To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Community Payback schemes in (a) addressing environmental crime and (b) improving the condition of rural communities.

Community Payback provides a broad range of opportunities for offenders to make reparations to communities, including through projects that improve local environments in rural areas. Most Community Payback projects include clearance activities such as removing litter, cutting back overgrown vegetation, and addressing low-level fly-tipping.

In addition, some projects are specifically focused on rural environments, supported through national partnerships with organisations such as Forestry England and the Canal & River Trust.

Projects can be nominated both by officials and by members of the public via an easy-to-use online nominations platform.

Nominate a Community Payback project - GOV.UK

The effectiveness in Community Payback delivery has been evaluated in the recent Unpaid Work Process evaluation commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and the HM Inspectorate of Probation’s Thematic of Unpaid work. While these does not specifically address the impact on environmental crime, they reference projects making significant and tangible contributions to public spaces, such as parks, schools and canals.