Clackmannanshire Council Online

Fife and Forth Valley Community Justice Authority Works to Reduce Re-Offending

Community Justice Authorities were established in 2007 to bring together all relevant agencies to work together to reduce re-offending.

Partners include Local Authorities, Scottish Prison Service, Police, Health and Victim Support.

Fife and Forth Valley launches its first three-year Plan for 2008-2011 on Friday, 27 June 2008.

Its aim is a simple but challenging one:

• To create safer communities and promote public protection

Our priorities in this and the next two years are to:

• Manage offenders safely
• Address the causes of offending
• Ensure victims needs are given the priority they deserve
• Promote new ways of working together such as co-location of Police and Social Workers.
• Work with Scottish Prison Service to extend HMP Glenochil into a local community prison

Figures gathered by the authority over the past year reinforce the view that its work is helping to lower reoffending rates. For example reconviction rates in Clackmannanshire have improved by 5% for offenders being reconvicted within two years. In Falkirk and Fife the improvements are 2% and in Stirling 1%.

In support of the three-year plan, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:"As the new reconviction statistics published this week prove, there is already a lot of good work being done to address Scotland's cycle of re-offending but there is clearly room for improvement.

"I am confident that the Fife & Forth Valley Community Justice Authority area plan will help improve the way that local authorities, the Scottish Prison Service and other partner organisations work together to tackle re-offending.

"CJAs are already performing an important role in helping to ensure local partners deliver a more effective system for managing offenders across different agencies in prison and in the community. Through promoting innovative approaches they can reduce reoffending levels even further.

"I am positive rather than fatalistic about offending in Scotland and believe we can get the country off this conveyer belt and turn lives around through prevention, early intervention, and true rehabilitation."

One of the authority's priorities for the years ahead is to tackle the reconviction rate for offenders carrying out community service, which currently stands at 42%. While this outstrips the reconviction rate for custodial sentences (62%) it is still too high.

All our partners contributed to the Area Plan and are committed to working together to achieve our vision.

For further information please contact: Anne Pinkman, Chief Officer, Kilncraigs Business Centre, Alloa, Tel: 01259 727435, E-mail: ffvcommunity.justice@kilncraigs.plus.com

Note To Editor

The 3 year plan will be launched at Kilncraigs, Alloa, at 9.30am on Friday 27th June. You are invited to send a reporter/photographer. Copies of the plan will be available at the event, or call Anne Pinkman to arrange for a copy to be sent.