CPP 07122022 Community Justice Appendix 1
Argyll and Bute Council · 7 December 2022
Back to Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership - Management Committee — 7 December 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Page 1 of 28 April 2022 Community Justice Scotland Ceartas Coimhearsnachd Alba Community Justice Outcome Activity Across Scotland Local Area Annual Return Template Guidance 2021-22
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Page 2 of 28 1) Community Justice Partnership / Group Details Name of local authority area/s Argyll & Bute Name and contact detail of the partnership Chair Name: Pippa Milne Email: Pippa.Milne@argyll-bute.gov.uk Telephone: 01546604263 Contact for queries about this report Name: Mary Holt Email: Mary.Holt@argyll-bute.gov.uk Telephone: 07487651793 2) Template Sign-off from Community Justice Partnership / Group Chair Date: 20 October 2022 Name: Pippa Milne, Chief Executive
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Page 3 of 28 3) Governance Arrangements Describe your current governance structure for community justice arrangements and include links to wider community planning. Argyll & Bute Community Justice Partnership (A&B CJP) carried out a review of governance arrangements during 2021-2022, a decision to establish reporting arrangements via the Public Protection Chief Officers Group was taken. Established relationships During 2022-2023 the A&B CJP will review the required relationships/reporting arrangements with Alcohol and Drugs Partnership Committee, Violence Against Women and Girls Group and the Integrated Joint Board in particular. Members of the A&B CJP will contribute to reviewing their existing reporting arrangements and advise how they will integrate community justice within those. 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations These recommendations were published at the end of the reporting year and concern 3rd sector engagement, futures planning, and compliance with the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. Please detail what work partners have undertaken, or intend to undertake, in response to the following 2020-21 recommendations: Recommendation 1: Partnerships should build on work undertaken within the reporting period relating to third sector identification and engagement, and apply lessons learned to ensure they have established mechanisms to identify and engage with victim organisations as well. a) What local strengths or recent progress relates to recommendation 1? Better outcomes for victims are an important factor in the health of your local community justice ecosystem, so victim organisations can provide an important perspective to community justice. We are also interested in development of work with all third sector partners. You may want to consider, what you have learned from resources provided by CJVSF. What has impeded progress?
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Page 4 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations Victims Argyll & Bute Community Justice Partnership (CJP) recognised the importance of developing strategic planning links to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in line with their statutory duty to reduce offending/reoffending. The local Equally Safe Plan, to be refreshed during 2022-2023, aligns Priority 4 Men desist from all forms of violence against women and girls, and perpetrators of such violence receive a robust and effective response to both Justice Social Work and Community Justice. Following a successful bid by the A&B VAWG Partnership to the Delivering Equally Safe fund, a roll out of Safe & Together began in 2021-2022 and will continue through to 2024. However, a research project included within the bid was only partly funded, the shortfall of £17k was met by the A&B CJP. The Community Justice Coordinator, on behalf of the A&B CJP, works closely with the VAWG key leads Service Improvement Lead and Senior Justice Manager from the Health & Social Care Partnership to monitor progress. The research aims to: 1. To ensure the experiences of women survivors inform domestic abuse service planning in Argyll and Bute. 2. To identify the particular barriers to service for women living with domestic abuse in the Argyll and Bute area. 3. To explore current policy, interventions and practice responses to known or suspected domestic abuse perpetrators. 4. To make recommendations for the direction of future specialist domestic abuse service development and practice responses in the area. 5. To provide an evidence baseline from which to assess the impact of service developments informed by the research findings. Stage 1 of the research is due to completion in Autumn 2022, which focussed on 1 and 2 above and findings will be considered by the A&B CJP alongside the VAWG Partnership. The A&B CJP will also support and monitor the progress of the roll-out of Safe and Together in Argyll and Bute to ensure that community justice statutory duties and survivors’ voices influence our planning and delivery. Governance reporting and alignment will be through the Public Protection Chief Officers Group for both community justice and violence against women and girls. Justice Social Work continue to contribute to supporting victims indirectly through robust and effective risk management of the people who have committed crimes and received community sentences, other disposals and who are on licence upon release from prison. Specific report writing tools are utilised including Spousal Abuse Risk Assessment (SARA) to assist professional decision making for Court Reports. A number of people became Domestic Abuse, Stalking and ‘honour’-based violence (DASH) trained delivered by Safe Lives, a local training programme is being rolled out during 2022-2023, which includes the Justice Social Work team. Two members
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Page 5 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations of staff have completed the certified trainers programme which will ensure that ongoing training can be delivered as required. The A&B CJP will support an application for the Community Justice Scotland Caledonian 1-2-1 programme when this is rolled out by Scottish Government. Delivering group-based interventions is not suitable in relation to the geographic nature of Argyll and Bute, therefore, this element of Caledonian will not be included in our bid. A range of A&B CJP members support our local Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) process. Our Scottish Fire and Rescue Service highlight they identify a Fire element within any case and arrange to conduct a home visit to offer fire safety advice, ensure that a home has working smoke alarms and provide practical solutions where there is a threat from fire. Examples of this include the provision of mail guards which are fitted to letterboxes and that will contain and extinguish any attempt at wilful fire raising through a letter box, also providing fire retardant mats that can assist in containing and preventing the spread of fire. SFRS community action teams undertake regular training from a variety of sources on subjects such as domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual exploitation. This equips them with the skills to help to identify instances of the aforementioned and knowledge of the referral pathways and key contacts to render assistance. SFRS are in the progress of finalising a referral pathway between SFRS and Victim Support Scotland. This will involve mutual sharing of information where SFRS will notify Victim Support if they think that they may be able to assist a victim of crime and where Victim Support Scotland will refer any fire related concerns to SFRS. This has already presented excellent outcomes before the partnership has been formally launched. After one of our Community Action Team members conducted a home fire safety visit following a MARAC they identified a security concern for the occupant (a female victim of domestic abuse with young children) it was identified that security cameras would be advantageous in preventing or recording any further attempted or actual abuse, however no agencies could provide funding for this. Through SFRS partnership with Victim Support they confirmed that this was something they could assist with. SFRS have also committed and entered into the Parole Board Scotland Partnership. We have identified the Conference Room within in SFRS Clydebank HQ building and offered this location to facilitate access for victims to attend hearings. Our Health and Social Care Partnership have also identified office space to facilitate access in the Dumbarton area. The focus on victims of domestic abuse/violence against women and girls will remain a key priority for 2022-2023, this focus will widen to all victims of crime from 2023. Key third sector partners will include, at minimum, Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis with any activity aligned with our Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership.
