This report focuses on the most widely used requirement within community sentences, unpaid work (also called community service and community payback). It summarises the evidence on the impact of unpaid work on outcomes; identifies good practice in its operation; attempts to understand challenges in delivering unpaid work, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic; and identifies steps that can be taken to ensure unpaid work is as purposeful and as effective as possible in the medium to long term.
This report is part of our wider programme of work on smarter community sentences, which seeks to assist policymakers and practitioners to improve the use and effectiveness of community sentences. This work is funded and supported by the Hadley Trust.