Democracy Spraffa

CJR CJOIP Cover Report

Renfrewshire Council · 16 May 2023
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 16 May 2023 and its agenda

Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.

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___________________________________________________________________
To: Communities and Housing Policy Board 
On:  16 May 2023
___________________________________________________________________
Report by: Director of Children’s Services
___________________________________________________________________
Heading: Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan
___________________________________________________________________
1. Summary 
1.1 This report details the work undertaken by Community Justice Renfrewshire to
produce a Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan for the period 2023-
2026, in accordance with statutory requirements.
1.2 The report describes how the plan will shape Community Justice Renfrewshire’s
activity over the coming years and guide associated reporting.  
 
___________________________________________________________
2. Recommendations 
2.1  It is recommended that the Communities and Housing Policy Board
2.1.1 approve Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Outcome Improvement
Plan 2023-2026
2.1.2 note that the Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Outcome
Improvement Plan will be shared with Community Justice Scotland in
the coming months.
________________________________________________________

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3. Background
3.1 The Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 provides the legislative framework
for the current model of community justice.  The Act places a duty on local
authorities and their statutory partners to produce community justice outcome
improvement plans for their local authority area.   
3.2 The revised National Strategy for Community Justice was published in June
2022.  The Strategy provides a clear roadmap for future improvement work in
Scotland and directs statutory partners at an authority level – known as
community justice (CJ) partners - to national areas of focus.  
3.3 CJ partners are required to publish a Community Justice Outcomes
Improvement Plan (CJOIP) setting out which nationally determined outcomes
are a priority and identify planned actions required to achieve or maintain
nationally determined outcomes.   
3.4 CJ partners have a collective responsibility to ensure community justice
outcomes are achieved through effective collaboration and reporting.  
4. Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan
4.1 Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan 2023-2026 has
been prepared in response to the publication of the revised National Strategy for
Community Justice and associated Community Justice Performance Framework
(published in April 2023).  The plan has been developed by Community Justice
Renfrewshire (CJR) composed of senior leaders from public and third sector
agencies who provide services and support to individuals involved in the justice
system.
4.2 The plan focuses on the added value that comes from working together rather
than on the contribution of individual agencies.  It does not seek to replicate the
actions set out in the strategic and service plans of partners, but to present new
areas of focus that will contribute to national justice outcomes. 
4.3 The plan is framed around national aims that contribute to shifting the balance
between the use of custody and justice in the community.  These are:
 Optimise the use of diversion and intervention at the earliest opportunity
 Ensure that robust and high-quality community interventions and public
protection arrangements are consistently available across Scotland
 Ensure that services are accessible and available to address the needs of
individuals accused or convicted of an offence
 Strengthen the leadership, engagement and partnership working of local
and national community justice partners

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4.4  Community Justice Renfrewshire has identified areas of focus to support these
aims over the next three years, drawing on insight of local drivers and lessons
learned.  These are:
 Improve our understanding around individuals who received direct measures
as an alternative to prosecution, identifying opportunities for justice partners
and other stakeholders to work more effectively to improve outcomes and
reduce re-offending
 Look at opportunities to enhance the rehabilitative support on offer to
offenders and improve access through improved referral pathways
 Improve information sharing between community justice stakeholders to
support improved transitions
 Improve public understanding and confidence in community justice through
strategic communications activity
The plan outlines the broad areas of collaborative work CJR believes will have
the greatest impact on national community justice outcomes.  
4.5 A detailed action plan and associated measures of success will be developed
over the remainder of 2023.  This will enable CJR to review the recently
published Community Justice Performance Framework and conduct a
comprehensive strategic strength and needs assessment as data is released
from Community Justice Scotland over the course of the year.
4.6 A range of local measures will be identified to supplement national indicators.  
Both local and national indicators will be monitored at CJR meetings and will
form the basis of annual reports.
5. Next Steps 
5.1 Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan will be shared
with Community Justice Scotland in accordance with statutory requirements. 
The plan will be made publicly available, and work will progress with partners to
conduct a strategic needs and strengths assessment.
5.2 The governance around CJR will be enhanced to ensure appropriate strategic
and operational structures to support decision making, monitoring and reporting.
___________________________________________________________________
Implications of the Report
1. Financial - None
2. HR & Organisational Development – None.
3. Community/Council Planning – the report details a range of activities which
reflect local council and community planning themes.

