National Community Justice Strategy and Performance Framework: impact assessments

National Strategy for Community Justice and Delivery Plan: Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)

National Strategy for Community Justice (published 30 June 2022)

National Strategy for Community Justice: Delivery Plan (published 23 June 2023)

Step One – Develop a Clear Understanding of your Objectives:

• What are the objectives of the policy, strategy or service?
• Do you need to consult?
• How are islands identified for the purpose of the policy, strategy or service?
• What are the intended impacts/outcomes and how do these potentially differ in the islands?
• Is the policy, strategy or service new?

The revised National Strategy for Community Justice (the strategy) supersedes the original version published in 2016. The revised strategy sets the national direction for community justice by building on the progress made to date.

The strategy has been the subject of two public consultations, a series of associated virtual workshop sessions, and numerous engagements with relevant partner organisations. A broad range of stakeholders have therefore been engaged, including 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.

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

One of the core ambitions in the strategy is to ensure consistency of access to services across Scotland. We however acknowledge the differences between geographies across Scotland, including island communities, and recognise that flexibility is required for delivery in order to respond to local needs.

The purpose of the 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 does not currently focus on areas of work which would require significant new investment, however future iterations will seek, where possible, to build upon the existing deliverables to identify new projects that accord with the aims of the strategy.

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.

Step Two – Gather your data and identify your stakeholders:

• What data is available about the current situation in the islands?
• Who are your key Stakeholders?
• How does any existing data differ between islands?
• Are there any existing design features or mitigations in place?

At the last census (2011), a total of 93 islands in Scotland were inhabited, with a total population of 103,700 (2% of the total population of Scotland). There are three island local authorities: Orkney, Shetland, and Na h-Eileanan Siar. Local authorities such as Argyll and Bute, Highland, and North Ayrshire, have inhabitable offshore islands within their boundary areas. Of these, Argyll and Bute and Highland had the largest populations 15,105 and 10,349 respectively. North Ayrshire was the next at 6,036, and the rest are under 10.^[1]

The population for the Island Local Authorities in 2021^[2] was 26,640 for Na h-Eileanan Siar, 22,940 for Shetland Islands and 22,540 for Orkney Islands. This was about 1.3% of Scotland’s population in 2021.

The crime rate of the islands is generally much lower compared to the Scotland rate for 2020-21. Scotland’s total number of recorded crimes per 10,000 population was 524. For the island authorities, this is 165, 199 and 233 per 10,000 people from Orkney, Shetland, and Na h-Eileanan Siar respectively. For Argyll and Bute, Highland, and North Ayrshire the rate was 352, 394 and 522 respectively.^[3]

None of the island local authorities have a prison situated on them. Like all local authorities in Scotland they have justice social work services. These services provide support to and in relation to people before conviction, after conviction, and in other justice-related contexts (for example diversion from prosecution) and involve services in custody or in the community.

The community order rates per 10,000 population for community payback orders imposed in 2019-20 was 22, 27, and 44 per 10,000 for Na h-Eileanan Siar, Shetland Islands, and Orkney Islands respectively. The rates for Na h-Eileanan Siar and Shetland Islands were much lower than the Scotland total of 44 per 10,000, while for Orkney Islands it was much the same. During the pandemic the order rates for Scotland decreased to 31.5 per 10,000 in 2021-22. A decrease in order rates was seen in the island authorities during this time. In 2021-22, order rates per 10,000 population for community payback orders imposed was 20, 19 and 25 per 10,000 for Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands respectively.

The order rates for the island authorities tend to fluctuate more year on year due to the smaller numbers of orders. For the last five years since 2021-22, the number of community payback orders have ranged from^[4]:

Na h-Eileanan Siar: 9 to 25

Orkney Islands: 17 to 44

Shetland Islands: 21 to 37

Currently the cost of transport on the islands is higher relative to income than in the rest of Scotland.^[5] The national plan for Scotland’s islands describes travel to some islands as complex and more expensive than travel elsewhere. The cost, time and complexity of travel arrangements to some island communities could impact on people returning to the islands from custody or court.

