Community Justice Progress Report 2023-24
Perth and Kinross Council · 22 January 2025
Back to Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee — 22 January 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
Perth and Kinross Council Housing and Social Wellbeing Committee 22 January 2025 COMMUNITY JUSTICE PROGRESS REPORT 2023-24 Report by Strategic Lead – Children, Families and Justice (Report No. 25/7) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 This report provides an update on the work of council services and partners to meet local and national outcomes for Community Justice for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. It provides an update on the effectiveness of the arrangements for the supervision of serious offenders and the approaches being used to help people make positive changes in their lives and tackling the underlying causes. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that the Committee: • Notes the approach being undertaken by Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) teams in respect of the Perth and Kinross Community Justice and Safety Partnership (the Partnership), and the content of the Community Justice Progress Report 2023-24 (Appendix 1); • Endorses the contents of this report; and • Requests the Strategic Lead for Children, Families and Justice brings forward an annual report regarding the activity and performance. 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background • Section 5: Conclusion • Appendices
Page 2
4. BACKGROUND The Perth and Kinross Community Justice and Safety Partnership 4.1 The Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (the Act) was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2017 and established Community Justice Partnerships in each local authority area comprising of statutory partners - Police Scotland; Scottish Prison Service (SPS); Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS); Skills Development Scotland (SDS); NHS Scotland; Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board; Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the local authority; and representation from the third sector. 4.2 Alongside the Act, a National Strategy for Community Justice (2016) and a Community Justice Outcomes, Performance and Improvement Framework was launched. The Act requires statutory partners to work together to deliver a Community Justice Outcomes Improvement Plan (CJOIP), delivering on the National Strategy and framework for their area, and report on progress to Community Justice Scotland (CJS) via an Annual Outcome Activity Return. The Partnership launched its first CJOIP, a three-year plan on 1 April 2017 (the plan was extended for a further 2 years due to COVID-19) and submitted Outcome Activity Returns to Community Justice Scotland annually since 2018, highlighting local progress against the CJOIP. These reports are available on the Community Justice and Community Safety Partnership webpage on the Perth and Kinross Council’s website. 4.3 A new National Strategy for Community Justice was launched in June 2022, and a new Performance Framework in March 2023. The Partnership launched a new Perth and Kinross CJOIP 2023 - 2028 in June 2023. 4.4 The 2023-24 Annual Outcome Activity Return submitted to CJS in September 2024 was the Partnership’s first annual submission, reporting against outcomes/progress under the new National Strategy for Community Justice and Performance Framework, and the new CJOIP. Unlike previous years, a public facing annual report (Community Justice Progress Report) has been prepared in addition to the Annual Outcome Activity Return, meeting the section 23 requirement of the CJS Act. This public facing report was approved by the Partnership on 6 December 2024 (Appendix 1) and went live on the Community Justice and Community Safety Partnership webpage on 10 December 2024. The report contains contributions from statutory and third sector organisations. Appendix 2 provides a glossary of terms within the report. 4.5 From a PKC perspective, the Community Justice Progress Report 2023-24 highlights examples of positive work being carried out by a range of PKC teams, often in partnership with other stakeholders and includes the following: • Complex Needs Co-ordinator role commenced in September 2022 (a two-year test of change), jointly funded by Community Justice Social Work (CJSW) and Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP). The role initially focussed on screening referrals received from the Positive Steps Custody Arrest Referral Service, but over time, the
Page 3
referral routes to the Complex Needs Co-ordinator broadened to include direct referrals from Police Scotland (following the Positive Steps Custody Arrest Referral Service ceasing), referrals from Bail Supervision Officers (for those assessed as suitable for Bail Supervision but not given Bail Supervision by the court), support to residents held on remand (following amendment to SPS Information Sharing Agreement), support for people released from a short term sentence following the establishment of the Voluntary Throughcare Co-ordination meeting and support to those triaged via the daily Non-Fatal Overdose meeting. The role, to date, has worked to create a ‘no wrong door’ offer of support to people by providing assertive outreach to people with multiple and complex needs (who have difficulty engaging with mainstream services) and referring those with less complex needs into the right support service (assisting with navigation through the cluttered landscape). The Complex Needs Co-ordinator role relies heavily on both Floating & Intensive Housing Support Services. These services are commissioned and funded by PKC and delivered by Turning Point, Simon Communities, and Churches Action for the Homeless. These services are available to residents throughout the Perth and Kinross area alongside other third sector services such as Tayside Council on Alcohol. Learning from this test of change has highlighted that the support needs of those following arrest, released from remand and released from a sentence, are similar, with the most common requests for support being: • Housing • Mental health • Substance use • Benefits This test of change has been extended for a further year and expanded to include a Complex Needs Project Lead in August 2024. • Bail Supervision focusses on reducing re-offending and affording the person the opportunity to change their behaviour and address unmet need. The Bail Supervision within Perth and Kinross extended the eligible age criteria in January 2022, from being available to 16 to 26- year-olds, to anyone aged 16 and over. Additional staff were recruited to accommodate this change. Community Justice Assistants (CJAs) support the Service, in addition to the dedicated support from the Young People’s Service. Extending the eligible age range provides wider service access and provides the Court with an alternative to remand across the age range, where possible, minimising the negative impact for families, children, and the individual, as it provides the opportunity for family, social and economic relationships to continue in line with The Promise.