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4. Legal - None.
5. Property/Assets – None
6. Information Technology - None
7. Equality & Human Rights - 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 – Risks related to the delivery and management of services are regularly
monitored and included in Renfrewshire Council’s Corporate and Strategic
Risk Registers. 
11.  Privacy Impact – None
12. Cosla Policy Position – None.
13. Climate change – None 
___________________________________________________________________ 
Author:        Jamie Gardyne, Community Justice Lead Officer

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Community Justice Renfrewshire
Outcome Improvement Plan 2023 to 2026 
Contents
 
1.  What is Community Justice? ................................................................................................... 2 
2.  Who are Community Justice Renfrewshire? ......................................................................... 2 
3.  Why have a community justice approach? ............................................................................ 3 
4.  Community Justice Scotland .................................................................................................. 4 
5.  The Vision for Community Justice in Scotland ..................................................................... 5 
6.  The National Strategy for Community Justice and the Community Justice
Performance Framework ................................................................................................................ 5 
7.  About Renfrewshire ................................................................................................................. 6 
8.  Building on Success .................................................................................................................. 7 
9.  Drivers ........................................................................................................................................ 8 
10.  Working in Partnership ...................................................................................................... 10 
11.  Key Priorities Over the Next 12 Months ........................................................................... 10 
12.  How will we know it is working? ...................................................................................... 11 
13.  Appendix 1: Table of National Outcomes and Associated Indicators .......................... 13

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1. What is Community Justice? 
Community justice is where people who have broken the law are held to
account and supported to reconnect and contribute to their communities. 
It’s about ensuring those whose lives have been impacted by the justice system receive
the right support, at the right time, through the best possible means.   For those who work
in the justice system, it’s about working smarter to understand how we can encourage
rehabilitation, reduce reoffending, and see fewer people falling victim to crime. 
Where it is safe to do so, people who commit certain crimes receive community-based
sentences. This can include treatment for underlying issues such as drug or alcohol
addiction, unpaid work, fines and compensation, or restrictions of liberty such as
electronic monitoring and curfews.
A community justice approach is also relevant to those leaving custodial sentences and
moving back into our communities.  It shapes our thinking around how me manage risk
whilst providing support and opportunities to ease reintegration and minimise the
likelihood of returning to custody and causing further harm to communities.
Evidence shows community justice can help people stop breaking the law again, leading
to fewer victims and safer communities. 
2. Who are Community Justice Renfrewshire? 
Community Justice Renfrewshire (CJR) is the forum where we plan, design, monitor and
report on community justice activity.  CRJ is established within Renfrewshire’s
Community Planning arrangements, meaning our work feeds into wider activity to
improve outcomes for local people.  
CJR’s broad membership represents statutory and third sectors.  Members include:
 Renfrewshire Council 
 Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership
 Police Scotland
 Scottish Fire and Rescue
 Scottish Courts and Tribunals
 Scottish Prison Service
 Skills Development Scotland
 Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service
 Engage Renfrewshire (third sector interface)
 Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector Forum

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 Victim Support 
 The Wise Group
 Apex Scotland
 Turning Point Scotland
 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP)
 OneRen
 Action for Children
 Department for Work and Pensions
Delivering community justice for Renfrewshire depends on effective partnership working. 
CJR provides the space and time to think about what we do as single agencies and how we
can add value to it by sharing ideas, information, and resources that help us target
services to those that need it most.
This work is supported by Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Lead Officer.  It is their job to
frame the strategic thinking of statutory and non-statutory partners and support the
structures, processes and deliverables that contribute to nationally determined
community justice outcomes.
CJR reports to the Community Planning Partnership Executive Committee and the
Communities and Housing Policy Board for oversight and governance by elected
members.  A range of partners are involved in multi-agency processes including MAPPA
(Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements), MARAC (Multi-agency Risk Assessment
Conferences) and MATAC (Multi-agency Tasking and Co-ordination) all of which create
multi-agency risk management plans.
3. Why have a community justice approach? 
Effective community justice has the potential to benefit whole communities.  It
encourages us to look at the experience and circumstances of those who commit crime to
understand the drivers, decisions and behaviour that result in the offence.  For some, this
lets us identify alternatives to custody that focus on rehabilitation and re-integration,
something that evidence suggests can be more effective in reducing offending.
If we’re successful in this, we’ll see fewer people becoming victims of crime too.  This can
help improve our communities’ perception of how safe and secure they feel and reduce
the impact on them.  A strong community justice approach depends on effective
engagement, creating opportunities to have conversations with our communities –
including those who commit and fall victim to crime – to understand their thoughts,
feelings and opinions on what justice should look and feel like in Renfrewshire.

