight increase of 1% in unpaid work hours to be progressed, rising from 867,300 in February 2025 to 871,600 in February 2026. (Chart 3). Over the same period, the estimated number of unpaid work hours imposed (from February 2025 to January 2026) was between 1.38 and 1.45 million hours. The number of unpaid hours to be progressed has remained relatively stable since August 2024 to February 2026 ranging (apart from a small dip in November 2005) between 858,200 and 871,600.