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Page 6 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations Argyll & Bute CJP recognise the need to strengthen links with Victim Support locally, this will be a key priority during 2022-2023. Third Sector The main focus of our CJP third sector engagement was through our Alcohol and Drugs Partnership structures with local addiction and recovery providers; We Are With You and Lomond and Argyll Advocacy Services (Rights-Based Recovery Advocates). Alignment of the Public health approach to justice outcome within Scottish Government Rights, Recovery and Respect framework to community justice planning and delivery to avoid duplication and increase access to services is underway. We Are With You (WAWY) are the locally commissioned A&B alcohol and drugs third sector support organisation. The organisation reaches into every locality in Argyll and Bute, with some regional differences depending on the geography. During 2021-2022, the organisation began implementing a new management and delivery model, any associated impact on access to services throughout Argyll & Bute is included in the considerations of our CJP during 2022-2023. We are clear that people accessing WAWY services also have current and former experience of the justice system, it’s critical that the A&B CJP review how we can strengthen relationships and our reach to those citizens to ensure their holistic needs are being met. WAWY work closely with our Justice Social Work Service, post April 2022, a community justice agreement was reached for WAWY to deliver awareness and training to assist JSW to improve access to services and person-centred outcomes. WAWY also have active connections to HMP Greenock and are the identified substance use provider of services to people in police custody via a paper referral system, both these custody-based pathways are key considerations for the A&B CJP. Neither elements of this service delivery are funded for WAWY. A desktop review by the Community Justice Coordinator and WAWY Service Manager has identified a range of improvements required in both pathways. These will be key priorities of the A&B CJP and findings will inform our next local community justice plan. The Community Justice Coordinator, in partnership with the organisation and our ADP Coordinator, will ensure alignment to both sets of improvement frameworks for drugs and alcohol and community justice. An ADP Committee representative will be invited to join the A&B CJP. Lomond and Argyll Advocacy Services, in partnership with our ADP, introduced a human rights based approach to recovery support. Training and guidance is provided by REACH Advocacy and the lived experience roles provide holistic support to those in recovery. Anecdotal evidence provided by the rights-based advocates confirm support to those with experience of the justice system (current and former). This rights-based advocacy support is a critical single point of contact and source of support, the approach is one that is favoured by the A&B CJP for all
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Page 7 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations within the justice system. These advocate posts are funded via the Corra Foundation, on behalf of Scottish Government alcohol and drugs funding. Consideration was given during 2021-2022 on how we support those coming out of prison who are not allocated to Justice Social Work. This work took place as part of our A&B CJP Custody to Community project, funded by the Corra Foundation, on behalf of Scottish Government. Plans are underway during 2022-2023 to commission a justice advocate post, managed by LAAS, for a 1 year test of change to support people leaving prison and those within the community. This will be funded through a combination of Justice Social Work and Corra resources, alternative funding will be required at the end of year 1. In addition, post April 2022, a cross-authority short-life working group comprising of the Chief Executive Officer from LAAS, Community Justice Coordinator (Argyll & Bute/West Dunbartonshire) and the ADP Strategic Lead for West Dunbartonshire collaborated to submit a funding application to Cashback for Communities. In both local authority areas, police statistics evidence that young people in that age group were committing 24% of all crimes recorded in the first 6 months of 2022-2023. The Scottish Sentencing Council issued guidance on the sentencing and rehabilitation of young people, expected to flow from that guidance is an increase in young people receiving community disposals. LAAS operates across both Argyll & Bute and West Dunbartonshire, on that basis a bid was submitted for 4 full-time posts to support 16- 25 year olds involved within the justice system. A decision is expected early 2023. National Third Sector partnerships identified by the A&B CJP during 2021-2022 as requiring improvement are those with the Wise Group and Sacro Shine, both have national contracts to deliver through-care support from prison. The provision to Argyll & Bute citizens is not clear, anecdotal evidence suggests that people living in remote and island communities may not have equal access. This will be a key area of focus during 2022-2023. Whilst the A&B CJP understand those challenges well, we welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Community Justice Scotland consultation on the future provision of prison through-care and mentoring services, to develop approaches that best respond to the needs of all including our remote and island communities. In 2021-2022, initial contact was made with Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector Forum via the Community Justice Coordinator, an initial plan was developed by the CJVSF lead. However due to capacity issues this was not progressed. A&B CJP will prioritise this during 2022-2023, in partnership with Argyll & Bute Third Sector Interface, and ensure inclusion in our developing Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan. The Third Sector Interface Chief Executive is a member of the A&B CJP.
