National Community Justice Strategy and Performance Framework: impact assessments

National Strategy for Community Justice and Delivery Plan: Equality Impact Assessment

Title of Policy/Programme

National Strategy for Community Justice (Revision) and the accompanying Delivery Plan

National Strategy for Community Justice

National Strategy for Community Justice: Delivery Plan

Summary of aims and desired outcomes of policy

The revised National Strategy for Community Justice (the strategy) sets the national direction for community justice by building on the progress made to date.

The strategy focuses on setting out four national aims for community justice, and priority actions which the Scottish Government and community justice partners should take over the duration of the strategy. It is accompanied by a delivery plan to ensure implementation and drive towards actions at a national, as well as local, level. Community justice partners have a statutory duty to have regard to the strategy and work collaboratively to improve community justice outcomes across Scotland.

The revised strategy recognises that there will always be a place for prison and that public protection is paramount – it equally recognises the evidence that community-based interventions and sentences can be more effective than short-term custodial sentences in reducing reoffending and assisting with rehabilitation, leading to fewer victims and safer communities.

The four national aims of the strategy are:

1. Optimise the use of diversion and intervention at the earliest opportunity.

2. Ensure that robust and high quality community interventions and public protection arrangements are consistently available across Scotland.

3. Ensure that services are accessible and available to address the needs of individuals accused or convicted of an offence.

4. Strengthen the leadership, engagement, and partnership working of local and national community justice partners.

Our ambition for the strategy is that it should promote equality and have a positive impact on outcomes for people who share one or more of the protected characteristics (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation) and other vulnerable or disadvantaged groups.

The purpose of the accompanying delivery plan is to expand on the strategy by setting out a number of tangible, time-limited deliverables, detailing exactly what work will be undertaken to drive improvement nationally for each of the aims and priority actions contained in the strategy.

The delivery plan has been prepared in consultation with representatives of community justice partners and its contents reflect the pressure that delivery partners are under. When developing the delivery plan, we have focused principally on opportunities for enhancing partnership working, helping to ensure the spread of best practice, and on ensuring greater visibility for ongoing work.

The delivery plan will be continually monitored and updated twice a year. Progress towards the deliverables will be monitored by a Community Justice Programme Board which brings together community justice partners at a national level.

As with the strategy, the delivery plan is designed to complement the Scottish Government’s Vision for Justice in Scotland published in 2022, which sets out our vision for a just, safe and resilient Scotland.

The revised strategy was published on 30 June 2022, and its accompanying delivery plan was published on 23 June 2023.

Directorate: Directorate for Justice

Executive Summary

An EQIA was undertaken in connection with the revision of the National Strategy for Community Justice and the development of the accompanying Delivery Plan to consider the potential impacts across the protected characteristics of the provisions included in the strategy.

The core of the EQIA comprised of a desk based review of key datasets maintained by the Scottish Government and external organisations. The potential impact of the policy on each of the protected equality groups was considered.

Community justice is principally about organisations working together to ensure that people who have offended address the underlying causes of their behaviour, and pay back to the community where appropriate. It aims to encourage rehabilitation, reduce reoffending, and protect the public, leading to fewer victims and safer communities.

The strategy therefore has the potential to impact any person who comes into contact with the justice system and people with different protected characteristics may experience the justice system differently, as touched upon through this assessment.

For example, the strategy may impact on those who have offended or have been accused of offending, victims of crime and the professionals and practitioners working within the sector.

In developing the EQIA for this policy the Scottish Government is mindful of the three needs of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) - eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The ongoing implementation of the strategy and the delivery plan will continue to consider the equality impacts of this work. We will refer back to this document following publication to ensure that this work is predicated on an understanding of the relevant equality considerations.

Background

The current model for Community Justice came into operation on 1 April 2017, underpinned by the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (the Act), which places duties on a group of statutory partners to engage in community justice planning and to report against a set of nationally-determined outcomes.

As per section 16 of the Act, the Scottish Ministers reviewed the original strategy published in 2016 before 24 November 2021. Following this review, the consultation analysis report was published and proposals for the revised strategy were developed and consulted on. The consultation responses informed the finalisation of the strategy. The revised strategy was published on 30 June 2022, and supersedes the 2016 strategy.

The strategy sets out four national aims for community justice, and 13 priority actions which the Scottish Government and community justice partners should seek to deliver over the duration of the strategy. The revised strategy complements the Scottish Government’s Vision for Justice in Scotland, published in 2022, which sets out our vision for a just, safe & resilient Scotland. It contributes to the national outcome on Communities – in particular its focus on living in communities which are safe.

Subsequently, a delivery plan was developed and published on 23 June 2023 to drive forward implementation of the strategy at a national level. The delivery plan sets out a number of tangible, time-limited deliverables, detailing exactly what work will be undertaken to drive improvement for each of the aims and priority actions contained in the strategy.

