Renfrewshire CJ Annual Activity Report 2024-2025
Renfrewshire Council · 28 October 2025
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 28 October 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Communities and Housing Policy Board On: 28 October 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Children’s Services ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Community Justice Update and Annual Return 2024/25 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report details Community Justice Renfrewshire’s progress towards national justice outcomes, in accordance with statutory requirements. 1.2 The report describes how Community Justice Renfrewshire will deliver improvement work in response to latest learning and emerging opportunities. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 The Communities and Housing board is asked to: (a) approve the Reporting Template for the Community Justice Renfrewshire Annual Report 2024/25, attached as an appendix to the report; and (b note that the Community Justice Renfrewshire Annual Report Template 2024/25 has been submitted to Community Justice Scotland in draft format and, subject to approval and/or amendment by this Policy Board, the finalised report will be submitted and published. _________________________________________________________ 3. Background
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PUBLIC 3.1 Community Justice Renfrewshire is required to report on local progress towards national justice outcomes. Our achievements are relayed to Community Justice Scotland who combine with those of other justice partnerships to create a national report. 3.2 Community Justice Scotland supply community justice partnerships with a reporting template. Partnerships use this template to describe the local community justice activity delivered over the preceding financial year which has contributed to national justice outcomes. Community Justice Renfrewshire received this template in May 2025, and it covers the 2024/25 financial year. ___________________________________________________________________ 4. Community Justice Renfrewshire Annual Outcome Activity Return 2024/25 4.1 Community Justice Renfrewshire’s Annual Outcome Activity Return is attached to this report (Appendix 1). The return outlines partnership work progressed over the period 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025. Highlights include: • Expanded early intervention supports within justice social work, increasing capacity for diversion from prosecution and other community-based measures • Full implementation of bail supervision as a robust alternative to remand, with strong uptake and low breach rates • Improved understanding of health and social care needs for individuals liberated from custody • Strengthened housing support for prison leavers, including face- to-face engagement and assistance with tenancy sustainment • Specialist employability support delivered through core and commissioned services, including provision for people with sexual convictions 4.2 In accordance with guidance, the return emphasises collaborative activity rather than detail that progressed by individual teams, services, or organisations. This reduces duplication of reporting and focuses on the partnership’s added value. 4.3 A draft of Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Annual Outcome Activity Return was sent to Community Justice Scotland in advance of the submission deadline (26 September 2025). A final report will be sent to Community Justice Scotland following this board’s review.
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PUBLIC 4.4 We will continue to work closely with Community Justice Scotland and review any learning from national report when it is published early next year. We will apply relevant learning to improve our local approach to reducing reoffending and improving outcomes for those with living experience of the justice system. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial - None 2. HR & Organisational Development - None 3. Community/Council Planning – • Our Renfrewshire is thriving – working with people with justice experienced to improve their readiness for employment • Our Renfrewshire is well – supporting the health and care needs of this population • Our Renfrewshire is fair - addressing stigma and taking a person- centred approach to address root causes of offending behaviour • Our Renfrewshire is safe – helping people accused or convicted of offences rehabilitate and reintegrate in their communities decreases the chances of further offending 4. Legal – None, this report meets the Council’s statutory community justice requirements 5. Property/Assets - None 6. Information Technology – None 7. Equality & Human Rights (a) The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – None 9. Procurement – None 10. Risk - None 11. Privacy Impact - None 12. Climate Risk – None
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PUBLIC 13. Children’s Rights – Although there are no direct implications the rights and wellbeing of children and young people is at the heart of our Service. We will continue to work together to promote equality and raise awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to make sure children and young people’s rights are promoted and reflected in all that we do. 14. Cosla Policy Position – None ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Jamie Gardyne, Community Justice Lead Officer
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PUBLIC April 2025 Appendix 1 Community Justice Scotland Ceartas Coimhearsnachd Alba Community justice outcome activity across Scotland: Local area annual return template Reporting year April 2024 – March 2025
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PUBLIC 1. Background This reporting template has been developed in discussion with community justice representatives from local areas. This template is designed to enable local areas to gather information and report on progress towards the community justice outcomes. 2. Statement of Assurance and Data Usage The information submitted to CJS using this template will be used by CJS in its role to monitor, promote and support improvement in, and keep the Scottish Ministers informed about, performance in the provision of community justice. In line with provisions in the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), CJS will use appropriate data to ensure that there is continuous reporting, development and progress towards the national outcomes. By providing data to CJS you are consenting to its use by CJS as indicated. Community Justice Partnerships should be aware that any information held by CJS is subject to statutory Freedom of Information obligations. Completion of the template can help local partnerships to fulfil their requirements under s23 (1b) of the Act by using the developed content to inform the production of the publicly facing summary statement of annual progress. 3. General principles of the template The template and guidance have been developed using the following principles: • Support CJS in developing the evidence base for local community justice activity and progress across Scotland within the reporting year • Support CJS to comply with their duties set out in the Act, Sections 26-30 • Support local partners to comply with their local reporting requirements set out in section 23 of the Act.
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PUBLIC 4. How to fill in the template The return should be completed and consulted on with partners involved in community justice in your local area. In line with the Act this includes statutory partners, third sector bodies involved in community justice in the area, and such community bodies or other persons as partners consider appropriate. CJS expects that completion of this template will be a collaborative effort. This template incorporates guidance to support completion, with the text (in blue) providing reflective prompts to consider when developing your answer, which can be deleted and replaced with your response. These should be considered together through the development of your answer rather than addressed individually. There is no expectation that areas will return substantial numerical data. It is likely that local areas will not have the national data indicators set out by the Community Justice Performance Framework at the time they are completing this template. It is not anticipated that CJS will routinely use or refer to local level national indicator data in the context of the national outcome activity annual report. If in developing the national report it becomes apparent that local-level data may support further analysis of particular outcomes, for example in identifying potential recommendations, exploring data outliers, or areas for further development, we expect this to be taken forward in discussion with the relevant local areas and partners. Instead, we want partners to focus on the qualitative evidence drawn from their activity and insights about impact. Relevant local supporting evidence from the CJS improvement tool that will supplement the national indicator data has been specified under each national outcome in this template. We would encourage partners to develop the response to this template in conversation with each other and view it as an opportunity to reflect on your strengths and needs in partnership. Where the template asks for evidence, a written response will suffice and there is no expectation that you send additional supporting documentation – if there are any aspects CJS is unclear on, it will be our responsibility to request clarification where necessary. If any response or evidence requires details about people with lived experience (e.g. evidence in respect of someone’s life story) please DO NOT include any identifiable personal or sensitive information (as outlined in Schedules 2 & 3 of the Data Protection Act 1998) as CJS does not require such information. If this is unavoidable then please ensure that the data is fully anonymised. If you have any queries about completing the template, then please email CJSImprovement@communityjustice.scot.
