National Strategy for Community Justice - review: consultation analysis

1. Executive summary

1.1 Introduction

On 27 September 2021, the Scottish Government published a targeted consultation seeking views on the current National Strategy for Community Justice (the strategy). The consultation formed part of the statutory review of the strategy.

The consultation closed on 8 November 2021, and 52 responses to the consultation were received.

The responses contributed to the Scottish Government concluding that a revised strategy was required and the responses will help to inform the development of a new strategy.

This report presents an analysis of the responses to the consultation, and sets out the Scottish Government's next steps.

1.2 Summary of responses

Overview

There was broad support for shortening and simplifying the strategy in order to make it more user-friendly, and for more specific and time-limited aims and actions than at present.

Themes from the respondents included:

• The need for accessibility and clear language to aid understanding by a wider audience
• Suggestions that different versions of the strategy or supporting sources could be produced for different audiences
• Providing greater clarity of roles, responsibilities and actions for community justice partners
• Including SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) aims and actions in the strategy
• Being cognisant of local aims, actions and capacity to deliver

Vision and mission statement

There was broad support for the current vision in the strategy, and more mixed responses in relation to the mission statement and how useful both have been at helping partners and communities to work together effectively to drive improvement in community justice.

Themes from the respondents included:

• Broad agreement with the focus and ambition of the vision
• Concerns raised over the scope and ambition of the mission statement
• Specific concerns in relation to certain wording, e.g. 'reintegration', etc.
• The need to define the scope of community justice, and alignment to other policy areas
• Areas that should be more prominently reflected in the strategy, e.g. trauma-informed practice, partnership working, pandemic recovery, etc.

Priorities

When asked about the existing priorities in the strategy, the vast majority of respondents agreed that a renewed community justice strategy still requires a focus on Improved Community Understanding and Participation, Strategic Planning and Partnership Working, Equal Access to Services and Effective Use of Evidence-Based Interventions. There were a number of comments in relation to the meaning of these priorities, as well as the benefits and challenges of delivering them.

There were more mixed views in relation to how useful the priorities have been at helping partners and communities to work together effectively to drive improvement in community justice.

Themes from the respondents included:

• Providing greater clarity of roles (including for the third sector), responsibilities and actions for community justice partners
• The connections between the priorities and the work of local, national and third sector partners and the alignment to existing structures and strategies
• The involvement of those with lived experience of the justice system, their families, victims and communities, in the planning, development and delivery of services

Principles

There was broad agreement with the principles in the current strategy with some stating that they remain helpful, clear, relevant and evidence-based, and most found them broadly useful at helping partners and communities to work together effectively to drive improvement in community justice, as they provide context and a strong starting point for partners to build on.

Themes from the respondents included:

• Areas that should be more prominently reflected in the principles, e.g. the role and needs of victims, trauma-informed practice, addressing causes of offending and supporting those in the justice system to access universal support services, etc.
• That the principles are too complex and should be shorter, sharper and more memorable
• Providing greater clarity of roles, responsibilities and actions for community justice partners

Impact of the strategy

Respondents generally felt that collaboration in the effective and strategic use of resources (including by sharing staff, expertise, information, property, and finance) across the community justice sector could be improved and raised a number of challenges to this. Respondents did however provide some good practice examples from their local areas.

The majority of respondents felt that the strategy had achieved its aim of providing a shared vision to help partners and communities to work together effectively to drive improvement in community justice and that the strategy had influenced the work of their local area/organisation to some extent. With respondents noting in particular the impact that the strategy has had in bringing some partners together and in forming community justice partnerships, difficulties with ensuring collaborative approaches and embedding the shared vision were however raised.

A number felt that the most useful element of the strategy was in establishing the shared vision, priorities and a common language for partners, whilst the least useful elements included the length, language and accessibility of the strategy and the lack of clarity of roles and responsibilities for partners.

Themes from the respondents included:

• The importance of collaborative working and the need for more clearly defined roles, responsibility and accountability for partners
• The need for a clear shared vision and definition of community justice to steer the work of partners
• The links between the national strategy and the work and planning of local areas
• The difficulty of engaging with and implementing the current strategy due to its expansive nature and length
• Challenges to improvement action related to the pandemic, funding and the consistency and availability of data
• Examples of the co-location of services in local areas for the benefit of service users

Future thinking

Respondents noted a wide range of what, in their view, are the main priorities for community justice over the next 3-5 years.

Themes from the respondents included:

• Emphasising the collaborative approach needed to implement the strategy, which should be accompanied by clear governance arrangements and responsibilities for partners and clear alignment to the Outcomes, Performance and Improvement Framework (OPIF)
• The need to continue to improve community understanding and participation, including the voice of those with lived experience
• The focus on reducing the prison population and promoting the use of community-based alternatives
• Ensuring recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that appropriate funding and resources are directed to community justice
• Addressing the underlying causes of offending, and ensuring equal access to services that are trauma-informed
• Ensuring appropriate support for victims, witnesses and families of individuals affected by the justice system
• Promoting early intervention, prevention and support for young people

1.3 Next steps

The Scottish Government has committed to developing a new community justice strategy, and it is expected that this will be published in Spring 2022, following a public consultation exercise in due course.