Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what Community Payback projects have been completed in Easington constituency in each of the last five years.

Community Payback is a visible punishment which sees offenders undertake work that directly benefits the communities they have harmed.

Rigorous and constructive projects are delivered across England and Wales on a daily basis. Work carried out by offenders may include removing graffiti from public buildings, clearing wasteland, or decorating a community centre.

Local engagement is an integral part of Community Payback, and anyone can nominate a project in their local area via the Gov.uk website.

Prior to unification of the Probation Service in June 2021, Community Payback was delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and consequently we do not have access to an exhaustive list of projects delivered in each of the last five years.

However, the Durham Tees Valley CRC did deliver regular projects in partnership with Durham County Council in the Peterlee area, with Community Payback teams working four days a week to improve local open spaces.

Post-unification, the North East Probation region currently has regular projects running at the Castle Eden Walkway, Parkside Walkway, Woodhouse Park and South Hetton allotments.

Work undertaken at the projects listed above in Easington have included grounds maintenance, such as strimming, grass cutting, clearing overgrown vegetation to open up pathways and raising the canopy to remove overhanging branches, path edging and litter picking.