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PUBLIC 1. Community Justice Partnership / Group Details Name of local authority area/s Renfrewshire Council Name and contact details of the partnership Chair Name: John Trainer Email: john.trainer@renfrewshire.gov.uk Telephone: n/a Name: Jamie Gardyne Name: Jamie Gardyne Email: Jamie.gardyne@renfrewshire.gov.uk Telephone: n/a 2. Template Sign-off from Community Justice Partnership / Group Chair Enter the name of the chair to confirm that the local community justice partnership representatives have agreed this return as an accurate record. It should be returned to CJS by 26 September 2025. For the purpose of submitting this return to CJS ensure you have agreement from community justice partners. Date: 25 September 2025 Name: John Trainer
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PUBLIC 3. Governance Arrangements Last year, we asked partnerships to describe their governance structure for community justice arrangements and include links to wider community planning. Please describe any substantive changes since your previous answer. No change The governance structure continues to reflect strategic alignment with Renfrewshire’s Promise Strategic Oversight Group, ensuring justice-related activity supports The Promise’s aims. 4. The year overall This section should be used to reflect some of the a) challenges/negative implications and b) opportunities/positive implications from the reporting year on the community justice partnership. This can include impact on the improvement activity, partner collaboration, delivery of services, or other as relevant. Challenges / Negatives Delivering change and improvement in Scotland’s community justice agenda is challenging, particularly in the context of wider local improvement activity such as eradicating poverty, growing the economy and reducing health inequality. While these agendas share common goals, their operational frameworks, funding streams, and performance measures often differ. This can create potential for competing priorities and missed opportunities for integration. Achieving meaningful progress in community justice requires a collaborative approach that aligns efforts across sectors, leverages shared outcomes, and ensures that improvement is included within the broader landscape of public service transformation. The sheer scope of Scotland’s community justice agenda presents resource and capacity challenges. Its improvement focus starts at early and preventative interventions and continues throughout the justice system’s processes and requirements to the point of successful reintegration following a custodial sentence. Effectively supporting each juncture throughout this process is important. However, the unique nature of an individuals’ experiences and their interface with the system means it is challenging to identify and support opportunities for change within a complex set of inter dependant factors and influences. This places considerable responsibility on justice partnerships to be insight-rich and have extensive understanding of local systems and service users experiences. Our justice partnership shares these same challenges in delivering improvement activity across a broad, but rightly ambitious community justice agenda. Developing and sustaining
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PUBLIC progress across both specific and broad justice priorities requires clear integration within wider strategic priorities such as those focussed on poverty, mental health improvement, and recovery from addiction. These interlinked areas require significant le vels overarching alignment within differing governance structures, funding streams, and timing priorities. These factors do stretch committed local partnerships where internal organisational capacity can at times also be stretched. The focus therefore is not on anticipating resolution of these macro factors but concentrates on various achievable activities and outcomes, some of which are detailed below. Most significant of events during the course of 2024/25 was the prison population continuing to rise, bringing resulting pressures across the justice system. Accommodation pressures within the national prison estate intensified during this period. These prompted emergency release measures in mid-2024 and early 2025, resulting in the release of nearly 800 individuals. Changes implemented by the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025 meant prisoners serving certain short-term sentences would be released at 40% of their sentence, down from 50%. These developments received considerable media attention, heightening public awareness and scrutiny of the prison system’s capacity and response. Our justice partnership promotes the Vision for Scotland and messaging that promotes community justice as an early and effective approach to addressing the needs and behaviours of people who offend. The partnership has sought to do this where it can, albeit available resources and limited reach do restrict this proactive activity. Educating and where possible persuading that community-based interventions offer a more sustainable and rehabilitative alternative to short-term custody in a proactive, structured communication approach is and will likely remain for the next period a longer-term aim. Positives / Opportunities Renfrewshire’s justice partners have demonstrated our ongoing commitment to Scotland’s community justice priorities. By sharing learning and information, pooling resources and co- designing solutions to problems, we work together to better serve the needs of our local population. To support better outcomes for service users we have continued to jointly develop new community justice-based projects and system processes. These have also enhanced clearer involvement of local third sector organisations. The partnership recognise this sectors’ non statutory value in providing effective delivery of community justice outcomes. The independence, community relationships and respect mean less barriers for some wary of statutory services as well as bringing different expertise and strong, respected voices who advocate for community-based support for people who have offended.
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PUBLIC Together, our partnership has embraced improvement approaches to strengthen our joint working. Sharing information, reviewing collectively, formulating change ideas and testing new approaches has helped facilitate creative solutions to known problems.