Page 4
• Electronic Monitoring: Community management options were strengthened by increasing the use of electronic monitoring technologies. Multi agency training sessions improved understanding and confidence in electronic monitoring. • Diversion from Prosecution (DfP) Scheme, CJSW continued to offer DfP training, delivered on a one-to-one basis by a CJA. The training explores behaviour which may put the person at risk of committing further offences and offers practical support and advice. The DfP Scheme offers swift intervention, which can interrupt a cycle of offending and/or prevent further offending. The person does not receive a conviction for the alleged offence, which can impact on longer-term employment opportunities. • Right Track (Structured Deferred Sentence), run by CJSW, works with young people aged 16 to 26 and gives them the opportunity to engage in intensive support provided by a Right Track Officer, prior to attending court for final sentencing. The scheme helps ensure that custody is only used where necessary. The services enable the young person to work on their chaotic lifestyle and develop a more structured way of life prior to sentencing. • One-Stop Women’s Learning Service (OWLS), in collaboration with other services, offers women a safe space where they can access crucial services, improve their mental health and wellbeing, as well as address the reasons for their offending behaviour. This wraparound service builds the self-confidence and self-esteem of women enabling them to become more involved in their community. The co-production and joint delivery of services improves access opportunities to services for women. The whole system approach enables needs to be met at a the time when the person can accept the support. • EVOLVE, a project targeted at men given a supervision requirement, continued during the reporting period. Like OWLS, the project is gender specific. The project works with men in a trauma informed manner, using a combination of intensive one to one work, and a focussed programme of group work which include activities designed to increase positive life chances and pro-social decision making for males who offend. It helps them find purpose, improve their wellbeing, and rebuild relationships within their communities and families. • Connecture (a trauma groupwork intervention which was initially trialled within Evolve) was introduced to the wider team following an independent evaluation of the programme by Research Author Dr Briege Nugent Brown and received positive feedback from both participants and staff. • Caledonian System is an integrated approach to addressing domestic abuse perpetrated by adult male offenders and improving the lives of women and children.
Page 5
It combines a court-ordered programme for men, aimed at changing their behaviour, with support services for women and children. Work was undertaken during the reporting period to improve resilience within the PKC Community Justice team. • Unpaid Work team continued to use the Westbank Hub as a base, providing opportunities to link people in with employability opportunities available on site ie, Forklift and Telehandler training. During the reporting period, a partnership arrangement was formed to help clear fly- tipping in Perth and Kinross which was popular with the public and the partners. A partnership was also established with PKC Housing to restore gardens of vulnerable tenants before they join the PKC Garden Maintenance Scheme. • Prisoner Release work had commenced pre COVID-19 to improve co- ordination of prisoner release (to seek better links between prison and housing, eg, information sharing three months prior to release to help manage housing needs) and the COVID-19 early prisoner release programme. Fortnightly multi-agency meetings commenced in August 2021 and continue to run fortnightly. These meetings are attended by CJSW, Safer Communities Team (SCT), PKC Housing Team and the Integrated – Drug Alcohol and Recovery Team (IDART), all working together to manage risks, provide support and to address unmet need. The meeting frequency was set to allow agencies time to react to anyone who received short sentences or was being released early. During the reporting period, this proactive release planning was built on further with the launch of a Co-ordinated Voluntary Throughcare test of change in March 2023 providing an opt out model to improve uptake of support for release. The test sites during the reporting period were HMP Perth and HMP Glenochil. In addition to seeking to ensure a proactive voluntary throughcare offer for people released from a short-term sentence, work also took place to develop mechanisms to establish General Practitioners (GPs) registration processes to ensure core basic medical needs were met prior to and/or on the day of prisoner release. • Child Impact Assessment Project is aimed at children and young people with someone close to them on the justice journey who often report to being Not Seen, and Not Heard, despite not being Guilty. PKC were successful in a funding application to the Scottish Government’s United Nations Convention on Rights of a Child (UNCRC) Innovation Fund (administered by the CORRA Foundation) with a view to changing that narrative. The application was made in conjunction with Families Outside. The project was funded from 9 October 2023 to 6 December 2024 and sought to change the narrative to Seen, Heard and Supported via multi agency awareness raising and incorporating the Child Impact Assessment toolkit into key processes. The Perth and Kinross pilot is currently the largest Child Impact Assessment pilot in progress in Scotland. The Child Impact Assessment Project supports PKC’s commitment to delivering on The Promise and the UNCRC.