The Shetland Community Justice Plan highlights the support that is available to those released from custody, much of which is supported by volunteers^[6]. In addition, there are several national organisations which work across the whole of Scotland to provide post-release support.

There is no definitive mapping available which sets out all local/national projects that provide services within island communities.

No information is available in relation to how existing data differs between the different islands within relevant local authorities.

A broad range of partners contribute to the achievement of community justice outcomes, including statutory partners as defined in the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (the Act), communities, and the third sector, who play a vital role both in the planning and delivery of services.

The statutory partners for community justice as outlined in the Act are:

• Chief Constable of Police Scotland
• Health Boards
• Integration Joint Boards for Health and Social Care
• Local Authorities
• Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
• Scottish Ministers (i.e. Scottish Prison Service, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service)
• Skills Development Scotland

Community Justice Scotland also holds a statutory duty to monitor the performance of each local authority area in the achievement of nationally and locally-determined community justice outcomes. It has powers to identify and promote good practice; provide advice, guidance and assistance to the community justice partnerships; and to make national and local improvement recommendations where appropriate.

SG officials also frequently engage with both COSLA and Social Work Scotland who have provided input on the potential impact of the strategy on local authorities and have highlighted issues around geographical variation of services, which have been taken into account.

Step Three – Consultation:

• Is there any information already gathered through previous engagements?
• How will you carry out your consultation and in what timescales? Public meetings/Local Authorities/key stakeholders
• What questions will you ask when considering how to address island realities?
• Separate consultation events for island communities/Local Authorities?

A public consultation on proposals for the strategy ran from 13 April 2022 to 25 May 2022. While none of the questions specifically asked about potential impacts of the proposals on people in rural or island communities, some responses did contain information in this regard.

Overall, respondents to this consultation generally supported the national aims for the revised strategy. In addition, the majority of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with all of the priority actions associated with the national aims. Just over half (56%) of respondents felt that the four national aims captured the most important aspects of community justice. Some respondents however felt that parts of the strategy required further clarity and that the aims could include more of a focus on victims of crime, and trauma-informed and person-centred approaches. Where applicable, respondents also provided suggestions for improving each priority action.

There were also several recurring themes mentioned by respondents including reflections on the need for collaborative work and resources to meet the aims of the strategy, and recognition of the need for consistency of access to services, but that flexibility is required for delivery in order to respond to local needs.

Seven virtual workshop sessions were held during the consultation periods for the strategy and the events were attended by a broad range of stakeholders, including social workers, community justice co-ordinators, third sector organisations (including victims organisations) and national community justice partners, including from rural and island areas. Between 25 and 50 stakeholders attended each session, and groups of 8-10 participated in facilitated discussions, to supplement the written responses to the consultations.

Responses in the consultation were received from:

• Argyll and Bute Community Justice Partnership
• Community Justice Ayrshire Partnership
• COSLA
• Highland Council
• North Ayrshire Health And Social Care Partnership
• Orkney Islands Council - Orkney Health and Care - Community Justice Partnership
• Shetland Islands Council - Community Planning & Development
• Social Work Scotland

In relation to how the strategy might impact on island communities, Orkney responded that:

‘In Orkney we do well and have close working links. The challenge was not so much Aim 1 but how we implement it locally in Orkney. We don't have access to the same intervention opportunities and services as larger areas in the central belt. Again in Aim 2 there is a need for a consistent approach across our communities, however taking account of local dynamics. Interventions perhaps not available in more remote areas or areas out with the central belt consequently some interventions will not be applied consistently.’

In relation to achieving MAT standards in an island community, Orkney said:

‘Achieving the MAT standards is a challenge for us in Orkney and it must also be recognised that substance misuse and Mental Health Services have a wider remit than the justice aspect.’

Aim 2 received comments from those in island and rural communities.

Shetland responded that: ‘the use of ‘consistent’ community interventions – rurality and available resources should be taken into consideration. Consistency in relation to service provision is not practical or appropriate as a blanket approach when considering rural/island areas. Consistency in relation to outcomes for individuals is a core aim of community justice, how this achieved may not be consistent’.

