Meeting of the Parliament 11 February 2016
My amendment 14 seeks to remove paragraph (c) from section 13(2), which provides that the national strategy in relation to community justice
“may contain such material in relation to community justice as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate, including in particular—
(a) a statement of the aims of community justice,
(b) action that the Scottish Ministers propose to take, or consider that others should take, to achieve, or support the achievement of, those aims”.
Paragraph (c), which was inserted at stage 2, amends the list of the material that the Scottish ministers may consider appropriate for inclusion in the national strategy for community justice to include information about action that ministers are taking or propose that others take in relation to early intervention, diversion from prosecution and youth offending. I understand that the intention behind the amendment at stage 2 was to ensure that the national strategy covers early intervention to prevent offending and the other items that are listed.
At stage 2, I lodged amendments to broaden the definition of community justice to cover persons who have been arrested, which will ensure that support can be provided to persons at an earlier stage than the point of conviction. The definition also covers those who are 16 or 17 and are subject to a compulsory supervision order on the ground that they have committed an offence. Therefore, those persons are covered by the definition of community justice and will be reflected in the national strategy.
However, it is important to note that the bill is about planning for community justice for persons who have been, among other things, given an alternative to prosecution, such as diversion. Let me be clear that the bill does not provide for diversion. That is entirely a matter for the procurator fiscal, and it would not be appropriate for ministers to propose to take action, or to propose action that the procurator fiscal should take, in relation to diversion from prosecution.
14:30I said at stage 2 that the drive in community justice to reduce re-offending was part of our wider approach to promoting social justice and tackling inequality, which includes action to improve early years experiences, to raise educational attainment for all and to continue to promote the whole-systems approach to youth justice.
I gave the Justice Committee my assurance that the national strategy for community justice would, naturally, link with a range of Scottish Government strategies to ensure a joined-up approach. I reiterate that point from the debate on an earlier group. However, for the purposes of the bill, community justice stops short of including the matters that are described in paragraph (c) of section 13(2). Although they are clearly linked to community justice, the strategy is about community justice and not those matters.
For those reasons, my amendment 14 seeks to remove paragraph (c) of section 13(2) so that the content of the national strategy will be informed by the broader definition of community justice, which references diversion, early intervention and matters relating to youth justice. I urge members to support the amendment, with the reassurance that the linkages between primary prevention and the secondary and tertiary prevention that the bill covers will be established in guidance alongside the bill.
My amendment 15 seeks to amend paragraph (d) of section 13(2), which was inserted at stage 2 to specify that the strategy might include action that the Scottish ministers consider that others should take to facilitate access to housing services for people on release from serving custodial sentences.
I fully recognise that suitable housing as well as support to sustain a tenancy or owner occupation, where relevant, are vital to provide stability to people who have a history of offending. However, I also believe that access to other services—such as healthcare, welfare and employment assistance, to name but a few—is also vital in supporting people to desist from committing further offences. Therefore, amendment 15 replaces the specific reference to “housing services” in section 13(2)(d) with a reference to “relevant general services”. I have discussed that with Alison McInnes in advance of the debate.
Amendment 15 would mean that the national strategy may include material that relates to action that should be taken to facilitate access to relevant general services rather than just housing services. My amendment 16 then makes it clear that the term “relevant general services” has the same meaning as in section 1. As members will recognise, the new definition of that term includes housing, as we discussed in the debate on group 1. However, crucially, although that puts housing services into the bill, section 1 does not create a hierarchy of services.
For the same reasons, amendment 18 also replaces the specific reference to “housing services” in section 15(3)(a) with a reference to “relevant general services”. That means that the national performance framework may contain material regarding performance including, in particular, other indicators that may be used to measure performance to facilitate access to relevant general services rather than just housing services.
Amendment 19 again makes it clear that the term “relevant general services” has the same meaning as in section 1, which, as I just said, includes housing.
I hope that that reassures members.
I move amendment 14.
Amendment 14 agreed to.
Amendments 15 and 16 moved—[Paul Wheelhouse] and agreed to.