An unpaid work requirement is imposed as part of a community order (CO), or suspended sentence order (SSO). An unpaid work requirement is one of the menu of community order or suspended sentence order requirements that can be imposed by the court as part of such an order on a person aged 18 or over who is convicted of an offence. Under the Sentencing Code, when an unpaid work requirement is imposed, the court has to specify the number of hours in the order an offender can be required to undertake – this can be no less than 40 hours and no more than 300 hours of unpaid work which must be completed within a period of 12 months.
	Currently, if the hours of unpaid work are not completed within 12 months of the order, probation practitioners are required to apply to the court to extend the period within which the hours can be completed.
	Extension applications are then subject to delays due to court-listing capacity constraints. These delays can lead to community orders expiring with outstanding hours, necessitating further court appearances and significant outstanding unpaid work hours due to court delays, causing significant backlogs. Presently, no unpaid work can be undertaken after the 12-month period expires until the court grants an extension.
	The aim of the legislative change is to eliminate inefficient processes and reduce the administrative burden of returning cases to court for extension after the 12-month period. This is achieved by aligning the period an offender is required to complete the hours specified under an unpaid work requirement with the length of the community order.
Policy background Part 2: Management of offenders after sentencing Community Order requirements and community requirements Removal of maximum period for unpaid work requirement