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Page 8 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations Recommendation 3: Partnerships should undertake (or evidence the work already undertaken) to understand the future need and demand on their services: in particular, but not constrained to, recovery from the pandemic. b) What gaps or emerging changes in need and demand for services have been identified? Your partnership is likely to have important knowledge and references about emerging needs and demands. Outline any anticipated changes that may impact on services. The focus of this work within the A&B CJP has been with Justice Social Work, Children & Families and the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership. The complexities of need that the people involved with Justice Social Work present with are currently under analysis, the issues with LSCMI system has delayed the analysis work. In relation to emerging changes there are several areas to note including the upscaling of unpaid work, increase in diversion referrals and the launch of two new service areas. The high number of people unemployed and minimising barriers to employability and addiction services were key areas of activity. Justice Social Work has focussed on a range of areas, in particular: upscaling unpaid work activity to meet expected increased in community orders; increase in diversion referrals; and, establishing a bail support and structured deferred sentence services. Short-term additional funding and associated recruitment issues have brought, and continue to pose, some challenges. Despite this, our unpaid work squad activity has continued to increase and expand outputs. Our new bail support and structured deferred sentence services have been launched and are available to the courts, whilst demand levels are not evident at this time, the gap in availability has been addressed. The increase in referrals for Diversion and the higher tariff associated crimes has brought with it challenges in capacity and an increased training need for the team and partnership working with other services. This continues to be a challenge that our Justice Social Work service are responding to and expect that overall caseload levels will increase: Noting the high levels of people (around 54%) within Justice Social Work services who are unemployed, strengthening connections with local services that offer employability, skills, learning and money/welfare advice, is a key community justice improvement identified for Justice Social Work Diversion statistics show and increase in the number of young people referred by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) to Justice Social Work. Justice Social Work are considering their approach to managing the orders of young people during 2022-2023 to contribute towards wider community justice/youth justice planning.
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Page 9 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations As the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service implement solutions to reduce the backlog of cases and improve disposal decisions (virtual courts, electronic monitoring, sentencing of young people etc), we expect community disposals will increase. Monthly statistics from the Scottish Prison Service detailing the types of custodial sentences for people in prison were utilised for analysis. During 2021-2022, Argyll and Bute data was shown as having one of the highest levels of remand in Scotland (as a percentage of the A&B prison population). The issue was raised by A&B Chief Social Work Officer with the Sheriff Principal. The levels of remand for Argyll & Bute has lowered slightly during 2022-2023, we continue to monitor this. Justice Social Work Bail Support Service was launched during 2022-2023, the A&B CJP will provide support to ensure wider service provision contributes to delivering improved community justice outcomes. The A&B CJP must ensure that wider partners are informed and involved in delivering improved outcomes for people subject to Justice Social Work orders, whilst monitoring the Service’s capacity to cope with and deliver on increased demand. The A&B CJP identified a potential work stream for Youth Justice was required. An initial scoping exercise took place with the Community Justice Coordinator alongside Health and Social Care Partnership Children & Families, Justice Social Work and Mental Health representatives. A key action (already underway via PPCOG) was to refresh the multi-agency protocol Getting it right for Children and Young People displaying sexually harmful behaviour that integrates the updated Care and Risk Management approach (CARM) for those up to 17/18, the group agreed to reconvene once this was completed. Some key actions identified for 2022-2023 includes: Development of a youth justice strategic needs and strengths assessment, aligned to the Scottish Youth Justice Improvement Plan and new Community Justice Strategy Alignment to A&B ADP commissioned publication Children and Young People’s Needs Assessment A review of the Early and Effective Intervention (EEI) process This initial group will widen membership during 2022-2023 to include other key partners including Police Scotland, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA), amongst others and become a formal work stream for the A&B CJP. Post April 2022, A&B ADP and Public Health Scotland MAT implementation team began scoping work with the Community Justice Coordinator in relation to achieving the Medically Assisted Treatment Standards across Argyll & Bute within Justice Settings. This joint approach will continue during 2022-2023.
