Hansard

I am delighted to open the stage 1 debate on the principles of the Community Justice (Scotland) Bill. I thank the Justice Committee and its convener, Christine Grahame, for their scrutiny of the bill and for their stage 1 report, and I thank the Finance Committee and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee for their consideration of the bill. I am pleased that evidence was taken from such a wide range of organisations and individuals.

I welcome the Justice Committee’s endorsement of the need to improve community justice structures and its broad support for the bill’s general principles. The committee made a number of detailed recommendations in its report, to which the Government will respond in January. In this afternoon’s debate, I will address some of the more significant points that the committee raised and I will focus on the principles of the bill and the positive changes that it will bring to community justice in Scotland.

This is an important period for community justice in Scotland. We have made clear the Scottish Government’s commitment to reduce reoffending and the harm that it causes to individuals, families and communities. That commitment sits within our broader vision for a fairer justice system in Scotland: a vision that reflects the values of a modern and progressive nation, in which prison and, in particular, short-term sentences are used less frequently, and where there is a stronger emphasis on robust community services that are focused on actively addressing the underlying causes of offending behaviour. It is important that individuals are held to account for the offences that they have committed but thereafter are supported to be responsible contributors to our communities.

The new model for community justice supports that vision by delivering better outcomes for communities through reducing reoffending and supporting desistance. In demonstrating those better outcomes, the new model supports the increased use of effective community sentences, the reduced use of short prison sentences and the improved reintegration of people who have offended back into their communities.

Since 2012, we have worked closely with our stakeholders to design a new model for community justice that delivers a community solution to achieving improved outcomes, preventing and reducing further offending, and supporting desistance. The Community Justice (Scotland) Bill provides the legislative framework for that model.

It is important for members to note that the new model places decision making locally with those who know their communities best, who understand the problems that are unique to their area, and who will be most affected by community justice issues that relate to both victims and people with a history of offending. However, for those, including committee members, who wish to see a strong direction at national level, local planning, delivery and collaboration will be complemented by national arrangements that provide profile, leadership and strategic direction for the sector.

I will provide a little more detail. The strategic planning and delivery of community justice services will take place at the local level. Duties will be placed on local statutory partners to engage with communities and the third sector to identify and plan for the key priorities in the local area. The local arrangements will be complemented by leadership at national level on a parity with that provided for the custodial sector. A new public body, named community justice Scotland, will provide that leadership and work closely with community justice partners, the third sector and a range of other parties.

Community justice Scotland will generate enhanced opportunities for innovation, learning and development, and it will provide independent professional assurance to the Scottish ministers and local authority leaders on the collective achievement of community justice outcomes across Scotland, including improvement support where required. The national strategy will provide a vision for community justice in Scotland. It will help partners to prioritise the key areas that they will address in partnership, through an approach that is both outcome focused and evidence based. In that way, the strategy will facilitate and drive improvement.

A set of common outcomes will be agreed to ensure that we are working together to achieve what the evidence tells us will reduce the chance of a person reoffending. That will bring transparency and clarity to our progress on delivering improved results across Scotland, thereby supporting the increased use of community sentences and diversion activity.

Bringing all those elements together, the new model presents a more holistic and collaborative approach to the community justice system, which will be driven forward at both local and national levels by the common aim of securing better outcomes for people and communities across Scotland.

I turn to some of the points that the Justice Committee raised in its stage 1 report. The definition of community justice in the bill has drawn a lot of comment from stakeholders and the committee. I understand why there were calls for the definition to be broadened to include early intervention and the prevention of first-time offending. Clearly, it is important to prevent people from entering the criminal justice system in the first place.

That is why the Government has a clear focus on advancing the whole-system approach and improving life chances. The drive in community justice to reduce reoffending is part of a wider approach to promoting social justice and tackling inequality that includes action to improve early years experiences, to raise educational attainment for all and to continue to promote the whole-system approach to youth justice. A range of other policies are addressing the underlying causes of offending, such as homelessness, poverty and drug misuse.

The new national strategy for community justice will link with those other strategies to ensure that we have a joined-up approach. I am pleased that the committee has noted the Scottish Government’s position on the matter. That said, I recognise that the definition could be strengthened further, and I will explore with stakeholders the possibility of reflecting, for example, the preventative impact of diversionary activity in the definition. After all, evidence shows that diverting individuals away from the criminal justice system is, in effect, a way of preventing further offending.

There was much discussion at the Justice Committee hearings about the cluttered landscape of community justice, and the committee acknowledges that community justice is a complex area that requires the provision of a diverse range of services in order to respond to the often complex needs of people with a history of offending. That is why, in the bill, we provide for a multi-agency, collaborative approach to improving community justice outcomes for our communities. I go further by saying that the new model brings coherence to that cluttered landscape by providing for strategic direction, strong leadership and a collaborative approach to the planning, reporting and commissioning of services.

The Justice Committee has requested further clarity on the roles and responsibilities of those who will be involved in the new model to ensure that there is effective interaction. I believe that the bill makes clear who the community justice partners are, what they are required to do and who they must involve. Crucially, it sets out a participative role for communities and the third sector, and it also defines the role of community justice Scotland and confirms how and when the Scottish ministers may be engaged. The key relationships are therefore articulated in the bill.

