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Supervised attendance orders now available throughout Scotland
26/10/1998
All sheriff and district courts in Scotland now have the option of imposing a Supervised Attendance Order (SAO), a development described by Henry McLeish as "a watershed in dealing effectively with fine defaulters".
The Home Affairs Minister was speaking on the day that the availability of SAO's was extended to Glasgow City District and Stipendiary - the last of 49 sheriff and 70 district courts to have the option of imposing this non-custodial disposal rather than a prison sentence for those failing to pay fines.
Welcoming the key development, Mr McLeish said:
"The Supervised Attendance Order scheme has an important role to play in extending the range of community based sentences for offenders.
"For those who, for whatever reason, find themselves unable to pay the fines imposed on them by the courts there is little to be gained from a short period of imprisonment as a penalty for the fine default. Rather the imposition of an SAO allows the offender to pay not only a penalty on his time but at the same time to make constructive use of his or her time in a manner likely to be both of personal benefit and to the community.
"The bringing into the scheme of the Glasgow District and Stipendiary Court marks an important watershed as all courts in Scotland are now able to make use of SAOs which have the potential to reduce the numbers of short term prisoners in our jails."
BACKGROUND
1. A Supervised Attendance Order is an order of a Scottish criminal court which may be imposed as an alternative to custody in cases of fine default. Depending on the level of fine an SAO can vary in length from 10 hours (for fines up to £50) to 100 hours (for fines of over £500) and these hours must be completed within 12 months of the order being made.
2. The content of an order will vary according to the specific case. This can range from training modules on topics such as money management to undertaking unpaid work in the community, for example in a hospital or with a voluntary organisation. SAOs are provided by local authority social work departments and are supported by 100% central government funding.
3. SAOs were first piloted in a selected number of courts in 1992. Following evaluation of the pilots it was decided to provide full coverage for all sheriff and district courts by 1998. Current legalisation is contained in sections 235-237 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.
News Release: 2176/98
26 October, 1998