Renfrewshire Council

Probation is a period of supervision, between 6 months and 3 years, which the court imposes on an individual convicted of offences.

Probation was replaced by a Supervision Requirement of a Community Payback Order (CPO), for anyone convicted of offences committed from 1st February 2011.  Information on CPOs can be found in the 'Related articles' section.

The purpose of the order is to challenge offending behaviour and attitudes and provide support with difficulties which contribute to involvement in offending.  The individual must agree to the order being made.

Individuals subject to probation are supervised on a regular basis by a qualified social worker and are required to keep appointments at both the Social Work service and at their own home.

Orders are strictly enforced and failure by the offender to comply with the conditions of the order will result in them being returned to court having breached the order.  A breach of Probation is itself a criminal offence and if the breach is proven sentencing will be for the original offence plus the offence of breach of the order.