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Page 10 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations Post April 2022, the Community Justice Coordinator and Housing Strategic Lead began baselining towards the SHORE Standards, this will be finalised during 2022/2023. Availability of suitable housing across Argyll & Bute varies, with challenges in specific areas including remote and island communities. As a stock transfer local authority, Argyll & Bute does not provide housing (out their statutory obligation for homelessness). A&B CJP will consider findings from this baseline assessment and include any identified improvements within the local improvement plan. Updates provided in previous sections of this report also contribute to the CJP’s work to understand needs and gaps in provision. c) How has this been identified? The information relating to Justice Social Work provided the data and evidence base for related improvements. This included data from CareFirst, Justice Social Work Court Reports and feedback from the wider JSW team. Social Work Scotland and Community Justice Scotland data and information was also considered alongside Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service sources. The Community Justice Scotland Tableau on Demographics was utilised for employment status information for Justice Social Work 2020-2021 Argyll & Bute CJP recognised an information gap in relation to youth justice, this coupled with a refreshed Scottish Sentencing Guideline for sentencing and rehabilitation of young people (up to age 26), an increase in JSW Diversion referrals and our ADP Needs Analysis, the requirement for a specific work stream was identified. Police Scotland Division level data was also sourced showing 24% of all crimes were committed by 16-25 year olds in the first half of 2022/2023. Argyll & Bute MAT Standards self-assessment was utilised to identify joint improvement work by the Argyll & Bute ADP and CJP. SHORE Standards checklist was utilised to begin the baseline assessment process. d) How will partners respond? The Argyll & Bute CJP will consider the emerging evidence and monitor the impact and progress of the areas outlined above through reporting mechanisms. These will be integrated within the development our new Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan due for publication in April 2023.
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Page 11 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations e) What has restricted progress in this recommendation? Please share anything that has restricted progress. This could include challenges relating to data and information, partner capacity or capabilities in this respect. Some restrictions in progress relate to the nature of the additional funding provided to Justice Social Work being short-term, timescales for spend which brought recruitment challenges. The launch of the bail support and structured deferred sentences experienced delays, which have now been overcome, although the concern around the nature of funding remains. Our Argyll & Bute Strategic Needs & Strengths Assessment is being collated as we develop our evidence base and collective understanding of the data available to the CJP, which in line with community justice, is expansive. The A&B CJP will consider whether funds are available to commission a provider to finalise during 2022-2023. The shared role of Community Justice Coordinator with West Dunbartonshire was reviewed during 2021/2022, a decision was taken to move towards a full-time role for Argyll & Bute. Capacity was identified as an issue, Argyll & Bute recruited full- time Coordinator post April 2022, with transitional arrangements in place until November 2022. Recommendation 4: Partners should note their collective statutory responsibilities under the Act to ensure that: all partners are aware of the statutory obligations, and that clarity and agreement is sought over partner expectations and contribution to ensuring these are met all national partners understand and comply with their individual responsibilities to supporting partnerships achieve their aims (section 35) f) What work has been undertaken or planned to make improvements against recommendation 4? The Argyll and Bute CJP membership changed significantly during 2021-2022, development sessions led by Community Justice Scotland assisted the new membership to collectively understand their statutory obligations. The diverse cross cutting landscape of community justice planning was highlighted and CJP members recognised that they were already contributing to improving community justice outcomes. It was agreed that the preparation for development of the new local community justice outcome improvement plan, expected to begin October 2022, will be a critical time to ensure our collective responsibilities are understood and met. Progress noted in previous sections of this report provide evidence of work undertaken by several members of the A&B CJP.
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Page 12 of 28 4) Progress From 2020-21 Recommendations g) What did this achieve? An improving understanding for Argyll & Bute CJP on their statutory responsibilities and the complexity in reach of those. Identification of priority areas. h) In what ways did local partnership compliance to the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 change during 2020/21? The main compliance actions are: Partners have published an up to date Community justice outcome improvement plan (CJOIP) or extension statement Argyll & Bute extended their CJOIP awaiting the publication of the new national Community Justice Strategy, an extension statement was not published, this will be rectified and will include an update on the development of our next plan. A participation statement published in or with the last CJOIP Argyll & Bute did publish a participation statement with the last CJOIP. The actions of the CJOIP respond to priorities and gaps informed by a needs assessment. Several actions from the last published CJOIP were in progress. These included reviewing governance arrangements, baselining our prison custody to community pathway, improving access to addictions services and development of Justice Social Work services. A public facing annual report has been published which covers progress toward national and local outcomes. This was published on our website, albeit outwith the month timescale requirement. Duty of cooperation - Such co-operation may include (a)sharing information, (b)providing advice and assistance, (c)co-ordinating activities (and seeking to prevent unnecessary duplication), (d)funding activities together. The ongoing actions/activity from previous governance arrangements (as noted above) integrated the areas above and the main partners were Justice Social Work, Alcohol and Drug Partnership services and Scottish Prison Service. The only exception to this was funding activities together, any additional service provision was either direct from Scottish Government or from external sources (e.g. Corra Foundation alcohol and drugs funding).
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Page 13 of 28 5) Covid-19 Pandemic Impact The pandemic continued in 2021-22. This section should be used to reflect some of the a) challenges/negative implications and b) opportunities/positive implications from the Covid-19 pandemic on the community justice partnership. This can include impact on the improvement activity, partner collaboration, and delivery of services. Challenges / Negatives Positives / Opportunities The Community Justice Partnership had a significant change of membership The continuing impact of the pandemic led to community justice partners focussing on their key areas of service delivery to ensure that communities were supported and core statutory functions carried out. The short term, temporary funding provided for Justice Social Work for recovery has led to some difficulties in recruitment, particularly in Mid Argyll. The Corra funded Custody to Community pilot also experienced delays. There were a range of opportunities that developed from the pandemic for the Community Justice Partnership, with the mainly new membership. This included seeking support from Community Justice Scotland to refresh on statutory duties and update on national progress, in preparation for the new national strategy and performance framework. Reflection on the effectiveness of service delivery adjustments and what worked that could be embedded into practice. This included Justice Social Work approach to other activity.