Another respondent in relation to Aim 2 said: ‘We agree with the idea that services should be consistent, but as a rural community would need support to achieve that’.

Step Four – Assessment:

• Does your assessment identify any unique impacts on island communities? (Demographic, Economic, Gaelic, Social)

As previously stated, we recognise that crime rate on the islands is generally lower than that of Scotland as a whole. This, combined with the relatively low population of the islands, means that there may not be the range of community justice services (particularly specialist services) which may be available in a larger local authority area.

• Does your assessment identify any potential barriers or wider impacts?

We recognise that the provision of community justice services to individuals (including victims, survivors, those with lived experience of the justice system and their families), may be more limited and/or that individuals may have to travel further in order to access these services (which as stated, may have a cost/time impact). This may make it more difficult for island communities (and rural mainland communities) to implement some parts of the strategy and delivery plan, particularly with regard to consistency and range of services, though both documents have been designed to be flexible rather than overly prescriptive.

• How will you address these?

We are satisfied that the high level national aims and priority actions set out in the strategy, and the deliverables set out in the delivery plan, are appropriate at a national level. In relation to potential barriers to implementation in island and other rural communities (particularly with regard to consistency and range of services), we intend to take a flexible approach when monitoring progress, recognising that while relevant, person-centred support should be available across Scotland, exactly how this is achieved may vary in some areas.

The strategy also includes, as part of a priority action, an emphasis on working across local authority boundaries, which could potentially assist smaller and more rural authorities. Specifically, it states that “we would encourage partners, working across boundaries, to coordinate and allocate resources strategically so that with a proportional input they can collectively deliver services which have a much larger impact on outcomes” and encourages partners to “work across regional and operational boundaries to facilitate peer learning, share best practice and enhance co-ordination of improvement activities”.

Given the nature of the relevant statutory duty – which is to have regard to the strategy when preparing local plans – the mitigations above are considered sufficient to address the potential barriers identified, and we will discuss any specific issues or concerns arising with delivery partners as work to implement the strategy and delivery plan continues.

Is a full Islands Communities Impact assessment required?

You must now determine whether, in your opinion, your policy, strategy or service is likely to have an effect on an island community which is significantly different from its effect on other communities (including other island communities).

To form your opinion, the following questions should be considered:

• Are there mitigations in place for the impacts identified and noted above from stakeholders and community consultations?

As noted at step 4, we consider that sufficient mitigations are in place, particularly with regard to the approach which will be taken in considering progress towards implementation of the strategy and delivery plan, recognising the particular challenges arising in island and other rural communities.

• Does the evidence show different circumstances or different expectations or needs, or different experiences or outcomes (such as different levels of satisfaction, or different rates of participation)?

There is evidence that crime is generally lower in island communities. Due to this, and the lower population levels, there may be certain, more specialised, community justice services which are available in larger local authority areas, but may not be available in the island communities and/or individuals may have to travel further to access these services. However, this is an issue that is also applicable to certain mainland local authorities – particular those which are smaller in population or predominantly rural – and will be taken into account as noted above as work to implement the strategy and delivery plan continues.

• Are these different effects likely?

No – the strategy is designed for partners to have regard to when preparing local plans and is not designed to include prescriptive change that partners must follow regardless of local circumstance. It also seeks to promote a person-centred approach, recognising that people will have needs that require to be addressed in an individualised manner, irrespective of geographical location.

• Are these effects significantly different?

N/A

• Could the effect amount to a disadvantage for an island community compared to the mainland or between island groups?

N/A

If your answer is No to the above questions, please complete the box below.

A Full Islands Community Impact Assessment is Not required

In preparing the ICIA, I have formed an opinion that our policy, strategy or service is NOT likely to have an effect on an island community which is significantly different from its effect on other communities (including other island communities). The reason for this is detailed below.

Reason for not completing a full Islands Communities Impact Assessment:

A partial ICIA has been prepared and published, which satisfactorily addresses the islands communities impacts of the strategy in line with available evidence.

ICIA approved by: Quentin Fisher

Position: Interim Deputy Director, Community Justice Division

Signature:

Date approved: 21/11/2023