Criminal Justice Programme Board minutes: May 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Cat Dalrymple (Chair, Scottish Government (SG))
• Anna Donald (TCP 1 Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), SG)
• Denise Swanson (TCP 3 SRO, SG)
• Ruth McCallum (TCP 3 Programme Manager, SG)
• Fiona Cameron (TCP 3 Programme Director, SG)
• Amy Wilson (Head of Justice Analytical Services, SG)
• Gemma Fraser (Community Justice Scotland (CJS))
• (D) Andrew Laing (Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS))
• Patrick Campbell (Police Scotland)
• Marie-Louise Fox (Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB))
• Dene Burke (Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS))
• David Fraser (SCTS)
• Naomi Gregg (Head of Justice Portfolio Management Office (PMO), SG)
• Karl Champion (PMO Senior Officer, SG)

*(D) denotes deputy

Apologies

• ACC Wendy Middleton (Police Scotland)
• Jennifer Harrower (COPFS)
• Linda Pollock (Scottish Prison Service)
• Mike Milligan (SCTS)
• Karyn McCluskey (CJS)
• Scott Ross (Scottish Police Authority)

Items and actions

Agenda

1    Welcome and introductions 
2    Key notes and actions
3    Action and decision log review 
4    Transformational Change Programme (TCP) 1 highlight report update
5    TCP 3 highlight report update 
6    TCP 3 evolving and redefining
7    Any other business

Welcome and introductions

The Chair welcomed members to the tenth meeting of the Criminal Justice Programme Board. The Chair also noted the recent work on public service reform and highlighted the importance of the TCPs in light of this.

Key notes and actions

The previous key notes and actions were circulated on 11 March, no comments or feedback were received so these are considered agreed and signed off for publication.

Action and decision log review

The Portfolio Management Office (PMO) Senior Officer talked through selected open and on hold actions:

1-2102 – Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to present draft terms of reference and business case for the Virtual Custody project at the next board meeting.
The business case is still in development so this action will be carried forward to a future meeting. The board discussed the need to consider system efficiencies when developing business cases rather than just focusing on qualitative benefits.

3-2102 – TCP 1 Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) to share implementation plan for the Trauma Informed Justice for Victims and Witnesses Framework with the board.
This action is ongoing and the board will be kept informed of progress as part of the regular highlight report update on TCP 1.

8-2102 – Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and Police Scotland to share weekly data regarding journey times and case marking.
Case marking data is routinely discussed and shared. In terms of journey times there is a lack of system level data available which is a significant gap. As TCP 3 is redefined the programme board would like agreement on the baseline evidence to demonstrate whether journey times are reducing.

10-2102 – Scottish Government (SG) colleagues to share plans on the future capacity of legal profession.
The report for this is still being finalised and will be shared with board members once it is signed off.

13-2102 – TCP 3 Programme Director to provide the board with the business case for the System Health Check proof of concept project. 
This project is currently paused. This is linked to a request from the Criminal Justice Board (CJB) for a dashboard which covers most of the scope of System Health Check. This dashboard is in development with analytical colleagues. 

14-2102 - Board members to re-read the Board Evolution summary report and respond to the Annex within so that progress can be made with strengthening the programme board by drafting a new terms of reference (ToR).
There were no responses to this request so SROs and the PMO agreed to draft a new ToR drawing on the report.

TCP 1 highlight report update

The TCP 1 SRO relayed a status updated on the programme, noting that significant resource issues have limited progress. This included a part time Programme Manager being assigned in the near future, work around victim impact statements being largely paused due to resourcing issues and links to the victims and witnesses portal. The Pre-Recorded Evidence project is moving through its implementation and published a revised implementation plan in April. The Victims Taskforce is having its next meeting on 20 June, and at its last meeting of November 2023 it established the Improving Communications for Victims workstream. 

The projects within the programme have used different approaches but we are looking to pull these together into a programme-wide business case over the next couple of months to enable systematic monitoring and reporting.

Action 1-2105 – TCP 1 Programme Manager to develop programme level business case when they take up post.

TCP 3 highlight report update

The TCP 3 Programme Manager presented a programme level highlight report to the board. Following a proposal to change the scope of TCP 3 the CJB had requested further consideration and more detail about the future direction of the programme, this will be discussed at agenda item six. Work has been progressing on a delivery roadmap, a draft of which was shared with programme board members ahead of the meeting. The idea is for this to show the combined delivery plans for all projects on a single page.

The board discussed how it was useful to see a visual roadmap but it also highlights the need for greater engagement and collaboration across partners to ensure the programme is correctly scoped. A specific example is the work ongoing around direct measures such as police warnings and fixed penalty notices being automated, which has the potential to deliver significant efficiencies but is not highlighted under this programme.

