Meeting of the Parliament 08 November 2023
Cashback for communities has reinvested the proceeds of crime in our communities, thereby supporting more than 1 million young people, including many in Mid Scotland and Fife. In Burntisland, the Shell Twilight initiative, along with Scottish Sports Futures, has delivered weekly indoor physical activity sessions alongside wellbeing and mental health advice and speakers. Scottish Sports Futures has also supported young people from Stirling and Fife on residential trips to Auchengillan Outdoor Centre, which for many of them has been their first time away from home. Barnardo’s has provided the eight-week “Fit to work” employability programme, which has helped to build confidence and to support participants in securing qualifications and work placements.
As others have said, cashback for communities has been running for 15 years, with the most recent phase having received more than 150 applications, although only 29 organisations will benefit from the round of grants. Clearly, there is huge demand for Government support, especially in the current circumstances.
Although the programme for government commits to continuing to reinvest money through cashback for communities, does that have to mean more of the same, or is this an opportunity to evaluate and expand the process, and to look at how well it is delivering its aims? Of course, we welcome the hard work of the partner organisations, but that does not mean that there is no room for improvement. It is welcome that some organisations are new to the current phase, including Starcatchers Productions, which will work with Fife Gingerbread to deliver creative play opportunities for families through the cashback for young parents programme.
However, many of the funded organisations are national bodies, some of which are receiving significant proportions of the available finance. We need to be confident that the funding is delivering an impact locally in communities across the whole of Scotland, and that there is not the unintended consequence of bids from more specialised local organisations missing out. Perhaps the key to that is to increase the overall funding, but I am also interested to find out more about how the programme is being evaluated and how it could be improved.
Although there are employment and early intervention programmes—I recognise the need for those—there should be greater prioritisation of diversionary schemes and activities to engage those who are most at risk of offending.
For a number of years, Kingdom Offroad Motorcycle Club has been working to reduce illegal and antisocial motorcycling in Fife communities, including through the club’s “Through the Gears” youth initiative, which is targeted at those who are furthest from mainstream education and are most at risk of committing antisocial behaviour. Fife Council recently agreed funding for the project, which has been unable to attract money from the cashback for communities programme fund this year. I have worked with Kingdom Offroad for a number of years and have seen how its activity has grown and how it can have a meaningful impact.
On a recent visit, during which I even got on an offroad bike—I will not tell more of that story—we discussed how the proceeds of crime, other than cash, can be used to benefit such programmes. For example, could we consider systematic ways to ensure that bikes that are confiscated by the police can be utilised by organisations such as Kingdom Offroad, rather than being auctioned or destroyed?
Although the cashback for communities programme is said to be unique to Scotland, there are similar schemes elsewhere. Merseyside Police has a community cashback fund that is used to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour, and offers diversion from criminal gangs. Essex Police works with a local community foundation to provide grants to charities and voluntary organisations. Since 1998, the North Wales Police and Community Trust has supported initiatives across the region that improve people’s quality of life by reducing crime and fear of crime, using cash that has been seized from criminals and recycled for the public good. Therefore, there are opportunities to share knowledge and good practice across the UK, so I encourage the minister to engage in such discussions.
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