Justice vision and priorities delivery plan 2018-2019 and overview of progress 2017-2018

Overview of progress to the actions set out in 2017-2018 Justice Vision and Priorities Delivery Plan and new approaches and additional actions for the coming year 2018-2019.


Priority 1

We will enable our communities to be safe and supportive, where individuals exercise their rights and responsibilities.

Key Achievements by Priority in 2017/18

  • The ten year policing 2026 strategy was published by the SPA and Police Scotland in June 2017 following extensive consultation. http://spa.police.uk/assets/128635/408187/policing2026strategy
  • In May 2018, the SPA Board approved a ten year Financial Strategy, and three year implementation and financial plans (2018/19 to 2020/21) to support the delivery of the Policing 2026 Strategy.
  • The development of a refreshed Performance Framework is underway and the transformation of policing practices ("stop and search") and service delivery models (police call handling) continues.
  • There has been additional investment in policing, delivering a boost of £100 million by 2021 to protect against wider Westminster austerity measures, including ensuring the service can retain £25 million annual VAT payments previously paid to the UK Treasury.
  • There has been continued implementation and delivery of the Fire and Rescue Framework, including on-going investment in service transformation and the development of key performance measures to demonstrate progress against priorities.
  • Scottish Government and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service ( SFRS) worked together in responding post-Grenfell to assure safety in Scotland.
  • Partners worked collectively to support the communication of safety messages to communities across Scotland through a range of mediums including @theBSCprogramme.
  • The Scottish Community Safety Network refreshed support for the coordination and promotion of local community safety activity.
  • Connections with the business sector have been strengthened through our strategic partnerships, in particular through the work of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre around resilience and the alcohol industry.
  • The first Missing Persons Framework for Scotland was launched in May 2017 and is now delivering its commitments. https://gov.scot/Publications/2017/05/1901
  • Year 1 of Phase 4 of the Cashback for Communities programme was successfully delivered and positive progress is being made on Year 2.
  • There is on-going support for and investment in the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and violence reduction programmes: including the Medics Against Violence 'Ask, Support, Care' programme, the Mentors in Violence Prevention Scotland programme as well as the hospital based Navigators programme.
  • A system to ensure timely aid to vulnerable people in an emergency - Persons At Risk Database ( PARD)- has been developed.
  • The final provisions of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 came into force in April 2018 to maximise the recovery of the proceeds of crime in Scotland.
  • Research on the impact of Serious Organised Crime ( SOC) on Scottish communities was published in June 2018. https://gov.scot/Publications/2018/06/8630

We will ensure that actions to support individuals and families to feel safe and stay safe in their communities lie at the heart of our collective endeavour. And we will focus efforts and resources to strengthen the social and economic foundations of our communities in order to drive and deliver positive and lasting change.

  • A SOC Taskforce conference on 'Working with communities to reduce the impact of SOC' was held in June 2018 for a range of stakeholders including community representatives.
  • Funding has continued to support anti- sectarianism work in Scotland's schools and workplaces.
  • Funding for Inspiring Scotland's Link Up programme has continued to help reduce victims of crime and unintentional harm by increasing social capital and community cohesion and resilience.
  • There has been a continued focus on reducing unintentional harm, through the work of the multi-agency Building Safer Communities Programme – including a national conference in April 2018 and Ministerial support to Scotland's first drowning prevention strategy launched in January 2018. http://watersafetyscotland.org.uk/media/1213/scotlands-drowning-prevention-strategy.pdf
  • "Community Safety – the emerging landscape and future opportunities" was published in February 2018 to set the scene for community safety in Scotland. http://safercommunitiesscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/community_safety_-_the_emerging_landscape_and_future_opportunities-1.pdf

New Activity for 2018/19

  • An independent review of complaints handling, in- vestigations and misconduct issues in relation to policing will commence, led by by Rt. Hon Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC.
  • Recommendations and actions coming from the post-Grenfell Ministerial Working Group in relation to fire safety will be implemented.
  • There will be on-going investment in SFRS trans- formation, including work to deliver for commu- nities. This will include the provision of public charging points in a number of community fire stations, the development of a cadet scheme for young people, and the provision of further training and equipment for fire-fighters.
  • SG, SFRS and HMFSI will explore the scope for international benchmarking and learning on new approaches to risk and prevention for fire and rescue.
  • The Independent review of the impact of polic- ing during the 1984/85 Miners' Strike will report by June 2019, ensuring that the impact on communi- ties is understood and lessons can be learned.
  • Violence reduction programmes will continue. This will include expansion of the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme and the Medics Against violence programme into more schools. It will also involve extending the Ask Support Care pro- gramme and the hospital Navigators programme with greater investment from Scottish Government; and delivery of the No Knives Better Lives Balisong Play in all Local Authorities across Scotland.
  • A national campaign will be launched in spring 2019 to challenge sexual harassment and sexism, alongside the development of an information re- source on gender-based violence for children and young people.
  • An accreditation scheme for employers will be piloted, to support them to tackle gender-based vi- olence in their workplaces.
  • A roundtable will be convened later in 2018 on what more can be done to tackle online abuse and misogyny, and engage with media companies on tackling harmful gender stereotypes.
  • We will continue to work to reduce harm and in- crease opportunities for women to leave prostitu- tion, including establishing a multi-agency group to tackle the issues that can lead to someone be- coming exploited in this way.
  • A national web based tool will be developed to gather and share projects and initiatives across Scotland that support the reduction of Unintention- al Harm, and to provide advice and guidance that will drive forward best practice.

Contact

socialresearch@gov.scot

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