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This insight also helps us identify the work we need to do to educate and inform what
community justice is and the benefits it can bring.  Community justice is about providing
preventative activities to address some of the issues around health and wellbeing,
employment, accommodation, and substance misuse that we know are linked to
offending behaviour.  For those who have committed an offence, it’s about making all the
necessary support available to address these needs when this is required.  For victims of
crime and the wider community, it’s important we provide assurance that prison will
remain appropriate for people who commit serious offences and pose a risk of serious
harm, whilst creating an understanding that for others rehabilitative approaches are
proven to work and can offer the best outcomes for individuals and future generations.  
A community justice approach requires lots of different groups and organisations to work
together.  This means we can draw on the skills, knowledge, and expertise of individuals
across different sectors who work across all parts of the justice journey, from point of
arrest through to integration into the community. Having a broad, multi-disciplinary
group responsible for planning how we deliver community justice in Renfrewshire means
we can deploy the right people to the right place at the right time.  We can take a strategic
approach to make best use of the resources we have to deliver on national priorities and
respond to local needs. 
Public protection will always be our top priority, and with effective risk management
systems in place, we will ensure those who have committed offences can be managed
safely and effectively into the community where it’s appropriate, or transition from
custody to community-bases service when required and/or agreed.
4. Community Justice Scotland 
Community Justice Scotland (CJS) is the national body for community justice in Scotland. 
CJS has a statutory requirement to promote the National Strategy and monitor the
performance of local authorities across national and local community justice outcomes.  
CJS provides advice, guidance and assistance to community justice partnerships.  They
work collaboratively to help drive change by identifying improvements and challenges in
the community justice system.  
Community Justice Renfrewshire has a strong relationship with CJS.  We will build on this
over the life of this plan to ensure our approach delivers the best possible outcomes for
our communities.

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5. The Vision for Community Justice in Scotland
The Vision for Justice in Scotland was published in January 2022.  The vision is aligned
with the Scottish Government's National Performance Framework (NPF) and sets out a
series of aims that will help ensure Scotland us a just, safe, and resilient place to live.
The vision takes a rights-based approach to ensure those who experience the justice
system do so fairly, without discrimination and barriers.  It emphasises the drive towards
evidence-based services that are monitored, evaluated, and reviewed to ensure the are
making a positive impact.
The vision is driven by the principles of person-centred, trauma-informed practice and
partnership collaboration.  This means that justice services should seek out, listen, and
understand a person’s needs and views and make sure this influences decision making
and the types of services delivered.  It also means that those who work with people
involved in the justice system ensure services are joined up to maximise collective impact,
particularly around the areas of prevention and early intervention.  Where this is
successful, individuals involved in the justice system will feel respected, have a lower risk
of further harm, and be better placed on their journey to recovery.  
6. The National Strategy for Community Justice and the Community Justice
Performance Framework
The National Strategy for Community Justice was published in June 2022.  It draws on the
evidence and strategic direction set out in the Vision for Justice in Scotland and provides
community justice partners a roadmap for future improvement work.  Specifically,
strategy supports and drives forward action in relation to the outcomes set out under the
aim to 'support rehabilitation, use custody only where there is no alternative and work to
reduce reoffending and revictimisation'.
The strategy identifies 4 national aims which the Scottish Government and community
justice partners should seek to deliver over the duration of the strategy.  The aims are:
1. Optimise the use of diversion and intervention at the earliest opportunity
2. Ensure that robust and high-quality community interventions and public
protection arrangements are consistently available across Scotland
3. Ensure that services are accessible and available to address the needs of
individuals accused or convicted of an offence
4. Strengthen the leadership, engagement, and partnership working of local and
national community justice partners
The priorities set out in the National Strategy are reflected in the national Community
Justice Performance Framework (CJPF).  CJR and other national partnerships use the