Action 2-2105 – TCP 3 Programme Manager to engage with partners and further develop the delivery roadmap to include all relevant projects.

The board also discussed whether project managers are clear that this board is a route to escalate specific system-level issues for discussion and whether the board is clear that this is their role. It was noted that a key part of redefining TCP 3 is that projects do not necessarily see this board as an escalation route and the paper being discussed under agenda item six includes a suggestion on how to refresh the terms of reference for the board to more accurately align with the position in practice.

TCP 3 evolving and redefining

The TCP 3 Programme Director began by talking about the work ongoing to develop the target operating model (TOM) for the programme. Following a successful workshop on 8 March a write up was produced and share ahead of this meeting. There was broad consensus from the board about the core principles which should underpin development of the TOM, which included:

• needs to be person-centred and trauma-informed
• increased use of virtual but not always by default
• national by default

Key themes about effective collaboration included:

• prioritisation should happen at system level
• funding model should support collaborative transformation
• need for a single aligned delivery plan
• pilots should be better defined and shorter
• need for better data to support understanding of demand
• more consideration at outset of projects on how impact will be measured

In terms of scope gaps, consensus emerged that the following projects/initiatives were highly relevant to the TOM but currently missing from the scope of the programme: 

• Virtual Custodies
• Court loading and scheduling
• Standard Prosecution Report (SPR) Project
• Legal Aid Reform

The suggested next steps are that TOM work continues to develop these themes and encourage collaborative working to make progress against some of the issues identified in the workshop. Board members had no further comment and were in agreement with the approach set out in the paper. There was support for a gateway review at a future point. 

Action 3-2105 – TCP 3 Programme Manager to continue to develop the TOM and engage with partners to address the issues raised at the workshop.

The TCP 3 Programme Director presented a paper on evolving and redefining TCP 3. It is clear that the programme needs to provide a consistent, data-supported narrative the work being done to reduce journey times and this paper is an evolution of a previous paper presented to the CJB. The evolved paper sets out the issues with the current programme approach as well as the value the programme could provide. If the board are minded to progress with the TCP 3 approach outlined in the paper there would need to be a commitment to the following principles/ways of working:

• project reports are shared regularly to support the board timetable
• data which demonstrates project impacts are shared for the purpose of TCP 3 programme reporting
• support the development of a TCP 3 programme business case and other essential programme elements
• support a session for project leads to discuss long term system improvements with Sheriffs Principal 

The next steps as set out in the evolved paper are:

• develop proposals for a Project Lead session, to include engagement with Sheriff Principals
• approach the Law Society of Scotland (LSS) and/or Scottish Solicitor Bar Association (SSBA) to invite proposals for their involvement
• revise the terms of reference to redefine the purpose of the programme and the role of the programme board and the CJB as the sponsoring group
• review the reporting arrangements and information shared by projects to ensure that the TCP 3 programme has the necessary information and data to effectively present a TCP 3 programme status and TCP 3 delivery roadmap

Board members discussed the value in a lot of the suggestions and are keen to explore this with Sheriff Principals. The board also agreed with the need for a forum where everything that impacts on the system as a whole is discussed and how this board should be it. The board would like to see a clear governance and escalation process, highlighting that communication is vital and there is a need to look at how to enhance the profile of the TCPs and the ongoing work of the programme. 

Action 4-2105 – PMO and TCP 1 and 3 SROs to now work on redrafting the terms of reference for this board.

There was some discussion about a potential gateway review for the TCP 3 programme, however it was agreed that other avenues should be explored first and that the TCP 3 programme is not ready for an external gateway review at this stage. Board members agreed to revisit this proposal at a later date.

The board also highlighted the need to think more about projects that are in scope but don’t see themselves as part of the programme. It would be useful to develop an engagement plan for this and understand what the projects are doing as well as highlight how the programme can add value.

Action 5-2105 – SCTS to engage with judicial leads to consider how judiciary-led project outcomes can be aligned with the programme.

Action 6-2105 – TCP 3 Programme Director to consider engagement with other project leads.

It was also noted that the legal profession is engaging effectively with some projects at local level. However, in terms of this board we are focusing on organisations responsible for delivery so there is a question around what role the LSS and SSBA would play. However, it was agreed that it would be helpful to invite those organisations to offer a view on how they might engage with the programme.

Action 7-2105 – TCP 3 Programme Director to engage with LSS and the SSBA to invite their view on engagement with the programme. 

Any other business

The Chair provided a brief update on the communications work across the TCPs. Members were informed that progress is underway and it is anticipated there will be a more substantive update including content for review at the next meeting.

Action 8-2105 – PMO to present on communications pieces at the next board meeting.