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Community Justice Outcome Activity Across Scotland Local Area Annual Return Template PUBLIC Priority Action One Enhance intervention at the earliest opportunity by ensuring greater consistency, confidence in and awareness of services which support the use of direct measures and diversion from prosecution Nationally determined outcome: More people successfully complete diversion from prosecution1 Local Evidence • Mechanisms are in place to understand the views of people undertaking diversion from prosecution and are used to support improvement. • Mechanisms are in place to understand the views of people supporting the delivery of diversion from prosecution and are used to support improvement. 5. What activity has taken place to increase successful completion of diversion? What impact has there been as a result? Diversion from prosecution offers a person-centred response when prosecution isn’t in the public interest. It aims to address the root causes of offending such as substance misuse, mental health or lack of pro-social influence, before they escalate. Diversion requires close collaboration with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), justice social work, Police Scotland, and other public and third sector partners. Our partnership has a good relationship with the Procurator Fiscal for the North Strathclyde, facilitated regular through Sheriffdom meetings. These allow for collaboration between partners and the opportunity to problem solve through sharing of learning and resources. The partnership has continued to improve the coordination and targeting of partners resources to create capacity in the third sector, providing additional support to justice clients in the areas they need. Examples include new targeted mental health and wellbeing interventions and early “enabling conversations” for people at the early stages of their employability journey. Service user and staff feedback formed a key part of employability partners’ planning in the latter part of 2024. This influenced and helped shape the direction of some commissioning activity for the 2025/26 delivery period. Local data from 2024/25 shows our justice social work staff received 228 referrals from the Procurator Fiscal. Of these, 70% progressed to commenced cases, which sits above the average progression rate of 59% recorded across Scotland in the latest published justice social work statistics for 2023/24. 1 National Indicator: Number of diversion from prosecution: • assessments undertaken • cases commenced • cases successfully completed
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PUBLIC In 2024/25, 137 diversion cases were fully completed. This considerable increase from last year reflects excellent performance in terms of service user retention and meeting wider policy aims. People who undertake diversion from prosecution are referred on to other sources of support where appropriate. Based on our provisional data for 2024/25, 21% of commenced cases are referred for mental health support, whilst drug and alcohol referrals sit at 15% and 11% respectively. These rates broadly reflect those at a national level. We have made good progress in improving how people both undertaking and delivering diversion can support improvement. Within our justice social work service, a newly developed improvement framework has mapped out how client feedback will be regularly and consistently gathered from people open to justice interventions, including diversion from prosecution. Qualitative information will support performance management and qualitative feedback will be used to identify opportunities for change. This will be supplemented alongside a refreshed approach to reviews of targeted practice areas in priority justice areas. Planning has started and this approach will be fully implemented over 2025/26. Additionally, Justice social work had employed Justice Officers on a temporary basis to offer greater support to before sentencing activities such as Diversion. Due to the evidenced positive impact these targeted posts have had and its commitment to community justice priorities it has recently made these posts permanent. Priority Action Two Improve the identification of underlying needs and the delivery of support following arrest by ensuring the provision of person-centred care within police custody and building upon referral opportunities to services including substance use and mental health services Nationally determined outcome: More people in police custody receive support to address their needs2 Local Evidence: • There is an effective relationship between community justice partners, Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and police custody centre for local population. • Referral pathways and support are in place from police custody centre for local population 6. What activity has taken place to support people in police custody to access support? What impact has there been as a result? 2 National Indicator: • Number of referrals from custody centres
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PUBLIC Renfrewshire does not have a police custody centre within its boundary, meaning individuals from the area typically enter custody in Glasgow or Greenock. Recognising this, our Community Justice Partnership has engaged in dialogue with Police Scotland’s national custody team to explore how local support services can better connect with individuals from Renfrewshire at the point of arrest. This, and raising the profile of this improvement area among our Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership colleagues has helped build effective relationships between relevant partners. Renfrewshire has a wide range of support services—particularly in areas such as substance use, mental health, and housing. However, current referral pathways from custody are limited to services commissioned by local authorities, Integrated Joint Boards, or NHS Boards. We have reflected on these protocols to identify services that are compliant with these criteria, and shared information on pathways to relevant support. We are committed to working with the national Police Scotland custody team to understand our scope to refine our referral pathways. We have established regular meetings with police custody colleagues to develop our improvement agenda and will do this over the course of 2025/26. A critical part of this understanding data to ensure we have current and future capacity aligned to the presenting needs of people in custody. We engaged in local discussions with public protection partners to understand how we might gather and analyse this and related information, so that we may be able to prioritise support to people we consider at most risk of negative outcomes. Our partnership is eager to explore opportunities for collaboration with other authorities both in terms of learning and models of delivery. Whilst we will bolster local relationships and pathways where we can, we will stay alert to ways we can overcome some of the challenges around geography and resource availability.
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PUBLIC Priority Action Three Support the use of robust alternatives to remand by ensuring high quality bail services are consistently available and delivered effectively Nationally determined outcome: More people are assessed for and successfully complete bail supervision3 Local Evidence • Mechanisms are in place to support a high quality bail assessment. • Referral pathways are in place that support identified needs of people on bail supervision. 7. What activity has taken place to increase the use of bail, and support people to access services to address needs while on bail? What impact has there been as a result? Scotland’s approach advocates for bail as a default position, requiring courts to grant bail unless there is a compelling reason to refuse. Our partnership supports the effective use of bail supervision rather than an individual being remanded in custody wherever possible to prevent the disruptive and damaging impact short-term imprisonment can have on individual’s family, housing and employment. Renfrewshire’s justice social work enhanced its before sentencing support and implemented full bail supervision services in February 2024. Given its relatively recent implementation, data and evaluation activity to measure effective implementation and robustness around suitability assessment, uptake and breach outcomes will take time to gather longitudinally. However, the positive impact since its implementation is clear. From 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 justice social work staff completed 280 suitability assessments for bail supervision in 2024/25. Bail, in some form, was recommended in 235 cases, equating to almost 84% of all assessments. Only 16% were deemed unsuitable for bail, demonstrating strong alignment with the national default-to-bail principle, with remand only being recommended for individuals who present too high a risk for community safety. 79 bail supervision cases commenced for 68 unique individuals. The vast majority (66 cases) held only supervisory conditions, while 13 combined supervision with electronic monitoring. Over the period, 41 bail cases were successfully completed, with 43 still in progress as at 31 March. A relatively low number of 15 cases reported to breach the conditions supports highlights effective monitoring and compliance measures. 3 National Indicator: Number of: • assessment reports for bail suitability • bail supervision cases commenced • bail supervision cases completed
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PUBLIC These figures indicate strongly we are making good progress towards the national outcome. We have recommended bail in most assessments, combining electronic monitoring and tailored supervision to manage the individuals’ assessed risks in the community, where it is safe to do so. We continue to monitor outcomes closely, particularly breach and completion rates, and will undertake further assurance around our identification, assessment and support processes to ensure we’re maximising every opportunity for bail supervision, successfully and safely. We will sustain and expand our range of local support services so that each service user receives the support from other relevant partners to complement their bail conditions and promote long-term rehabilitation.