Page 6
Although funding for the project has ended, the project Steering Group will continue in 2025 to continue efforts in changing the narrative for our young people locally. 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 The Community Justice Progress Report 2023-24, illustrates the positive work being undertaken by both statutory partners and third sector organisations. 6.2 Efforts have been made, and are ongoing, with partners and third sector organisations, as echoed in our CJOIP, to work in partnership towards achieving the shared aim of reducing re-offending by supporting those who have committed offences, and to also support those impacted by crime – families and victims/survivors. It is the intention of the Partnership to build on this progress, thereby ensuring the communities in Perth and Kinross remain a safe place to live. Authors Name Designation Contact Details Eleanor Lindsay Nicola Rogerson Community Justice Quality Improvement Team Leader Service Manager, Justice and Community Safety Services FBSCommittee@pkc.gov.uk 01738 475000 Approved Name Designation Date Arun Singh Strategic Lead – Children, Families and Justice 10 January 2025
Page 7
ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes/None Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement Yes Corporate Plan Yes Resource Implications Financial None Workforce None Asset Management (land, property, IST) None Assessments Equality Impact Assessment None Strategic Environmental Assessment None Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) None Legal and Governance None Risk None Consultation Internal None External None Communication Communications Plan None 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 This section sets out how the proposals relate to the delivery of the Perth and Kinross Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement in terms of the following priorities: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy; (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations. This report relates to Objective No. (v). Corporate Plan 1.2 This section sets out how the proposals relate to the achievement of the Council’s Corporate Plan Objectives: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy; (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and
Page 8
(v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations. This report relates to Objective No. (v). 1.3 The report also links to the Education and Learning; and the Children, Families and Justice Services Vision, Values and Priorities in respect of the following key Priority area: • Safe and Protected 2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 This report contains no proposals which would have a financial impact on the Council. Workforce 2.2 There are no workforce implications arising from this report. Asset Management (land, property, IT) 2.3 There are no asset management implications arising from this report. 3. Assessments 3.1 Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council is required to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between equality groups. Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments for plans and policies allows the Council to demonstrate that it is meeting these duties. 3.1.1 The proposals have been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment process (EqIA) with the following outcome: (i) Assessed as not relevant for the purposes of EqIA. Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.2 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Council to identify and assess the environmental consequences of its proposals. 3.2.1 The proposals have been considered under the Act; however, no action is required as the Act does not apply to the matters presented in this report. This is because the Committee are requested to note the contents of the report only and the Committee are not being requested to approve, adopt or agree to an action or to set the framework for future decisions.
Page 9
Sustainability 3.3 Under the provisions of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, the Council has to discharge its duties in a way which contributes to the achievement of sustainable development. Under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 the Council also has a duty relating to climate change and, in exercising its functions must act: • In the way best calculated to delivery of the Act’s emissions reduction targets. • In the way best calculated to deliver any statutory adaption programmes. • In a way that it considers most sustainable. 3.3.1 There are no issues in respect of sustainability from the proposals in this report. Legal and Governance 3.4 This report contains no proposals which would have a legal or governance impact on the Council. 3.5 Not applicable. Risk 3.6 There are no issues in respect of risk from the proposals in this report. 4. Consultation Internal 4.1 Not applicable. External 4.2 Not applicable. 5. Communication 5.1 There are no communication issues in respect of the proposals in this report. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS 2.1 No background papers, as defined by Section 50D of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (and not containing confidential or exempt information) were relied on to a material extent in preparing the above report.
Page 10
3. APPENDICES 3.1 Appendix 1 – Community Justice Progress Report 2023-24 Appendix 2 – Glossary of Terms