Covering Letter
Criminal Justice Directorate
Community Justice Services Division
T: 0131-244 5438 F: 0131-244 3548
E:Brian.cole@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Directors of Social Work/Chief Social Work Officers
Criminal Justice Social Work Managers
Crown Office
Scottish Courts Service
Chief Officers, CJAs
Our ref: Justice Circular number JD/04/2009
27 February 2009
Dear Sir/Madam
GUIDANCE ON COMMUNITY SERVICE TO SUPPORT REVISED NATIONAL STANDARDS
1. The Scottish Government in conjunction with its partners, has commissioned a major review of the existing National Objectives and Standards for Criminal Justice Social Work. The new standards are designed to identify a set of core objectives and principles and expectations for all services and aim to reflect the need for increased focus on meaningful outcomes rather than inputs and outputs.
2. The new high level standards, which are due to be published later in 2009, will be underpinned by detailed supporting guidance for individual areas of practice, which are reflective of and compatible with the new standards. Much of this guidance already exists in the shape of the relevant sections of the existing standards, justice department circulars, practice manuals, etc but work is being undertaken to ensure that these remain fit for purpose and where necessary are adjusted to reflect the focus of the new standards. Work on the first of these guidance sections, Community Service, has now been completed and is enclosed with this covering letter.
3. "Protecting Scotland: Fair, Fast and Flexible Justice", published in December 2008, set out the Government's aspirations in respect of paying back to communities and the new guidance is intended to reflect these objectives with particular regard to early start of work placements and more speedy completion of orders. A principal aim of the guidance, which has been produced by a working group comprising local authority criminal justice service managers/community service managers, is to bring about a more consistent approach across Scotland to operational delivery arrangements of interventions involving payback to local communities.
4. Additional funding has been made available as part of the section 27 grant allocations to Community Justice Authorities for 2009-10 to support delivery of the objectives set out in the guidance. An audit of current performance in relation to commencement and completion of community service orders has recently been carried out and will be repeated in 12 months time to measure the impact of the additional funding and the new guidance.
Notification
5. Criminal Justice Managers are asked to bring this guidance to the attention of all staff involved in the delivery of Community Service Orders and unpaid work as a result of probation orders. As agreed with ADSW, authorities are being provided with sufficient hard copy versions of the guidance to allow all offices to have a reference copy. The guidance is also being made available on CD Rom and can also be downloaded from the following web address: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/12/20475/49352
6. It is recognised that with certain legislative changes in prospect and specifically the intention to subsume Community Service Orders within the new Community Payback Sentence it will be necessary to revisit this guidance at an early date to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. The wider National Standards exercise will in due course result in a need for more radical changes to the format and branding of the documentation but for the purposes of the immediate exercise it is intended that the guidance should replace the Community Service Orders section in the existing National Standards ringbinders.
Training
7. It is intended that early training events will be held for all staff members involved in the delivery of orders involving payback within each CJA area for the purposes of familiarisation with the new guidance. Staff will be invited to these events by their local CJA Training and Development Officers. A wider series of training events will take place at a later date as part of the broader National Standards exercise.
Contact Point
8. Enquiries about this Circular should be addressed in the first instance to Charlie O'Neill, Justice Directorate, Community Justice Services Division, Room GWR, St Andrews House, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG (Telephone number 0131 244 3549).
Yours faithfully
BRIAN COLE