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strategy and the CJPF to guide the activity that contributes to national outcomes.  These
inputs form the structure of our Outcome Improvement Plan.
CJR will use the outcomes and associated indicators set out in the CJPF to report annually
on our progress.  This will feed through to CJS who will monitor progress at a national
level.  A table showing the priority actions and national outcomes that are aligned to the
four national aims can be found in Appendix 1.   
7. About Renfrewshire
In 2022 Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership (CPP) refreshed Renfrewshire’s
Community Plan.  CPP partners worked together to share and review data and insight –
with a focus on community voice – to identify where we need to focus our collective local
efforts.
The plan sets a vision that Renfrewshire is thriving, with our residents able to share in our
plans for inclusive growth.  We know a quite a lot of our local population are in low-paid
work or under-employed, and this can present challenges in securing an acceptable
standard of living.  Going forward, our local population will need the skills and knowledge
to respond to the changing needs of the economy and access jobs that will likely be
important in the future.  For those involved in the justice system, we know this might be
particularly challenging as there may be more barriers that prevent this group from
accessing fair work opportunities.
National Strategy for 
Community Justice
•sets national direction
•provides roadmap for future improvement work
• identifies 4 national aims and 13 priority actions
Community Justice 
Performance Framework
•Reframes priority actions in the strategy as 9 nationally determined outcomes, that is, the change we 
want to make
•identifies 10 national indicators to measure performance in acheiving the 9 nationally determined 
outcomes
Renfrewshire's  
Community Justice 
Outcome Improvement 
Plan
•Prioritises the nationally determined outcomes and identifies what we're going to do to contribute
•Reports on the 10 national indicators as a measure of performance
•Identifies locally determined outcomes and indicators (improvements and measurements that are 
specific to Renfrewshre, and how we're going to achieve these)
Image 1: Strategic context

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For our communities to thrive, we also need them to be well, both physically and
mentally.  We know health inequalities mean some groups experience poorer health than
others.  Isolation and loneliness are key issues for a significant proportion of our
population, with many feeling disconnected from services, people, and the place they live. 
We also know that often a whole-family approach is required to address challenges at an
early stage to prevent needs becoming more complex.  For the people we work with
through CJR, we will make sure we have sight of their physical and mental health and
where relevant ensure this plays an important part of their recovery and reintegration.  We
will also be mindful of the impact of the justice journey to people around the individual –
namely their families – to provide support to those who face disruption, uncertainty and
potential vulnerability that can have a negative impact on health and wellbeing. 
We know that deprivation in an issue for some of our communities. We have a long-term
commitment to creating a Renfrewshire that is fair by reducing the inequalities that limit
life chances.  The ongoing cost of living crisis has bolstered our efforts to mitigate poverty
and help our communities achieve financial security.  We also know we have a particular
issue with alcohol and drugs, with our alcohol-specific death rate in our most deprived
communities more than 4 times that of our least deprived communities, and our drug-
related deaths increasing by 163% since 2010.  Involvement in the justice system can add
an extra layer of complexity to individual’s relationship with alcohol, drugs, and other
factors that may give rise to inequalities.  
Something that is central to the work of CJR is our efforts to keep Renfrewshire safe by
reducing harm and protecting vulnerable people.  We are encouraged by the fact that the
number of recorded crimes has fallen, and our community planning partners will maintain
efforts to ensure this continues.  We are however aware that the number of recorded
domestic abuse incidents continues to increase across Scotland.  This continues to be a
main driver of child concern referrals too, being the majority reason cited by Police
Scotland.  Through CJR, we will make sure we complement the work being undertaken to
protect people from harm.  We will focus on the value we can add by helping individuals at
the point they encounter the justice system, drawing on available learning to take a
trauma-informed approach to our work. 
8. Building on Success
Our last Community Justice Outcomes Improvement Plan 2018-2021 set a strong vision
for local improvement activity.  We achieved a great deal over this period, not least our
coordinated partner response to addressing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Our
collaborative, operational focus helped us deliver essential support to our clients at a time
when they needed it most.
Many of the driver identified in our last plan are still relevant today, though we understand
the needs of some members of our community have grown more complex.  We are

