Unpaid work by offenders 'saves public purse £1m'

The figures are revealed in a new report which also shows local probation workers were among the best in the country in persuading offenders to go straight.

The board's annual report, published yesterday, was welcomed by the chairman of York and North Yorkshire Probation Trust, Ken Bellamy.

He said: "This commendable 2009-10 report captures significant achievements in a year of major challenges, and with well documented constraints on public resources.

"The resilience, commitment and professional skills of our employees have been fully stretched and we are indebted to them for their positive response in achieving high standards of performance."

Trust chief executive Pete Brown added: "We believe we have laid the groundwork for York and North Yorkshire Probation Trust to demonstrate it is delivering a real impact in reducing reoffending in our in York and North Yorkshire over the coming years."

The report says 2009-10 was an exceptionally successful year. The service achieved the highest, national, rating possible in successfully managing risk and public protection, and ensuring that offenders successfully complete their sentences.

Last year the service became a trust, which cleared the way for a shake-up, so it is now split into two sections, one for York and another for North Yorkshire, each with its own director.

In 2009-10, offenders in both local authority areas performed more than 136,000 hours of unpaid work for the benefit of local communities. This would have cost 790,000 if done by labourers on minimum wage

Projects ranged from restoring hundreds of gravestones across Harrogate's cemeteries, to a successful Mayoral Project at the Sustrans cycle path in York.

Over the 12 months, the service also worked closely with the Local Criminal Justice Board to set up multi-agency teams, targeting 1,000 serial offenders in York, Scarborough, and Harrogate.

The success of the idea was underlined by the pilot scheme in Scarborough, where reoffending was cut by 38 per cent.