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Page 14 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. NATIONAL OUTCOME ONE Communities improve their understanding and participation in community justice With regard to the following indicators: Activities carried out to engage with ‘communities’ as well as other relevant constituencies Consultation with communities as part of community justice planning and service provision Participation in community justice, such as co-production and joint delivery Level of community awareness of / satisfaction with work undertaken as part of a CPO Evidence from questions to be used in local surveys / citizens’ panels and so on Perceptions of the local crime data New activities: What new activities in 2021-22 were driven / undertaken collectively by the community justice partners/hip in relation to outcome one? What was the impact of these activities? The decision to explore an A&B CJP Youth Justice work stream was a new activity, this will incorporate collecting data and evidence towards the above indicators. The ‘community of interest’ in this instance was the managers responsible for delivery. The creation of a forum where managers can share their professional and local knowledge/experience was beneficial to A&B CJP’s statutory responsibility for planning. Whilst focussed initially on Children & Families and Justice Social Work to create an initial baseline, wider CJP member input will be sought during 2022/2023 and improvement activity identified will be included in our local plan.
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Page 15 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. The violence against women and girls Research Project, funding contributed by the A&B CJP to supplement Delivering Equally Safe funding, was also a new activity. This Project will talk to survivors (mainly female) and people who commit the associated crimes (mainly males), the A&B CJP will consider the outputs, findings and recommendations during 2022-2024. Further detailed information on the research parameters can be found in section 4 of this report. As previously noted, the Argyll & Bute CJP membership changed significantly during 2021-2022, therefore the main focus was on improving collective understanding of statutory duties whilst supporting the ongoing activities. The decision by the A&B CJP to meet the shortfall in Delivering Equally Safe funding resulted in this research proceeding. We expect it to provide meaningful data and information in relation to the experiences of mainly female survivors, with an additional section added for experiences of those who commit these types of crimes. What ongoing activities took place in relation to outcome one? What was the impact of these activities? We do not expect you to report on everything going on, however it would be useful for you to provide some positive examples in bullet points which support the indicators. Activities carried out to engage with ‘communities’ as well as other relevant constituencies Participation in community justice, such as co-production and joint delivery A planned consultation with people on Justice Social Work orders has been carried forward to 2022-2023/24 to be approved by the A&B CJP. Progress was hindered due to resource capacity issues with the preferred provider and at a local level.
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Page 16 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. The extensive activity being undertaken by the A&B ADP during 2021- 2022 to enhance rights-based approach in partnership with We Are With You (WAWY) and Lomond and Argyll Advocacy Service (LAAS) is noted by the A&B CJP. Anecdotal evidence from service providers shows that a range of people accessing addiction support/recovery have experience of the justice system, this is of significant interest to the A&B CJP. Strategic leads for ADP and CJ have agreed to develop a series of activities and engagement sessions to engage with those citizens with experience of the justice system, as part of the development of the local community justice outcome improvement plan. In addition, during 2022-2023 the A&B CJP will facilitate access to people with experience of the justice system to become involved in consultation with the national MAT Standards Implementation Team within Public Health Scotland. This will align Rights, Respect and Recovery outcome A public health approach to Justice with community justice planning. Perceptions of the local crime data The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey shows no significant change in perceptions of crime. The latest publication in March 2021, has a sample size of 158 across L Division which also covers West Dunbartonshire. It is therefore challenging to analyse this at an Argyll & Bute level only. However, 3 indicators sit above the national average in 2018-2020: Reports and feedback via the A&B ADP Strategic Lead, WAWY manager and LAAS Chief Executive were utilised to inform this approach. Public Health Scotland MAT Standards workshops, organised following Ministerial Direction, identified this opportunity. This will form part of our developing Strategic Needs and Strengths Assessment for community justice.
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Page 17 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. In the local area it is common that people behave in an anti-social manner in public In the local area it is common that people are physically assaulted or attacked in the street or other public places In the local area it is common that there is drug dealing and drug abuse The refreshed A&B CJP will consider its wider approach to these indicators whilst developing our new CJOIP Argyll & Bute Community Safety Partnership work together to address anti-social behaviour. The A&B CJP contributed to the Argyll and Bute Community Safety Partnership Strategy 2021-2023. The Community Justice Coordinator represents the CJP on this Partnership. Strategic alignment to community justice will be considered by the A&B CJP. Further local analysis will be developed and considered by the A&B CJP. Further local analysis will be developed and considered by the A&B CJP. NATIONAL OUTCOME TWO Partners plan and deliver services in a more strategic and collaborative way Where applicable have regard to the following indicators. Services are planned for and delivered in a strategic and collaborative way Partners have leveraged resources for community justice Development of community justice workforce to work effectively across organisational/professional /geographical boundaries Partners illustrate effective engagement and collaborative partnership working with the authorities responsible for the delivery of MAPPA
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Page 18 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. What new activities in 2021-22 were driven / undertaken collectively by the community justice partners/hip in relation to outcome two? What was the impact of these activities? Refreshing of Argyll & Bute Community Justice Partnership The Argyll & Bute CJP membership changed significantly during 2021/2022 and took the opportunity to reflect on how best to move forward. With support from Community Justice Scotland, Argyll & Bute CJP organised two development sessions, the first focussed on the statutory duties of a Community Justice Partnership including the importance of data. The second focussed on our annual report requirements and developing the local CJOIP. Arrest Referral Scheme A desktop review of current arrangements within Argyll and Bute was undertaken by the Community Justice Coordinator. A paper referral process is in place to the addictions provider We Are With You, this requires to be formally reviewed. Workforce Development The main focus was around Justice Social Work, structural management changes were consulted on (implemented September 2022). Training needs of the staff group were explored and an extensive range identified which included: Diversion (CYCJ), Managing Risk of Serious Harm, Core intervention, delivery skills and brain development training Enhanced learning for statutory and third sector representation on the statutory duties for Community Justice Partnerships. Improved knowledge and awareness of the policy and service expanse that community justice reaches. Updates on national improvement programmes also provided the CJP with a strategic oversight of national drivers. The current system has been in place for a few years. Referral numbers are low and is only set up for addiction services. The A&B CJP will instigate a multi-agency review during 2022/2023 to produce a baseline report that will inform our developing local plan and the improvement activities required to deliver support services at point of arrest. The needs complexity that people are presenting with, alongside prosecutorial/sentencing decisions for increased use of alternatives to courts/custody contributed to organising these staff development sessions for 2022-2023.