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mindful that the new National Strategy for Community Justice provides a refreshed view
on what our focus needs to be on the coming years, making sure our efforts and those of
our colleagues in other areas feed through to support national change.  At a local level,
our partnership also looks and feels very different to what it did just a few years ago, with
people, agencies and structures having gone through big changes.  All these factors mean
CJR has a great opportunity to review and adapt what we deliver to make sure our efforts
are aligned to our client groups’ needs.  We need to be clear on what works, what doesn’t,
and what can be improved to make sure our resources have the biggest impact.
We’ve made early progress in enhancing our governance arrangements, with the new
Lead Officer hosted within Renfrewshire Council’s Chief Executive Service.  This provides a
strategic platform to enhance links between justice social work, council services and the
wider Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership.  We’ve also enhanced our
relationships with partner members – particularly the third sector – who we worked with
closely during the pandemic to address arising priorities around mental health and
wellbeing.  We embrace change and have successfully re-shaped processes and
information between justice social work and Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership
to help improve the experience for our clients.  This has resulted in new pathways for
those deemed high risk, helping them secure prompt assessments and appropriate
interventions.  
We learned a lot from the way we worked with partners, clients and the wider community
during the pandemic.  Some of the measures put in place such as online meetings, phone
contact and innovative homeworking as part of unpaid work activity demonstrated our
ability to adapt to challenging circumstances.  A good example of this was our local
employability support and other activity interventions being offered remotely to clients
on community payback orders, making sure these critical relationships were maintained
to equip clients with the skills, knowledge and confidence they needed to support positive
long-term outcomes.
9. Drivers
The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on justice services across Scotland. 
Associated restrictions resulted in backlogs at various points in the justice process, with
the legacy of these still being felt in places today.  The pandemic also required a shift in
focus, from strategic, improvement-driven activity to a more responsive, operational
service delivery.  In the context of community justice, this meant that some key objectives
were unable to be progressed in the intended way.  Our experience in Renfrewshire
mirrored this too, with all our available resource and capacity directed to those in our
community who required the most support.  
Although we’re still feeling the impact of the pandemic and the related issues of the cost-
of living crisis, our focus is shifting back towards improvement-led activity.  This is more
important now than ever, as we work with our partners – particularly our third sector

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organisations - to identify a strategic approach to how we can meet the needs of our
community, and within our context, the individuals involved in the justice system.  
It's important we review the experience and learning from our community justice
colleagues around Scotland and use this to inform our approach in Renfrewshire over the
coming years.  This will help us start from a stronger position by framing our improvement
activity, so it aligns with the national outcomes for community justice.  From this, we can
identify the following key drivers:
Communication and engagement 
The pandemic required us to adapt how we communicate with each other.  We couldn’t
have the conversations in the way we’d have liked, and this made it harder to establish
new relationships and strengthen existing ones.  Looking ahead, out partnership will focus
on improving the breadth and depth of our collaborative relationships to inform our
planning.  We want our partners to feel valued, and see how their skills, knowledge and
expertise can feed in to and add value to single-agency work.  We want to make it clear
that these individual contributions are essential to help us develop our local approach
and ultimately help us achieve our community justice outcomes.  For our wider
community, we need to promote and raise awareness of community justice in the right
way, making sure perceptions are fair and informed.  For those with experience of the
justice system, we need to create opportunities for these individuals to have their
thoughts, feelings and opinions listened to and acted upon to make sure our services and
support are effective. 
Strategic Planning and Governance
Effective community justice relies on strong partnership working.  In Renfrewshire, we’re
proud of the relationships we’ve built with our community planning partners, and the
more focused work of our CJR.  We also know that governance arrangements can be
complex.  Sometimes, we might perceive duplication of effort across different teams,
structures, and streams of work.  This can also complicate reporting and monitoring, as
we might not always tell a story that’s ours to tell.
We know our partnership will always involve lots of teams from lots of different
organisations.  It’s important we make sure we have the right people to inform our
approach and make best use of their time.  It’s also important we have sight of the work
being delivered through other governance structures, and where there is a need for us to
be a part of that, we contribute strategically and add value.  For the work progressed
through our own partnership, we must be responsible for designing, delivering, and
monitoring our improvement activity that is over and above that delivered by individual
teams or organisations and clearly contributes to community justice outcomes.
Evidence-led Approach
The Community Justice Performance Framework provides a consistent approach for
community justice partnerships to report progress against national community justice

