Community Payback Orders and unpaid work in Scotland
FixASB helps Scottish unpaid work and community payback teams source placement-ready projects with clear community benefit - drawn from persistent anti-social behaviour reported in local places.
FixASB can help turn persistent anti-social behaviour in shared places into clear, local project briefs your unpaid work scheme can assess for Community Payback Order placements - with community benefit already in view. The intended audience for this page is Community Payback Order and unpaid work managers and co-ordinators in Scotland's local authorities.
Why this matters for unpaid work schemes
Community Payback Order unpaid work is most effective when the work is purposeful, has clear tangible benefits to the community, and can start quickly after sentence.
That means your team needs a steady pipeline of suitable projects and external placement opportunities - across the week, including evenings and weekends where possible, and across the geography your scheme covers.
FixASB packages live local problems - graffiti, neglected alleys, damaged communal spaces, littered open ground, and other persistent place-based anti-social behaviour - into project briefs you can review against your usual risk, safeguarding and suitability checks.
We do not allocate individuals to placements. Allocation and compliance remain with the unpaid work case manager and, where relevant, the responsible officer.
Are local clean-ups purposeful activities?
Clearing graffiti and litter is exactly the kind of unpaid work Community Payback Orders are meant to deliver: purposeful, visible, and of clear benefit to the community. Removing tagging, rubbish and neglect from shared public spaces is reparative in nature. It doesn't displace paid jobs since the potential demand for such clean-ups is substantial. Scottish practice guidance (opens external site) (as at 29 July 2025) is also clear that training people to use equipment such as graffiti-cleaning kit can be part of a worthwhile placement, not a reason to rule the work out.
What you can get from FixASB
Community-backed project ideas
Reports from residents and neighbours create a calm, shareable record of what is happening in a place - so your team can see the local harm and who benefits if the work is done.
Placement-ready briefs
Each brief is structured for unpaid work assessment, including project name and location; what needs doing and why it benefits the community; suggested tasks and skills; site constraints (access, toilets/handwashing, mobility, hours); a beneficiary or site-lead contact; and notes for risk and safeguarding discussion.
Support securing property owner permission
A regular challenge can be securing the permission of property owners in some locations. FixASB can help secure such consents in a timely and documented manner, unblocking one of the issues that can stop clean-ups in their tracks.
External placement support, not case management
Where a housing association, community group or other local organisation can host an individual placement, we help them present what providers need to be ready for: enough work, attendance recording, health and safety, nominated contacts, and clear escalation routes. Your service still decides whether the placement is suitable.
Useful for annual consultation
Local authorities must consult prescribed persons each year (opens external site) about the nature of unpaid work in their area. FixASB project evidence and completed-work examples can support that conversation and help you show communities what payback looks like locally.
The kinds of projects we surface
removing graffiti and tagging from communal walls and street furniture
clearing alleys, closes and neglected routes
litter picking and grounds maintenance in shared spaces
improving the look and feel of communal areas
small environmental clear-ups nominated by residents or landlords
Every project is local. We do not offer a national catalogue or promise that any given site will be accepted. Suitability always sits with justice social work.
How it works with your team
Tell us your local authority area and any preferences (group projects, individual placements, evenings/weekends, women-only capacity, indoor/outdoor).
We share project briefs drawn from FixASB records and landlord/community nominations in that area.
Your unpaid work case manager assesses risk, safeguarding, health and safety, and fit for people on your caseload.
If you proceed, the beneficiary or provider works to your local procedures - induction, timesheets, weekly contact and incident reporting - while you retain compliance and any court interface.
Built for Scotland’s CPO model
This page is for Scotland. Community Payback Orders and unpaid work or other activity requirements are delivered through local authority justice social work.
FixASB’s Scotland offer is built around that model: project sourcing and beneficiary readiness for your scheme; language that matches CPO practice, including individual placements with external organisations; and respect for local risk assessment, information-sharing and safeguarding decisions.
FixASB also provides highly visible dissemination of the reparation delivered through CPO activity, allowing issues to be shown resolved with photographic proof of clean-ups or other activity.
Important limits
FixASB is independent of police and councils. We help turn persistent anti-social behaviour in public and shared places into evidence and practical next steps.
We do not decide court outcomes, allocate individuals, or manage compliance.
Unpaid work must not displace paid employment. Project briefs are screened with that principle in mind; final judgement remains yours.
Get projects for your area
If you manage or coordinate unpaid work in a Scottish local authority, get in touch.