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Page 19 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. Justice Social Work team also took part in Safe & Together awareness-training, alongside other community justice partnership workforces. Safe Lives training for trainers was also delivered, facilitating local training delivered by Justice Social Work senior and MARAC Coordinator. Post April 2022, following the publication of the new National Strategy for Community Justice, the first of 3 CJ Justice Social Work development sessions took place. Lived Experience and Trauma Responsive Services was the first theme. James Docherty (Violence Reduction Unit/Community Justice Scotland) spend the day with Team discussing approaches and responses. Improving local knowledge and skills, leveraging community justice partner resources and development of community justice workforce were all delivered through this training arranged through our VAWG Partnership. Further training on Routine Sensitive Enquiry was also undertaken post April 2022. What ongoing activities took place in relation to outcome two? What was the impact of these activities? Strategic Needs and Strength Assessment (SNSA) The development of a community justice SNSA continued during 2021/2022. The additional A&B ADP Children and Young People’s Needs Assessment has been a helpful contribution. There was a delay in finalising Justice Social Work data due to the ongoing issue with LS/CMI system. Post April 2022, Police Scotland L Division representative has identified a number of data sets which will be useful to include. The recently published A&B HSCP Strategic Plan also provides a reference point for the CJP. Custody to Community Improved joint working between Homeless Services and the Community Justice Coordinator in understanding the levels of those leaving prison custody and those entering. We continued to develop the baseline for our Corra funded project to scope a right-based The A&B CJP will have a baseline from the collation of this key data during 2022/2023 and will consider commissioning an external provider to finalise during 2022/2023. The issues encountered with reporting from both Justice Social Work LS/CMI and Alcohol and Drugs DAISY system has delayed progress during 2021/2022. A&B CJP development group will continue to monitor this through updates from A&B ADP and Justice Social Work. The information sharing arrangements between Scottish Prison Service and Local Authority Homeless and Justice Social Work provides significant opportunities for improved engagement and planning for people in prison. Information about who is leaving prison in the next 12 weeks and who entered the previous week has shown
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Page 20 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. approach pathway supported by multi-agency partners. The final report will be completed by November 2022. MAPPA Community justice partners continue to work in partnership with the MAPPA Unit in relation to monitoring and developing services, service responses and awareness raising. to be helpful to Justice Social Work operations if they’re trying to locate someone. A&B CJP will review the final report and any identified improvement actions will be included in our developing local plan. Updating and maintaining this data is supported by Justice Social Work Admin Services and analysis provided by the Community Justice Coordinator. Reporting arrangements for MAPPA are via the Public Protection Chief Officers Group, A&B CJP will consider how this aligns to community justice planning and delivery. NATIONAL OUTCOME THREE People have better access to the services that they require, including welfare, health and wellbeing, housing and employability Where applicable have regard to the following indicators. Partners have identified and are overcoming structural barriers for people accessing services Existence of joint-working arrangements such as processes / protocols to ensure access to services to address underlying needs Initiatives to facilitate access to services Speed of access to mental health services % of people released from a custodial sentence: a) registered with a GP b) have suitable accommodation c) have had a benefits eligibility check Targeted interventions have been tailored for and with an individual and had a successful impact on their risk of further offending
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Page 21 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. What new activities in 2021-22 were driven collectively by the community justice partnership in relation to outcome three? What was the impact of these activities? The desktop review of the Argyll & Bute current Arrest Referral Scheme, carried out by the Community Justice Coordinator and We Are With You Manager, with feedback from Police Scotland L Division partners. Shortly pre-pandemic, the A&B ADP implemented a police custody paper referral system to We Are With You which has remained in place. A range of improvements were identified to address the low level of referrals, the model of delivery and accessibility to support. Changes to how custody suites are used have also been implemented. We recognise that onsite access to services within custody suites is vital, however, developing a person-centred model that provides support for a holistic range of needs is what is required. Argyll & Bute citizens are held at custody suites mainly out with the local area therefore the need to develop a strategic needs and strength assessment (utilising the CJS template) has been identified as an action for our developing local plan. Expect completion of this by Summer 2023 for the consideration of the ADP, CJ and Chief Officers Group Partnerships. What ongoing activities took place in relation to outcome three? What was the impact of these activities? Custody to Community The improved data collection process established by the Community Justice Coordinator and Homeless Service (supported by Justice Social Work Admin) has provided some improved data sources for the CJP. During 2021-2022, some development meetings took place to progress developing a blue-print for our custody to community pathway. A formal CJP sub-group will be established in 2022-2023 to take forward finalising the prison custody to community pathway. This will have a particular focus on those leaving prison who are not subject to additional licencing requirements with Justice Social Work. How do we provide support to assess need and access required services? How do we monitor and report outcomes, delivering a human rights- based approach model will be the key area of focus. Shortly after the reporting period, joint working practices between Justice Social Work and Throughcare and Aftercare services were
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Page 22 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. evidently improving in relation to working with young people. This review of processes and practice continues during 2022-2023 and will incorporate young people leaving prison. NATIONAL OUTCOME FOUR Effective interventions are delivered to prevent and reduce the risk of further offending Where applicable have regard to the following indicators. Use of ‘other activities requirements’ in CPOs Effective risk management for public protection Quality of CPOs and DTTOs Reduced use of custodial sentences and remand: a) Balance between community sentences relative to short custodial sentences under one year b) Proportion of people appearing from custody who are remanded The delivery of interventions targeted at problem drug and alcohol use [NHS Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Standard] Number of Police Recorded Warnings, police diversion, fiscal measures, fiscal diversion, supervised bail, community sentences (including CPOs , DTTOs and RLOs ) Number of short-term sentences under one year What new activities in 2021-22 were driven collectively by the community justice partnership in relation to outcome four? What was the impact of these activities?