The delivery plan will be continually monitored and updated twice a year. Progress towards the deliverables will be monitored by a Community Justice Programme Board which brings together community justice partners at a national level.

The Scope of the EQIA

The EQIA assesses the impact of the strategy and delivery plan on individuals, looking at the following protected characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Sex
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Gender reassignment
• Sexual Orientation
• Race
• Religion/Belief

A variety of sources were used to gather evidence to compile this EQIA and to inform the revision of the strategy, including a public consultation and associated engagement events. There were 75 responses to the written consultation. Of these the majority (57) were received from groups/organisations. Among the organisations that responded, there was a reasonable split between national organisations, local authorities, Community Justice Partnerships (CJPs) and third sector organisations, including victims organisations. Among the local authorities and CJPs that responded, there was wide geographical coverage.

Additional evidence was also gathered from other sources, including (but not limited to):

• Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice
• Justice Social Work statistics, Scotland
• Criminal Proceedings statistics, Scotland
• National Records of Scotland – Demography Statistics
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey
• Scottish Prison Population statistics
• Supporting Offenders with Learning Difficulties (SOLD)
• What Works to Reduce Crime?: A Summary of the Evidence

Key Findings

The strategy and the accompanying delivery plan have the potential to impact any person who comes into contact with the justice system, and people with different protected characteristics may experience the justice system differently.

In shaping the policy for the revised strategy and delivery plan we have identified some positive equality impacts, and the EQIA process has provided reassurance that the strategy and delivery plan are not discriminatory and are unlikely to give rise to any issues that would adversely affect service users with protected characteristics. One area for further consideration as the strategy and delivery plan are implemented has been identified, however, in relation to the protected characteristic of disability and the pre-existing policy of increasing use of electronic monitoring. While this is expected to have a positive impact overall for this protected characteristic (in reducing the use of custody), use of electronic monitoring may present specific challenges to those with certain learning disabilities and mental health needs resulting in a potential lack of equal access. However, prior to any electronically monitored order being imposed, Justice Social Work services will have carried out a suitability assessment for the court and put in place support for the individual if needed.

The impact of the strategy and the delivery plan on service users is intended to be equally positive or equally neutral with regard to the protected characteristics. The policy intention is to promote person-centred services which will take account of the characteristics of the person in need of the services.

People serving community sentences:

The aims in the strategy may relate to anyone who is arrested in connection with an alleged criminal offence and who proceeds through the criminal justice process. Anyone accused of an offence may possess any and multiple of the protected characteristics. However, as the strategy is not targeted at a specific group, and it is anticipated that it will have a minimal impact in respect of the protected characteristics, we have given due regard to the three needs of the PSED to all characteristics as appropriate.

While measures are not targeted at a specific group, there tends to be:

- a higher percentage of males

- a high percentage of people who are unemployed and economically inactive

- a majority of people who are under 40 years old

Victims of crime:

The impact on potential victims must be considered. The types of crime which may be experienced are affected by many of the protected characteristics, including; gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, disability, and religion.

Gender has a particular impact on the way violent crime is experienced. Women are more likely than men to have experienced partner abuse (including psychological as well as physical abuse). The 2019/20 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS), however, found that for the first time since 2014/15 there has been a difference in the likelihood of experiencing violent crime by gender, with males found to have a higher likelihood (3.1%) than females (2.0%).

Hate crime in Scotland includes crime motivated by race, disability, sexual orientation, and religion. Racially motivated crime remains the most commonly reported hate crime, followed by sexual orientation aggravated crime.

The SCJS estimates that 15% of disabled people were victims of at least one crime in 2019/20, compared to 11% of non-disabled people.

The strategy and delivery plan emphasise that we want victims and families impacted by the justice system to feel heard, understood and empowered to participate in their justice journey, by providing or signposting person-centred and trauma-informed support, and helping to ensure they are safe and well.

Gaps in evidence:

We recognise that there are community justice data gaps in relation to pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, and religion or belief. However, we anticipate that our policy proposal will have minimal impact on these protected characteristics and we received no responses to the consultation that suggested otherwise. There is also a data gap in relation to disability for those serving non-custodial sentences. These data gaps may require further investigation in the future.

Recommendations and Conclusion

The evidence collected over the course of the EQIA process has highlighted evidence of known inequalities within areas which the strategy and delivery plan covers. However, the EQIA has shown the potential for an overall positive impact of the strategy on the groups identified, while highlighting an area (noted above) for which a suitability assessment is an important factor.

Relevant stakeholders (including victim support organisations, statutory community justice partners, and CJPs) were engaged with prior to and during the consultation process for developing the strategy. We have taken into account the views of stakeholders and made changes to the strategy where possible. The EQIA process will be ongoing during the implementation of the strategy and the accompanying delivery plan.