MSP blasts ‘scandalous’ community sentence absences in North Lanarkshire

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Graham Simpson MSP has described the scale of absenteeism by offenders due to carry out community payback orders in North Lanarkshire as ‘scandalous’.In response to a Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Conservatives, figures showed that there were 11,359 instances of absence recorded over the last five years by North Lanarkshire Council.Of the 10,000-plus absences between 2018/19 and 2022/23, more than 15 per cent – 1850 – were deemed to be “unacceptable”.Only 15 councils gave responses – the rest did not have the data centrally collected despite guidance saying it should be recorded.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android Mr Simpson says the figures are a further “insult” to victims of crime in the region by an SNP Government which has already written off hundreds of thousands of hours of community sentencing work across the country.He has urged new SNP justice secretary Angela Constance to finally put an end to the SNP’s "soft-touch" approach, put victims in the region first and ensure that cash-strapped North Lanarkshire Council have every resource they need to crack down on these absences.The MSP for Central Scotland said: “These figures are scandalous and are yet another example of the SNP’s soft-touch justice approach in action. “Not only have SNP ministers been content to write off