Introduction
1. The Scottish Government's Skills Strategy, " Skills for Scotland1", published in September 2007 included a commitment " to identify how best to deliver effective, integrated learning, skills and employability provision for young people and adults in or leaving the justice system".
2. This report presents the findings of the Scottish Government's Workstream Group on Offender Learning in the Community. This was one of three groups established to consider learning for:
- young offenders
- adult offenders in custody
- adult offenders in the community.
3. Each group had an independent chair, with the "In Community" group chaired by Esther Roberton supported by Harry Mennie as Project Manager. The Group included representatives from the Association of Directors of Social Work ( ADSW), the Community Justice Authorities ( CJAs), Skills Development Scotland, JobCentre Plus, the voluntary sector, and Scottish Government Employability and Skills, Learning Connections, and Community Justice Services Divisions. Full membership can be found in the Appendix. The work of the three groups was overseen by an Advisory Group and the three chairs worked closely to share ideas and common themes.
4. The remit of the "In Community" group was " to review the current position of learning within community sentences or disposals for adults aged 18 and over, to identify key strengths, weaknesses and gaps in provision and to make recommendations for sustainable improvements in outcomes."
5. The 'In the Community' Workstream Group met 5 times (from December 2008 to June 2009). At the same time the views of a range of individuals and groups were sought. These included staff and managers from Social Work and voluntary organisations, academics, service users, representatives of employers, Scotland's colleges, Learning Connections' Offender Literacies Practitioners' Network, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Director of JobCentre Plus.
6. The group also participated in a helpful and constructive visioning session with members of the other Workstream Groups and the Advisory Group.
7. Members of the group came from different perspectives yet were in broad agreement about what needed to be done to build on existing effective practice and achieve improvements in delivery and outcomes across the country. This report reflects that consensus.