Community Justice Authorities

Community Justice Authorities are being set up across Scotland with the task of transforming the way councils, the Scottish Prison Service and other local organisations work together to tackle re-offending.

Eight new bodies have been created under the Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act to:
– Work with local authorities, the SPS and other partners to prepare local joint area plans focused on tackling re-offending, which will require to be submitted to Minister for approval
 – Monitor and report on the effectiveness of joint working between all the local partners, including police forces, NHS Boards, relevant voluntary organisations, the Scottish Courts Service and the Crown Office
– Support better information-sharing and the sharing of good practice
– Distribute funding for criminal justice social work services in local areas and ensuring this is being used effectively to improve the management of offenders, and tackle Scotland’s unacceptably high re-offending rates

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said:
“Community Justice Authorities will play a key part in our efforts to reform the way councils, the Scottish Prison Service and other local partners work together to drive down the unacceptably high rates of re-offending across the country. Locally, they will take the lead role in ensuring that all the partners work together in drawing up plans to ensure the better joint management of offenders. Those plans must be focused on reducing re-offending and will provide a clear shared agenda for all those working with offenders in different ways. The new National Advisory Body on Offender Management will provide me with support in scrutinising the plans.

“CJAs will also monitor and report on the how well those services are being delivered, as well as distributing funding for community-based criminal justice services for offenders. Overall, they will help us achieve the vision set out in our Criminal Justice Plan, for establishing a more coherent and effective system for managing offenders across different agencies in Scotland, in prison and in the community, ending the revolving door of re-offending in Scotland and creating safer, daily lives for all.”

The eight CJAs will be made up of the following local authorities:
– Glasgow
– Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Moray, Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Eilean Siar
– Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross
– Fife, Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Stirling
– Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders
– Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde
– North and South Lanarkshire
– East, North and South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway

The members of CJAs will be councillors nominated by the local authorities within the area. CJAs will be required to involve local authorities, the SPS and other partners closely in their work. The National Advisory Body on Offender Management, chaired by the Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson, met for the first time on March 20. It has been established to support the reforms being made to services for offenders under the Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005, including driving forward improvements to offender management both in prison and in the community, and across different agencies.