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PUBLIC Priority Action Four Strengthen options for safe and supported management in the community by increasing and widening the use of electronic monitoring technologies No nationally determined outcome. Progress in delivering this priority action should be evidenced with reference to any relevant local activity. 8. What activity has taken place in your area to increase the use electronic monitoring technologies? What impact has there been as a result? Electronic monitoring is a critical component of the national drive to reduce the number of people subject to remand. Electronic monitoring of bail was introduced in Renfrewshire in May 2023, and as is the case with bail supervision, we are in the early stages of learning and development. In 2024/25, electronic monitoring featured in 168 of our 280 bail suitability assessments (60%): • Bail with EM only: 35 cases (12.5%) • Bail with supervision plus EM: 133 cases (47.5%) 79 bail supervision cases were commenced. Of these, 13 cases (16.5 %) incorporated electronic monitoring alongside supervision. These 13 cases involved 11 unique individuals (16.2 % of the 68 people who started supervised bail). At present there is no local information on the number of individuals who following assessment were placed under electronic monitoring with no social work supervision. In these instances, there is little involvement between partners, with conditions being monitored by G4S. This lack of available local information makes it difficult for partners to consider its contribution to this particular aim locally. This conversion rate from assessments to final bail decisions will be subject to court decisions, client choice and or/capacity. We will continue to track these figures closely, ensuring that every client assessed as suitable for electronic monitoring has both the opportunity and support – from a range of sources - to pursue it where appropriate. Priority Action Five Ensure that those given community sentences are supervised and supported appropriately to protect the public, promote desistance from offending and enable rehabilitation by delivering high quality, consistently available, trauma-informed services and programmes
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PUBLIC Nationally determined outcome: More people access services to support desistance and successfully complete community sentences4 Local Evidence • Availability of local programmes to support desistance from domestic abuse and sexual offending. • Availability of referral pathways to support the needs of local population on community disposals. • Mechanisms are in place to understand better the views of people with experience of community disposals • Mechanisms are in place to understand the views of the community justice workforce with regard to supporting the needs of people subject to community disposals to support improvement. 9. What activity has taken place that will support people serving sentences in the community to desist from offending, address their needs, and help them successfully complete their sentence? What impact has there been as a result? Effective collaboration among our justice partners is critical to helping people on community sentences desist from offending and rebuild their lives. By pooling expertise, sharing information and creating seamless, person-centred pathways that address varied and complex needs, we are netter placed to tackle the root causes of offending behaviour and help people achieve positive outcomes. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, Renfrewshire’s community payback order (CPO) caseload fell from 534 in 2019/20 to 344 in 2020/21, before rebounding to 395 (around 74% of the pre-pandemic level) in 2022/23 and 305 (57%) in 2023/24. Completion rates, which averaged roughly 65% between 2015/16 and 2019/20, peaked at 85% in 2020/21 and have since stabilised at 73% in both 2022/23 and 2023/24, slightly above the long-term trend. Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs), while far fewer in number, have shown greater variation. Pre-pandemic completion averaged 34% (2015/16–2019/20), increased to 67% in 2020/21, then dipped to 44% in 2021/22 and 35% in 2022/23. 2023/24 figures indicate a fall to 11%, marking the lowest rate in the series. For context, across Scotland 2023/24 saw the second lowest level of DTTOs imposed across Scotland in the last 10 years, with an overall completion rate of 51%. Given Renfrewshire’s rate sits below this, there is merit in more fully investigating the reasons for this 4 National Indicator: Percentage of: • community payback orders successfully completed • drug treatment and testing orders successfully completed
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PUBLIC In Renfrewshire, people serving community sentences can access a wide range of services. These are being regularly reviewed and shaped through the partnership to make sure people benefit from all available supports. More detail of these can be found here Previous engagement with justice staff and our third sector highlighted a drive to improve activity, awareness and coordination of justice-specific support services and community- based opportunities. Our partnership found that sometimes local groups and organisations do not see justice-experienced individuals as potential beneficiaries of their support, even though they are well placed to help tackle the root causes of offending such as poverty, isolation, poor health and unemployment. In response, our partnership designed a pilot Third-Sector Grant Scheme to unlock the potential of local charities, social enterprises and community groups in supporting people on community sentences. We invited local organisations to help us shape the direction of the scheme by asking them to submit their views and experiences, helping us identify where we had local gaps and opportunities and providing a robust evidence base. Reassigning some resource from the justice social work s.27 funding, 3rd sector organisations bid for small grants (up to £10k) for projects they would develop to support this. In February 2025 the justice partnership collectively reviewed and awarded grants to 7 projects, each to be delivered throughout 2025/26. The scope of agreed projects is broad and heavily involves some creative approaches. These includes digital mental health and trauma support, creative led approaches to supporting addiction recovery, volunteering and music skills and confidence building. Their Impact and own evaluations will be reviewed early in 2026. In the latter half of 2024 we delivered a participatory photography project with clients subject to unpaid work requirements. Funded by our Alcohol and Drugs Partnership, the project aimed to gather service users voices and experiences a bit differently and independently, to support improvement. Over six weeks participants were guided through creative photo exercises and digital storytelling techniques. Small, trauma-informed workshops were facilitated to share images and reflections on participants’ unpaid work experience. At the end of the project, participants noted that they had learned new skills, confidence and benefitted from peer support. Outputs have been used to support our communications and engagement activity, serving as powerful prompts to challenge ideas and opinions. It is also being used by the unpaid service work to inform its own improvement planning. Putting lived experience at the heart of this project has helped identify practical ideas for improving unpaid work delivery and strengthened our commitment to co-designing services that truly aid rehabilitation and desistance. We plan on building on this during 2025/26, using these outputs as a starting point for staff to reflect on and add to as a means of securing their ideas for improvement. Another example of how we adopted a novel approach to support clients subject to community orders was through a short-term peer-navigator project, which coupled person- centred support with a secondary output of independent feedback around client experience. The project provided clients with supplementary support out with that provided by statutory partners, creating wraparound assistance that focused on removing many of the barriers that prevent clients from participating fully in their communities. The
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PUBLIC project also provided clients with advocacy, amplifying their voices and building resilience so that they were better able to problem solve and engage confidently with other services. Priority Action Six Ensure restorative justice is available across Scotland to all those who wish to access it by promoting and supporting the appropriate and safe provision of available services No nationally determined outcome. Progress in delivering this priority action should be evidenced with reference to any relevant local activity. 10. What activity has taken place to make restorative justice available to people and support them to access it, and what impact has there been as a result? We recognise that there may be value in progressing this further, particularly where it supports the victims’ need. Although not actively pursuing local approaches currently we recognise and would actively support future developments where the evidence base of it supporting change and victim support and demand for this is clearer. It also requires to complement best value in terms of supporting the substantial resource investment that is required to deliver.