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outcomes.  In Renfrewshire – like in other community justice partnerships across Scotland
– we will use these to obtain a high-level overview of some of the demand for our justice
services and what we deliver.  This will direct us to the areas where data suggests we
might have a challenge in supply or an unmet demand, and frame a deeper dive into the
experience, needs and outcomes for individuals involved at this point in the process.
We will use Community Justice Scotland’s Improvement Tool to identify the local
evidence that will help us build this picture.  Where there are gaps, we will identify the
partner(s) best placed to take this forward.  In time, we will develop a detailed picture of
the strengths and needs of our local community and use this information to target our
partnership activity that adds value and contributes to national justice outcomes.
10. Working in Partnership
Partnership working is crucial to improving community justice outcomes. In addition to
the statutory partners, we require the input of a diverse range of individuals and
organisations covering a wide range of interests, including housing, employability, and
health and wellbeing. 
The third sector plays an important role in improving community justice outcomes. They
are a source of innovation, responsiveness, and flexibility, and can provide a meaningful
connection to otherwise hard-to-reach service users and communities. The most effective
way to improve outcomes for people and communities is by joined up working with the
third sector at the planning stage. 
Community is at the heart of our approach. Whether challenging stigma, employing
people with convictions, or participating in community justice planning, improving
community justice outcomes requires the involvement and support of local people and
businesses. 
11. Key Priorities Over the Next 12 Months
We will support the national aim to optimise the use of diversion and intervention at
the earliest opportunity, where safe to do so, by improving our understanding around
the number of individuals who receive direct measures as an alternative to prosecution. 
We will look at our current processes and identify opportunities to enhance the
knowledge and awareness of our teams who work with individuals at this point in the
justice system.  We want to understand if there are any barriers or challenges that prevent
us doing this more effectively.  We will improve our understanding around the capacity of
our third-sector partners and other potential service providers, and most importantly of
all, we want to hear from those who experience direct measures to understand the impact
it’s had.

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We will make progress to ensure that robust, high-quality interventions and public
protection arrangements are available in Renfrewshire, building on early work to
develop proposals for early intervention services with appropriate referral pathways. We
will look at the experience and outcomes of individuals who participate in community
sentences and identify opportunities to enhance the rehabilitative support on offer,
particularly in relation to desistance from domestic abuse and sexual offending.  We will
take time to listen to the views of the community justice workforce and look at where we
can better equip them to deliver these essential interventions.  
We will take time to review the services we have on offer to individuals accused or
convicted of an offence to make sure information sharing and transitions between
services are as best they can be. We will look at the mechanisms we have in place to
ensure individuals in the justice system have the knowledge and confidence that their
needs will be met upon release, particularly those relating to health, housing, and
employment.  We will take time to consider how, when and who provides this support to
maximise the likelihood of it being accepted and acted upon
We know that partnership working and strategic planning is key to achieving national
community justice outcomes.  We will work together to strengthen our leadership,
engagement, and integrated approach by looking at who we are, what we do and how
we do it.  We want to reduce the opportunity for duplication across similar work areas and
refine our structure and decision making to clearly show the value our partnership adds. 
We need to effectively engage with individuals whose lives have been impacted by the
justice system to make sure their experiences, thoughts and opinions guide our route to
improvement.  We also need to think about how we can highlight and promote the
benefits of community justice to our local population and consider how we can improve
awareness and confidence in positive community justice outcomes.
12. How will we know it is working? 
Community Justice Scotland oversees the work being delivered in each of council area. 
This plan is part of that oversight.  Every Community Justice Partnership is required to
have a plan which explains what they intend to do to reduce offending and re-offending in
their local area.  Community Justice Scotland will give us feedback on the plan and give us
support with things that we want to improve.
We will write a new plan every three years, but there will be annual reviews so that we can
check our work is on track and that the priorities are still the right ones for Renfrewshire. 
Our performance against national outcomes will initially be measured against national
indicators and then – once agreed by our partnership – appropriate local evidence.   We
will develop a detailed action plan once we have reviewed our priority areas over the next
12 months.  Progress against this action plan will be reviewed by our Community Justice