The transition work that we are undertaking with our partners and stakeholders will provide further opportunities to be clear about roles and relationships, and that will help community justice partners to prepare for their roles and understand key processes. We are working with our partners and stakeholders to prepare guidance to aid wider understanding.

The national strategy for community justice will be vital in setting the high-level priorities and strategic direction, and I clarify that it is being developed with stakeholders. A number of events have been organised across Scotland, and to date they have involved around 400 partners and stakeholders including the third sector, people with convictions, community planning partners and MSPs. Additional sessions will be held to ensure that we capture the views of the general public, victims of crime, people with convictions and their families. I expect the national strategy to be published in June 2016.

I note the Justice Committee’s concern that the outcomes for community justice should be framed more broadly so that reoffending rates are not the only measure of success. I would like to reassure the committee and indeed the Parliament on that point. We are developing the national outcomes for community justice with partners and stakeholders. The outcomes and associated indicators will be used by the statutory community justice partners to plan services, measure progress, report on achievements and identify any issues. Therefore, the outcomes will be vital in enabling the new model to demonstrate improvements in community justice in a transparent and consistent way. They will also be of great value to community justice Scotland in its role of driving forward the national strategy.

The outcomes are currently in draft and they are being tested in specific local areas. The draft outcomes fall into two categories: there are structural outcomes, which include for example improved public understanding, participation and confidence in community sentencing, and person-centric outcomes, which include greater equality of access to services for people with a history of offending. There is a strong correlation between equality of access to key universal services and a lowered risk of reoffending. That is why access to key universal services such as housing, employment, education and health services is represented in the draft outcomes. I hope that that provides reassurance that a truly holistic approach is being taken to the setting of common outcomes.

Also on the subject of planning, the Justice Committee has identified some confusion about how community justice planning links with wider community planning and community planning partners. The bill requires the eight statutory community justice partners to engage, plan and report collectively. Community planning partnerships are not mentioned in the bill because they are not statutory entities but the sum of their partners, so we cannot assign duties directly to them.

The Scottish Government has always set planning for community justice in the context of wider community planning. Indeed, six of the eight community justice partners are also community planning partners. The collective knowledge of CPPs supports the multi-agency, holistic approach to reducing reoffending that is at the heart of the new model. We therefore expect community planning partnerships to be at the core of the new model and community justice planning to take place using community planning structures, which will ensure alignment of planning activity.

The transition work that is already under way will help community planning partnerships and community justice partners to consider the sort of relationship that they want and to build that relationship. A number of areas are already formulating plans to collaborate with CPPs, including Fife, Highland, and Perth and Kinross.

Of course, with effective planning comes effective monitoring and accountability. I thank the Justice Committee for drawing attention to the importance of accountability arrangements and the role of community justice Scotland, so let me be clear about that as well. Local leadership and ownership of community justice are absolutely vital to the success of the new arrangements. That is why we are respecting the existing lines of accountability for the statutory community justice partners, so that they are not accountable to community justice Scotland.

Responsibility for resolving any local issues with the planning or the quality of delivery rests with the local statutory community justice partners. Should partners request assistance on issues that they have not been able to resolve locally, community justice Scotland can offer support and advice. Should an annual report indicate a persistent issue, community justice Scotland could make recommendations to the Scottish ministers.

The bill does not specify what such recommendations might be, as it is a matter for community justice Scotland to propose and for the Scottish ministers to determine what action to take at that time, should the need arise. However, I anticipate that recommendations could include the need for an improvement plan and for formal inspection, and in exceptional circumstances there could be a recommendation to establish a rescue task group. Those arrangements will be reflected in guidance in due course.

Finally, I want to recognise the important role of the third sector in community justice. The third sector, including victims organisations, is vital to the successful planning and delivery of effective services for individuals. The sector has made a long-standing contribution to the delivery of outcomes for community justice at local and national levels. The Justice Committee highlighted concerns about the nature of the sector’s participation in community justice as currently provided for in the bill, and I understand those concerns. I have listened to the committee’s concerns and to the concerns of the third sector, and I am now seeking to amend the bill to strengthen the third sector’s role and participation. I hope that I will be in a position to be clear on the how of that in the near future.

As the committee recognised, any new model for community justice must achieve an appropriate balance between strong national leadership to drive forward improvement in outcomes and local flexibility in relation to the delivery of services. I believe that the new model that is proposed in the bill strikes the right balance. It will deliver a community solution to improved outcomes for community justice, to reducing reoffending and to supporting desistance. Therefore, it is first and foremost a local model.

We recognise that local areas are best placed to determine the outcomes that are the priority in their local area and the activities required to achieve those outcomes. Those arrangements will be complemented by community justice Scotland working with local partners to provide leadership at the national level, to promote innovation and learning, to provide assurance that outcomes are being delivered, and to highlight any concerns regarding local delivery to ministers.

I look forward to working with members of all parties as stakeholders to secure those objectives as the bill continues through Parliament.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Community Justice (Scotland) Bill.