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PUBLIC Priority Action Seven Enhance individuals' access to health and social care and continuity of care following release from prison by improving the sharing of information and partnership-working between relevant partners Nationally determined outcome: More people have access to, and continuity of, health and social care following release from a prison sentence5 Local Evidence • Health and social care circumstances/care plans are reflected in collaborative plans for release. • Referral pathways and information sharing arrangements are in place to support timely access to health and social care supports upon release. 11. What activity has taken place to support people to access health and social care support after release from prison, and what impact had there been as a result? Over 2024/25 we have collaborated with our health and social care colleagues to improve individuals’ access to health and social care following release from prison. Our participation in health board wide-community justice planning meetings involving health improvement, prison healthcare and prison staff ensures we remain alert to emerging health and social care needs. We know that mental health, substance misuse and poor physical health are prevalent in the prison population, with the custodial environment often compounding such issues. Our pathways for people accessing support remain unchanged from previous years, whereby people who require opioid substitution therapy are referred into local alcohol and drug recovery services (ADRS). Processes are in place to ensure people who undergo planned liberations are provided with community appointments prior to liberation dates, supported by allocated and duty workers as required. People who are liberated following court appearances are contacted by court and other workers and encouraged to attend ADRS or the relevant third sector providers. We are still aware of instances where people who require ADRS support when leaving custody are not referred into local services. This negatively impacts their rehabilitation, often placing the person at greater risk of engaging in negative and damaging behaviours. As has been the case previously, we know there are issues around people leaving custody from remand due to sporadic information sharing. 5 National Indicator: Number of transfers in drug/alcohol treatments from: • custody to community
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PUBLIC Accessing mental health support can be particularly challenging as local pathways often depend on GP referral. This means that people leaving custody must be registered or seek registration with a GP when back in the community. Through our community justice grant scheme pilot, we have sought to create options for pro-social opportunities, including some mental health specific supports, providing accessible, threshold-free opportunities. These will be delivered throughout 2025/26, integrated as part of wider throughcare development work. We appreciate that individual choice plays a key part of engagement in such services, whilst in custody and in the community. Often environmental and circumstantial factors prevent individual’s from recognising the extent of their health and social care issues and their willingness to accept help. As part of the process to facilitate emergency early release of prisoners during 2024/25, our local services participated in pre-release planning meetings with prison staff to support the timely and effective release of people serving some short- term sentences. This enabled us to advocate for our local social care and support services, and ensure pathways were shared and promoted among relevant staff. This work has led to a more general local approach to pre-release throughcare planning in Renfrewshire which will be further developed throughout 2025/26.
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PUBLIC Priority Action Eight Ensure that the housing needs of individuals in prison are addressed consistently and at an early stage by fully implementing and embedding the Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone (SHORE) standards across all local authority areas Nationally determined outcome: More people have access to suitable accommodation following release from a prison sentence6 Local Evidence • SPS admissions and liberations information is shared with relevant partners to support suitable accommodation planning. • Proportion of admissions where housing advice was provided. • Percentage of people leaving prison who have been housed by the local authority and have maintained tenancy for more than 1 year 12. What activity has taken place to support people to access suitable accommodation following release from prison, and what impact had there been as a result? Our partnership recognises housing as a critical need for people leaving custody. Safe and dependable accommodation helps reduce the likelihood of offending by providing stability and routine, whilst providing a platform from which to access wider support services. Like many other authorities across Scotland, Renfrewshire faces significant housing pressures. Since 2023/24 the number of homeless applications has exceeded 1000 per year, with this increase due to a variety of factors such as the impact of the cost-of-living crises, pressure arising from migration and asylum resettlement, reduced turnover of local housing and the suspension of ‘local connection’ criteria’ in late 2022. The demand means that aspirations around justice experienced individuals exist within a wider policy context. In 2023/24, the number of homelessness applications in Renfrewshire where prison was recorded as the last address fell to 60 – the lowest in the nine-year series and a 43% reduction from the 2016/17 peak of 105. This continues a steady downward trend, with a 20% drop in the last three years. However, national data shows that the total number of people leaving prison across Scotland has also reduced over the longer term – from over 15,800 in 2009/10 to just under 9,000 in 2023/24, with a particularly sharp fall in 2020/21 linked to pandemic-related factors. Fewer departures from custody naturally reduce the pool of people at risk of making a homelessness application on liberation. This means that part of the reduction in 6 National Indicator: Number of: • homelessness applications where prison was the property the main applicant became homeless from
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PUBLIC Renfrewshire’s figures may reflect a smaller prison-leaver population, rather than service improvements alone. Over the course of 2024/25 we implemented an enhanced pathway to people in custody, offering face to face appointments to people in Low Moss prison in addition to phone-based support offered previously. This approach aims to encourage early relationship building and minimise the instances of people seeking last minute support or leaving custody with no accommodation in place. We continue to offer support to people who arrive into custody and need support and advice with existing tenancies. When notified by Scottish Prison Service, our housing staff work closely with people new to custody who require help with housing related benefits to prevent or mitigate the accrual of arrears. For people who are sentenced, we take time to understand their circumstances and longer-term intentions. We also work closely with private rented tenants who understand the impact of their custodial period on their housing arrangements, supporting them with the necessary documentation if they need to declare their change in circumstances. Housing support services in Renfrewshire play a vital role in promoting stability and reducing risk for individuals with complex needs, including those who have experienced the justice system. These services offer tailored, person-centred support that addresses underlying issues such as mental health, substance use, trauma, and social isolation. By providing practical assistance with tenancy sustainment, budgeting, access to health and social care, and emotional support, individuals are aided to build their resilience and reintegrate into the community. For justice-experienced individuals, this support is especially critical in the transition from custody, where the risk of homelessness and reoffending is particularly acute. We know we have further scope to improve interfaces between Scottish Prison Service, our housing and homelessness services, justice social work and third sector providers. Local efforts to coordinate a response around emergency early release has promoted aspirations to maintain a similar model of multi-agency pre-release planning for people returning to Renfrewshire. This will be developed across 2024/25, complementing the work delivered by the new nationally commissioned throughcare providers. Priority Action Nine Enhance individual's life skills and readiness for employment by ensuring increased access to employability support through effective education, learning, training, career services and relevant benefit services Nationally determined outcome:
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PUBLIC More people with convictions access support to enhance their readiness for employment7 Local Evidence • Effective links between the Local Employability Partnership (LEP) and Community Justice Partnership supports: i. local employment, education and training providers to respond to the needs of those with convictions ii. local employment, education and training providers are confident and competent in providing effective conviction disclosure support iii. local employers to develop more inclusive recruitment processes and employ people with convictions. • Referral pathways are in place to connect people to appropriate services and support: i. at commencement of, during and at the end of a CPO ii. following release from custody. 13. What activity has taken place to support people to access employability support, and what impact had there been as a result? During 2024/25, Renfrewshire’s Local Employability Partnership (LEP) Justice Sub-Group worked to strengthen pathways into employment for people with convictions, recognising employability as a key factor in reducing reoffending and supporting reintegration. The group is chaired by our Community Justice Lead Officer to maximise alignment between employment and community justice outcomes. The Justice Sub- Group brings together statutory partners, third sector organisations and education providers to coordinate employability support and look for improvement opportunities. Identifying and approaching joint issues in an integrated way has supported service developments across the partnership. Between April 2024 and March 2025, 287 people with convictions accessed LEP provision. The majority were male (256), with the largest age group being 25–40 years (122 individuals). followed by those aged 18–24 and 41–50. A substantial number (232) were unemployed, and 42 had never worked. Our core employability service – Invest - have skilled and specialist staff who specifically work with this population. Their involvement with people spans from early measures such as diversion from prosecution and bail supervision, people who have been sentenced and serving community orders, people who are nearing liberation from custody (including face to face outreach) and those who live with historic convictions. 7 National Indicator: Percentage of: • those in employability services with convictions
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PUBLIC The Justice Sub-Group takes a lead role in outlining the commissioning requirements for justice-specific employability provision in Renfrewshire. This involves extensive work with partners and clients to gauge greatest areas of need. Over 2024/25 we commissioned Apex to deliver specialist support to people with sexual convictions to bring them closer to employment, acknowledging the complex and resource-heavy support often required for this group. At the same time, Apex were tasked with establishing relationships with local employers and training providers to increase their receptiveness to people with sexual convictions, promoting awareness of disclosure processes and good practice approaches to inclusive recruitment. In total, 19 people were moved closer to employment through this project. Over the year The Lennox Partnership and West College Scotland were commissioned to deliver pre-employment support to individuals who did not identify as ready to participant in core provision. This enabling work focused on improving participant’s resilience and confidence whilst instilling employability aspirations. In total, 17 participants successfully completed these projects. While these projects were underway, a significant amount of work took place over 2024/25 to identify commissioning priorities for 2025/26. These priorities are designed to address persistent barriers to employment for people with convictions and to strengthen the role of employability in reducing reoffending. Our detailed needs assessment revealed an ongoing requirement to engage with local employers and increase awareness of the potential of the justice experienced workforce. Stigma and misunderstanding around criminal convictions remain significant barriers to employment. Many employers lack awareness of disclosure legislation and how to apply it fairly. Our work also identified the need for targeted support for women in the justice system, following withdrawal of the Shine provision previously administered through national arrangements. We considered there to be a gap in tailored employability support (and lack of representation by women in our core offer) pointing to benefit in women-specific pre-employability resilience and confidence building and to facilitate a warm handover to core Invest services. Both areas of work will progress over the course of 2025/26. As reported in previous years, a major strength of our local employability provision is the efficiency of our referral pathways. Justice social work staff report having good knowledge of the core and commissioned employability support available to clients and trust in outcomes. Our staff make recommendations for employability provision at court report stage and make onward referrals into Invest for people who are sentenced (or subject to diversion). Invest coordinate the client’s support, utilising core and/or commissioned services where appropriate. Sideway referrals are made to our LEP’s other priority population subgroups, such as people who require mental health support, people who have disabilities, and young families, all of whom receive targeted help
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PUBLIC alongside employability supports. Monitoring takes place though employability measures and in accordance with the client’s case management. Priority Action Ten Enhance community integration and support by increasing and promoting greater use of voluntary throughcare and third sector services Nationally determined outcome: More people access voluntary throughcare following a short term prison sentence8 Local Evidence • Mechanisms are in place for partners to support people serving short term sentences. • Proportion of people liberated from short term custody: i. made aware of support ii. accepting support offer iii. with a co-ordinated pre-release plan in place. • Mechanisms are in place to understand the views of people accessing voluntary throughcare to support improvement. • Mechanisms are in place to understand the views of community justice partners in delivering voluntary throughcare to support the needs of people leaving short term custody. 14. What activity has taken place to support people to access voluntary throughcare? What impact had there been as a result? Throughout 2023/24 Renfrewshire’s justice social work staff have continued to offer voluntary throughcare to eligible people liberated from custody, in accordance with guidance. Improvement work was paused given that new national throughcare provision was due to be implemented in April 2025, and it was prudent to wait until these arrangements were better understood so that responsibilities for improving outcomes for people serving short-term sentences could be better delineated. Analysis of available data has shown a general decrease in the number of voluntary throughcare cases commenced in Renfrewshire since 2015/16, although most recent data does show evidence of recovery (from 98 in 2022/23 to 160 in 2023/24). More extensive analysis is required to account for this number as a proportion of people leaving custody over this time, and the impact of other factors such as early measures like diversion from prosecution. 8 National Indicator: Number of: • voluntary throughcare cases commenced
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PUBLIC Despite a direct offer to all of voluntary support, Justice staff responsible for voluntary throughcare acknowledge a relatively low uptake of the offer. Often other services such as housing and employability receive more interest from people leaving short-term sentences, with these likely to be view as more critical enablers of rehabilitation and reintegration. Although information sharing between services takes place, it does not happen in a coordinated manner, as it is not always possible to have oversight of the provision an individual is in receipt of. The advantages of this more rounded approach were highlighted during periods of emergency early release, where pre-release meetings were organised to ensure people leaving custody on this basis had identified supports available. We know we need to critically review our voluntary throughcare offer and see it through the eyes of our clients. We need to know if our offer comes at the right time, through the right means, and promotes the right things. We are acutely aware we have huge potential to better involve and/or signpost our local third sector organisations who can be viewed as more accessible and approachable source of help.
