Meeting of the Parliament 19 November 2015
I agree with the member, and I think that all members agree, that prevention is important. The question is whether it should be part of the bill that we are considering. If we consider how community justice used to work in Scotland, we find that what is proposed is a very small change. I know that Barnardo’s highlighted in its briefing to members that the definition of the term “community justice” should include prevention, but I am content that in Scotland the definition does not include prevention—it never did, in legislation, as far as I can see.
I am happy that the minister will consider including diversionary activity, which is different because such activity will involve offenders.
I would like to change some of the wording in the bill. To start with, we could find an alternative to the word “offender”. I agree with Edinburgh Trust that “offender” is usually viewed as a negative label and contributes to the stigma that is faced by people who have committed an offence. How long should a person keep the “offender” label after they have committed an offence? Do we want people who committed an offence to be known as offenders for the rest of their lives? I ask the minister to think about that.
Pete White, from Positive Prison? Positive Futures, made the case for the term “offender” to be removed from the bill and to be replaced by—hold on, it is quite long—
“persons who have at any time been convicted of an offence”.
I am not sure about that wording. I will not be prescriptive today, but I would like to enable the minister and his team to find better wording for the people whom the bill seeks to help.
The minister knows my views on some words that I think should be in the bill. This did not make it into our report, but there is a case for recognising that we should celebrate the diversity and multiplicity of organisations that engage in community justice, instead of talking about a crowded or cluttered landscape. When I hear the words “cluttered” and “crowded”, I think about variety and diversity.
I read in the policy memorandum that the private sector has a role to play. The policy memorandum says:
“The new model draws on the characteristics identified by Scottish Government”,
which include:
“effective local partnership and collaboration that brings together public, third and private sector partners, and local communities, to deliver shared outcomes that matter to people”.
However, the minister did not mention the private sector in his opening speech. I would love the private sector to make it into the bill somehow. The minister told the committee:
“We have some good, proactive employers ... who are working with local authorities and the SPS to try to provide employment opportunities for individuals who leave the prison estate”.—[Official Report, Justice Committee, 3 November 2015; c 52.]
At lunch time I met someone who is on the road to recovery, who pointed out that we speak only to the third sector. Where are all the people in the private sector who can give such people work?
I like the bill, because I am a great fan of enabling legislation. How the provisions work in practice will not be for us to decide. An enabling bill is the best way to tackle reoffending.
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