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Page 23 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. What ongoing activities took place in relation to outcome four? What was the impact of these activities? Justice Social Work moved to a hybrid model during 2021/2022 and continued to expand their use of other activities through online courses. Attending specific appointments relating to health and wellbeing are also included, e.g. addictions services. Further opportunities for other activities are being developed in 2022/2023 to include employability. Argyll & Bute receives prison population statistical reports from Scottish Prison Service that provides a range of data which includes those on short-term sentences and those on remand. These are monitored by the Community Justice Coordinator. At 31st March 2022, Scottish Prison Service Supplementary report shows 69 males and 3 females in prison. Sentences of 1 year or less accounted for 1.5% (1 from a total of 69) of the convicted population for males and no females (from a total of 3) were serving sentences of less than 1 year. For remand of Argyll & Bute 27 male citizens (from a total of 69) were on remand, this is one of the highest percentages of remand population in Scotland. For female citizens 33% (1 of 3) was on remand, 33% (1 of 3) was serving a sentence of 2-4 years and 33% (1 of 3) a sentence of 4 years or more. Justice Social Work continued their commissioning of Sacro Connect online programme. The JSW aggregate return for 2021/2022 shows 44% of people on orders were noted as unemployed. In response, during 2022/2023 are focussing on improving access to employability services and will identify community justice representation on the local Employability Partnership. In summary, our prison population increased slightly from 58 at March 2021 to 72 at March 2022, although this can fluctuate throughout the year. The percentage of people serving sentences of 1 year or less has decreased and the percentage of people on remand increased At 31st March 2021, Scottish Prison Service Supplementary report shows 57 males and 1 females in prison. Sentences of 1 year or less accounted for 7% (3 from a total of 57) of the convicted population for males and no females (from a total of 1) were serving sentences of less than 1 year. For remand 28% (16) of Argyll & Bute male citizens (from a total of 57) were on remand, this was on average in line with levels of remand population in Scotland. No female citizens were on remand, 1 serving a sentence of 4 years or more. This issue of higher remand levels in Argyll & Bute has been raised with the Sheriff Principal by the Chief Social Work Officer, is the
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Page 24 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. Justice Social Work began preparatory work during 2021-2022 to launch a Bail Support Service, launched in August 2022 to provide an alternative to remand. The development of the content of our local SNSA (which will include the number of Police Recorded Warnings, police diversion, fiscal measures, fiscal diversion, supervised bail, community sentences (including CPOs , DTTOs and RLOs ) continued during 2021/2022 in so far as collating data. Additional support is now required to produce a comprehensive SNSA for community justice. geographical spread of Argyll & Bute a contributory factor in this increase? The CJP will incorporate reporting and monitoring of these statistics within formal meetings to identify any opportunities to influence, within the context of an independent judiciary this could be challenging. Previously local sheriffs have clearly stated that people who are remanded are done so because they pose a risk to public protection. The implementation and progress of the Bail Support Service will be reported to the A&B CJP by Justice Social Work. A&B CJP development group will consider during 2022-2023 the resource requirement to finalise the community justice SNSA, this will include consideration of external commissioning NATIONAL OUTCOME FIVE Life chances are improved through needs, including health, financial inclusion, housing and safety, being addressed. Have regard to the following indicator. Individuals have made progress against the outcome How do partners measure outcome five for individuals? If this information has been collated, what does it show? Whilst activity is ongoing in relation to addressing the wider needs of people within the justice system, we are unable to progress collation of evidence-based outcome data due to the complexity of implementing an outcome monitoring model. The previous national strategy does not include Outcomes 5, 6 and 7, a gap identified in the recent national review. Implementing and outcome-based reporting model at an individual level is a significant undertaking which requires increased resource.