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PUBLIC Priority Action Eleven Deliver improved community justice outcomes by ensuring that effective leadership and governance arrangements are in place and working well, collaborating with partners and planning strategically No nationally determined outcome. Progress in delivering this priority action should be evidenced with reference to any relevant local activity. Local evidence: • Mechanisms are in place to support engagement in each local authority, specifically: o a community justice outcomes improvement plan (CJOIP) o a participation statement o an annual report on progress towards nationally and locally determined outcomes. • Mechanisms are in place to support an effective interface between national partner organisations and their local representatives within Community Justice Partnerships. • Evidence of mechanisms to engage non-statutory partners in strategic planning • Use of the Care Inspectorate 'self-evaluation guide to support quality improvement for community justice in Scotland', with focus on Leadership and Direction 15. How has your partnership worked to develop local leadership and enhance strategic planning and collaboration? What impact had there been as a result? Our partnership has built on the strategic reset initiated in 2023/24 and strengthened local leadership and strategic planning throughout 2024/25. Our Renfrewshire Community Justice Strategic Group, with its approved terms of reference, has provided a clear framework for collaborative leadership, embedding the Care Inspectorate’s quality indicators for ‘Leadership and Direction’ at the heart of its approach. The group is supported by operational sub-groups tasked with gathering population insights and identifying improvement opportunities, ensuring that strategic decisions are informed by lived experience and service impact. The partnership remains committed to The Promise, with strategic alignment driven by joint leadership between the Community Justice Strategic Group and Renfrewshire’s Promise Strategic Oversight Group. This collaboration supports a coordinated approach to mitigating the impact of parental imprisonment and enhancing support for justice affected families. In 2024/25, the partnership has moved from planning to delivery, using insights from the Community Justice Improvement Tool and Performance Framework to target areas for change. This includes improving employability outcomes for people with convictions, enhancing service visibility, and reducing system friction through better handovers and coordination. Engagement with non-statutory partners has deepened, with co-location trials
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PUBLIC and shared service mapping helping to build trust and improve access. These developments reflect a maturing partnership that is increasingly outcome-focused, inclusive, and aligned with both national expectations and local community planning priorities We have worked hard to deepen our integration with other strategic partnerships, including the Local Employability Partnership and the Alcohol and Drug Partnership. This collaboration has enabled shared contributions to needs assessments and priority setting, ensuring that justice-experienced individuals are considered within broader service planning. By aligning justice improvement activity with employability and health priorities, the partnership has maximised resource use and reduced duplication, while enhancing the visibility of justice messaging across sectors. This cross-cutting approach allows more stakeholders to view the justice population through different lenses—such as recovery, skills development, and community wellbeing—strengthening the case for inclusive, trauma-informed support. It also reinforces the Council’s Best Value principles by promoting joined up working and ensuring that justice outcomes are embedded within Renfrewshire’s wider strategic landscape Our Partnership took a significant step toward strengthening transparency and accountability by integrating community justice performance reporting into Renfrewshire Council’s corporate reporting system. This alignment ensures that justice outcomes are monitored alongside wider strategic priorities, enabling clearer oversight and more consistent scrutiny. The move reflects the Council’s commitment to Best Value, as highlighted in the 2023/24 Annual Audit Report, which commends the Council’s governance arrangements and emphasis on robust performance management. By embedding justice metrics into corporate systems, the partnership has improved visibility of progress, supported evidence-based decision-making, and reinforced the strategic importance of community justice within Renfrewshire’s broader public service landscape. Throughout the year our Partnership has actively engaged with Local Partnerships to promote justice-related projects and raise awareness of community justice priorities. These Local Partnerships provide a vital platform for residents, elected members, and community stakeholders to shape local decision-making and influence service delivery. This work has helped embed community justice within broader local planning structures, ensuring that justice outcomes are shaped by and accountable to the communities they serve. Our work to develop our Community Justice Grant Scheme to support local organisations deliver justice-related activity has strengthened engagement with the third sector and community groups, enabling grassroots contributions to justice outcomes. The scheme provides targeted funding to support projects that align with Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan, including those focused on rehabilitation, reintegration, and reducing reoffending. By investing in community-led solutions, the partnership has expanded its reach, built local capacity, and created new opportunities for
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PUBLIC collaboration. The grant scheme also supports strategic alignment by encouraging funded organisations to contribute to shared priorities and evaluate impact. Priority Action Twelve Enhance partnership planning and implementation by ensuring the voices of victims of crime, survivors, those with lived experience and their families are effectively incorporated and embedded No nationally determined outcome. Progress in delivering this priority action should be evidenced with reference to any relevant local activity. 16. How has your partnership worked to understand and incorporate the voices of victims of crime, survivors, those with lived experience and their families into partnership planning and implementation? What impact has there been as a result? Our Partnership has enhanced planning and implementation by embedding the voices of those with lived experience through the Community Payback Order (CPO) Photo Project. Through a participatory photography approach, individuals on CPOs were given a creative and structured platform to share their perspectives on the justice system, their experiences of unpaid work, and ideas for improvement. The project created safe, trauma-informed spaces that encouraged open dialogue and trust, enabling participants to express their views visually and verbally. Insights gathered—such as the importance of respect, the desire for meaningful work, and the impact of public perceptions—have prompted us to take further action. We now plan to build on this by engaging staff to capture their feedback and experiences, ensuring a more holistic understanding of the system. The findings have also made us reflect on how we can improve the quality and visibility of the work undertaken, so participants see the positive impact on communities rather than viewing CPO as a process without outcomes. Additionally, the project highlighted the need to review our facilities and the types of work offered, to ensure they are safe, purposeful, and contribute real benefits to the community. By amplifying lived experience and using these insights to drive change, the project has laid the foundation for continuous improvement in community justice practice Over the course of the year, we also commissioned and delivered a third sector initiative Community Navigator Pilot with Braveheart Industries. This creatively provided a dual purpose of providing practical, person-centred support to justice service users and generated independent evidence on how a service user experiences support when in the justice system in Renfrewshire. The project adopted a service user-led model, where “navigators” from a third sector organisations worked alongside individuals to co-produce support plans tailored to their personal identified needs. These covered areas such as practical help with tasks, signposting /confidence building, general mental health support,