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Renfrewshire Steering Group and submitted to Community Justice Scotland as part of the
national reporting mechanism.
We understand that circumstances can change quickly, and our partnership will remain
open to emerging needs and opportunities and take steps to re-align our focus as
necessary.

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13. Appendix 1: Table of National Outcomes and Associated Indicators 
Priority Actions from National Strategy for
Community Justice
National outcomes National indicators
Aim 1 - Optimise the use of diversion and intervention at the earliest opportunity
1. 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
More people successfully complete diversion
from prosecution
Number of diversion from prosecution:
 assessments undertaken
 cases commenced
 cases successfully completed
2. 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
More people in police custody receive support to
address their needs
Number of: 
 referrals from custody centres
Aim 2 - Ensure that robust and high quality community interventions and public protection arrangements are consistently available
across Scotland 
3. Support the use of robust alternatives to
remand by ensuring high quality bail services
are consistently available and delivered
effectively
More people are assessed for and successfully
complete bail supervision
Number of:
 assessment reports for bail
suitability
 bail supervision cases commenced
 bail supervision cases completed

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4. Strengthen options for safe and supported
management in the community by increasing
and widening the use of electronic monitoring
technologies
No nationally determined outcome. 
This priority action currently has no robust and
measurable national outcome. This will be
considered as part of future development. 
Local evidence can still be collected to support
activity relating to this priority action.
N/A
5. Ensure that those given community
sentences are supervised and supported
appropriately to protect the public, promote
desistence from offending and enable
rehabilitation by delivering high quality,
consistently available, trauma-informed
services and programmes
More people access services to support
desistence and successfully complete community
sentences
Percentage of:
 community payback orders
successfully completed
 drug treatment and testing orders
successfully completed 
6. 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. 
Achievement of this priority action will be tracked
through the implementation of the restorative
justice action plan and other national governance
structures. 
Local evidence can still be collected to support
activity relating to this priority action.
N/A
Aim 3 - Ensure that services are accessible and available to address the needs of individuals accused or convicted of an offence

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7. 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
More people have access to, and continuity of,
health and social care following release from a
prison sentence
Number of transfers in drug/alcohol
treatments from:
 custody to community 
8. 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
More people have access to suitable
accommodation following release from a prison
sentence
Number of:
 homelessness applications where
prison was the property the main
applicant became homeless from
9. 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
More people with convictions access support to
enhance their readiness for employment
Percentage of:
 those in employability services with
convictions
10. Enhance community integration and
support by increasing and promoting greater
use of voluntary throughcare and third sector
services
More people access voluntary throughcare
following a short term prison sentence
Number of:
 voluntary throughcare cases
commenced
Am 4. Strengthen the leadership, engagement, and partnership working of local and national community justice partners
11. 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. 
Improvement in relation to this priority action
can be demonstrated through progress in the 9
outcomes in the CJPF. The themes within this
priority action are also captured within the Care
Inspectorate’s guide to self-evaluation for
community justice partners in Scotland.
N/A

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Local evidence can still be collected to support
activity relating to this action.
12. 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. 
Improvement in relation to this priority action
can be demonstrated through progress in the 9
outcomes in the CJPF. The themes within this
priority action are also captured within the Care
Inspectorate’s guide to self-evaluation for
community justice partners in Scotland. 
Local evidence can still be collected to support
activity relating to this action.
N/A
13. Support integration and reduce stigma by
ensuring the community and workforce have
an improved understanding of and confidence
in community justice
More people across the workforce and in the
community understand, and have confidence in,
community justice 
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