Thousands of offenders who fail to turn up for community punishments are avoiding being returned to court if they claim to have overslept or produce their own sick note, the public spending watchdog says today.

Probation officers are also allowing offenders to give “unacceptable excuses” such as having no transport and forgetting to attend appointments rather than returning them to court.

The National Audit Office report also finds that thousands of criminals are not completing punishments ordered by the courts because the time span of the community penalty runs out before they have finished the specific courses — on problems such as alcohol abuse and domestic violence — or tasks ordered by magistrates.

Today’s report will undermine further the reputation of community punishments and is a blow to ministers and penal reformers who insist the penalties are a rigorous alternative to jail. Ministers are planning a media campaign in April intended to persuade the courts and public of the benefits of community orders, which involve unpaid work and other requirements.

But the report said there was incomplete information on the costs of orders and the numbers who failed to complete them, and long waiting lists for some courses intended to prevent offenders returning to crime.

It also said that in a sample of cases examined where the offender had completed six months of the punishment, 28 per cent had been convicted of a further crime.

Offenders who fail to attend twice in a year should, according to national guidelines, be returned to court. Acceptable excuses for absence are stipulated as medical appointments, work or appointments with other agencies.

The National Audit Office said that the probation areas that it visited were unaware of the guidance and some had adopted their own local rules.

“Occasionally offender managers may accept ‘unacceptable’ reasons when more rigorous enforcement would be more appropriate,” the report said.

The organisation looked at 700 excuses accepted by probation officers in Lincolnshire, Wiltshire, Northumbria, London and South Wales. In 9 per cent of the cases examined, the criminals said they had forgotten, were “confused” or had slept in. In London, this category accounted for 19 per cent of excuses that were accepted by officers. A self-certified sick note was accepted by probation staff in 11 per cent of the cases. The study found that 6 per cent of offenders were unable to finish the requirement of the punishment before the order finished.

A total of 260 offenders in 2006-07 had been convicted of a further serious offence while under a community punishment. Serious further offences include murder, rape and arson, and violent and kidnapping crimes.

Edward Leigh, the chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: “Too often, offenders who have been given a community order are escaping elements of their punishment and rehabilitation. This is because the Probation Service, which manages offenders serving the orders, often fails to ensure all elements of an order are completed before it expires. In fact, the service does not know how many orders have not been completed, nor how many offenders break the terms of their orders.”

Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, said: “There is some evidence that community orders can reduce the likelihood of reconviction, but I am concerned by gaps in the Probation Service’s knowledge about its management of sentences. The service needs to identify its capacity to deliver community orders and the associated costs, and the effectiveness of order requirements in reducing reconviction.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We have noted the contents of the report, have accepted all the recommendations, and actions are already under way to address all of these. The audit report noted that staff commitment to their challenging jobs is clear, they enforce sentences rigorously and there is evidence of positive outcomes achieved by community sentences.”

Tall orders

121,700 community orders issued by courts in England and Wales in 2006
14 months – the average length of a community order
235,000 offenders managed by probation staff in 2006, compared with 139,700 in 1995
35% increase in probation staff 2001-06
£807m amount spent by 42 probation areas in 2006-07

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