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PUBLIC housing, addiction recovery, welfare, and employability. This approach ensured that participants were not passive recipients but active partners in shaping their own recovery journey. The pilot embedded a reflective evaluation process to capture authentic user feedback. Navigators gathered insights through ongoing conversations and structured exit interviews, exploring what worked well, what barriers remained, and what improvements were needed. This feedback informed real-time adjustments to support delivery and provided a robust evidence base for system-level recommendations, such as the need for transitional support after statutory supervision, improved access to mental health and addiction services, and more locality-based provision. By combining direct support with independent assurance, the pilot delivered both immediate benefits for individuals and strategic learning for the wider justice system, ensuring that lived experience is central to service design, quality assurance, and continuous improvement. Our commitment to The Promise has reinforced our focus on embedding the voices of children, young people, and families affected by justice involvement into the design and improvement of services. This approach is directly shaped by The Promise’s emphasis on listening to those with lived experience. Priority Action Thirteen Support integration and reduce stigma by ensuring the community and workforce have an improved understanding of and confidence in community justice Nationally determined outcome: More people across the workforce and in the community understand, and have confidence in, community justice9 Local Evidence • Community justice partner contribution to joint activity across policy areas to tackle stigma. 17. What partnership-driven activity has taken place to improve understanding of and confidence in community justice across the workforce and local community? Our partnership has progressed activity in accordance with our Engagement and Communications Plan, helping our workforce and our community understand and have confidence in community justice. This work aims to address the issue of stigma and make it 9 National Indicator: Percentage of people who agree that: • people should help their community as part of a community sentence rather than spend a few months in prison for a minor offence
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PUBLIC easier for individuals subject to community justice interventions to access and benefit from available supports. We have worked hard to integrate community justice in broader local strategies. Advocating for the needs or Renfrewshire’s justice population and sharing relevant insight has helped other thematic areas of work – such as health, housing and employability – has helped partners and decision makers view our justice population as a core part of their community rather than an isolated population. Our Community Justice Grant Scheme pilot launched over the course of 2024/25 has meaningfully advanced our integration objective by making the justice-experienced population more visible, familiar and accessible to local third sector organisations. Grant awards have supported local organisations to broaden or adapt their services (examples include trauma-informed mentoring, personal and social development and creative opportunities to support reintegration and alcohol and drug recovery – help shift the narrative away from conviction labels and instead on the complex needs, strengths and aspirations of participants. Projects are due to conclude at the end of 2025/26, at which point funded organisations will showcase back participant feedback, service data and lessons learned to a wider audience of third sector partners and justice stakeholders. This will serve as a powerful platform to highlight shifts in perception or knowledge based on each organisations’ experience, leading to a network of local organisational champions who can help challenge misconception and stigma. Another example of where our partnership has made progress against this outcome has been the publication of the staff news story “Championing fairness nurtures employability,” which showcased our Invest employability team’s work with people subject to justice interventions. By centring on staff’s personal journeys, the piece moved beyond promotion of community justice as a standalone concept and instead and used narrative to promote relatable needs and challenges of people who are justice experienced. This article was promoted via our intranet and monthly email bulletin and achieved strong engagement while generating staff comments and interest around the work of the team. In March 2024, we worked with Community Justice Scotland and our partners at Blue Triangle Housing Association to record and film an interview with one of their justice experienced residents. This project was developed to directly address and challenge stigma associated with justice. The resulting conversations and insights explored the complex circumstances and decisions that can lead to individuals to engage in offending behaviour, and how these can often be impacted by inequity of opportunity. The outputs will be shared with justice partners during 2025/26 to help challenge misconceptions around our justice population and promote the benefits of community-based rehabilitation where it’s safe to do so. Our employability-focused work with Apex provides a further example of how our partnership as sought to challenge stigma through our approach to employer engagement. Throughout 2024/25 and continuing into 2025/26, Apex are commissioned to build relationships with local and national employers to promote conviction-friendly recruitment
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PUBLIC practices and create opportunities such as work placements, job trials and sector-specific training. Examples of work being undertaken and successful outcomes will form the basis of wider communications activity among local employers to raise awareness and support a shift in attitudes among Renfrewshire’s workforce and community. 18. Looking ahead for your local area. Please tell us what the next steps are for your partnership. Our partnership will continue with improvement planning across the priority areas identified by our strategic group. This direction is important as it is not possible to deliver equal progress against all community justice improvement outcomes given the breadth of coverage. We will continue to deliver a robust approach to improvement, taking time to understand our complex systems and engage with stakeholders to understand where we might make positive and impactful changes for our justice experienced population. We will work with organisations funded through our grant scheme pilot to promote their approaches and celebrate their impact among our wider third sector. This will help more organisations understand our local justice-experienced population and inspire others to reflect on how their services might adapt or respond to the multi-layered needs of people we work with. Our partnership is committed to further integrating client voice across our work, recognising that lived experience is essential to shaping effective, compassionate, and responsive justice services. We aspire to create more inclusive opportunities for individuals with justice experience to actively contribute to decision-making, service design, and evaluation. By embedding client perspectives into our planning and delivery, building on work already underway though our justice services, we aim to be more sensitive to the real-world impacts of our interventions. This approach reflects our belief that meaningful engagement leads to better outcomes for individuals, families, and communities. We will continue to work with Renfrewshire’s Promise team and local stakeholders to ensure justice improvement activity contributes meaningfully to the national ambition, particularly in supporting children and families impacted by justice involvement. We are conscious that we are dependent on the input form partners, and that we are fortunate to have secured the commitment from key influencer and decision makers at a strategic level. However, we are mindful that resource pressures and stemming from policy decisions, legislative requirements, and the resulting impact of service demand can have a bearing on the amount of discretionary resource that exists to support further change and improvement.