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Page 25 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. Previous annual reports advised we would focus on the use of Justice Outcome Star for people within Justice Social Work. Prior to the pandemic, we began to implement Justice Outcome in Diversion cases. This implementation has continued during 2021/2022. The lack of reporting facility with the Justice Social Work recording system LSCMI has provided challenges in extracting data, this is a national issue that we hope will be resolved with the transfer to a new centralised system. For Justice Social Work, how this aligns with current LSCMI requirements requires to be reviewed. This is a national issue across Scotland and we would benefit from a national approach to reviewing. The process of a national transfer to a new LSCMI system took place during 2021/2022, significant issues developed and we await the resolution of those at a national level. If available, provide a supporting case study or other information to demonstrate activity and impact relating to outcome five. NATIONAL OUTCOME SIX People develop positive relationships and more opportunities to participate and contribute through education, employment and leisure activities Have regard to the following indicator. Individuals have made progress against the outcome Providing evidence on person centric outcomes has been challenging for most areas. How do partners measure outcome six for individuals? If this information has been collated, what does it show? Whilst activity is ongoing in relation to addressing the wider needs of people within the justice system, we are unable to progress collation of evidence-based outcome data due to the complexity of implementing an outcome monitoring model. The previous national strategy does not include Outcomes 5, 6 and 7, a gap identified in the recent national review. Implementing and outcome-based reporting model at an individual level is a significant undertaking which requires increased resource.
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Page 26 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. Previous annual reports advised we would focus on the use of Justice Outcome Star for people within Justice Social Work. Prior to the pandemic, we began to implement Justice Outcome in Diversion cases. This implementation has continued during 2021/2022. The lack of reporting facility with the Justice Social Work recording system LSCMI has provided challenges in extracting data, this is a national issue that we hope will be resolved with the transfer to a new centralised system. For Justice Social Work, how this aligns with current LSCMI requirements requires to be reviewed. This is a national issue across Scotland and we would benefit from a national approach to reviewing. The process of a national transfer to a new LSCMI system took place during 2021/2022, significant issues developed and we await the resolution of those at a national level. If available, provide a supporting case study or other information to demonstrate activity and impact relating to outcome six. NATIONAL OUTCOME SEVEN Individuals’ resilience and capacity for change and self- management are enhanced Have regard to the following indicator. Individuals have made progress against the outcome Providing evidence on person centric outcomes has been challenging for most areas. How do partners measure outcome six for individuals? If this information has been collated, what does it show? Whilst activity is ongoing in relation to addressing the wider needs of people within the justice system, we are unable to progress collation of evidence-based outcome data due to the complexity of implementing an outcome monitoring model. Previous annual reports advised we would focus on the use of Justice Outcome Star for people within Justice Social Work. Prior to the pandemic, we began to implement Justice Outcome in Diversion cases. This implementation has continued during 2021/2022. The lack of reporting facility with the Justice Social Work recording system LSCMI has provided challenges in extracting data, this is a national The previous national strategy does not include Outcomes 5, 6 and 7, a gap identified in the recent national review. Implementing and outcome-based reporting model at an individual level is a significant undertaking which requires increased resource. For Justice Social Work, how this aligns with current LSCMI requirements requires to be reviewed. This is a national issue across Scotland and we would benefit from a national approach to reviewing. The process of a national transfer to a new LSCMI system took place during 2021/2022, significant issues developed and we await the resolution of those at a national level.
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Page 27 of 28 6) Performance Reporting – National Outcomes This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. issue that we hope will be resolved with the transfer to a new centralised system. If available, provide a supporting case study or other information to demonstrate activity and impact relating to outcome seven. 7) If you have identified other local community justice activities and outcomes which go beyond the national outcomes, then record them here. Local outcomes Please describe the activity Then describe the impact
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Page 28 of 28 8) What other achievements and challenges happened? Achievements Challenges As previously noted, the membership of the Argyll & Bute Partnership changed significantly during 2021-2022. New representatives included: Chief Officer, Chief Social Work Officer/Head of Service, Police Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, Third Sector Interface, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Skills Development Scotland. The improvement activities ongoing continued to progress with updates provided at each of the development sessions. Any direction and guidance sought was mainly through the HSCP CSWO/HoS on behalf of the CJP. The Argyll & Bute CJP organised some development sessions during a period of transition between the existing national strategy and outcome, performance improvement framework and the development of refreshed versions. In relation to coordinator support, this was part-time at 17.5 hours a week, this will be increased to a full-time position of 35 hours a week during 2022/2023. With the publication of the new national strategy and awaiting the associated outcome, performance and improvement framework, Argyll & Bute will continue to baseline where ongoing activity is and what future priorities and development areas should have a focus. 9) Additional Information including, next steps for the partnership With the publication of the new strategy and a relatively new Community Justice Partnership, Argyll & Bute will set the structure for local planning for community justice. Reporting into the Public Protection Chief Officers Group, strategic alignment to cross policy areas (ADP, VAWG, JSW MAPPA, etc) will be developed and strengthened. We will devise a model of place-based planning and engagement that reflects the needs of all communities (including remote and island); a coproduction model that involves workforces, people who access our services and communities. We will consider how we best deliver services within geographical spread of Argyll & Bute, maximising the rich resources within those communities and sharing our needs at a national level to improve understanding of our partners. We will develop our local Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan (CJOIP) in line with the new national strategy and outcomes, performance and improvement framework.