Clackmannanshire Council Online

Community Justice Partnership praised

The local community justice partnership, which aims to reduce crime and address the causes of crime, has been praised by the Care Inspectorate following a scrutiny process.

Clackmannanshire Community Justice Partnership has undertaken a validated and supported self-evaluation with the Care Inspectorate finding “a shared commitment and common drive to achieve excellence.”

The report states: "We are confident the partnership is well placed to establish a shared culture of continuous improvement as they strive to achieve excellence in the implementation and delivery of the community justice model."

The exercise, which took place between November 2018 and February 2019, focused on three specific quality indicators:

• Planning and delivering services in a collaborative way

• Effective use and management of resources

• Leadership of strategy and direction

The Care Inspectorate note that the Partnership has delivered two plans which demonstrate real progression and evolution in collaborative working between partners which include: Clackmannanshire Council, Police Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, NHS Forth Valley, the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Health And Social Care Partnership, the Clackmannanshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership, Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunals  Service, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Clackmannanshire Tenants’ and Residents’ Federation and Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface.

Several innovative approaches and models have been effectively used by partners to consult and engage individual service users, staff and members of the local community in shaping the planning and delivery of services. 

Effective collaborative working with the third sector is described as a “key strength” by the Care Inspectorate. It is central to the successful functioning of the partnership and the contribution and expertise of the third sector is highly valued by other partners. There is a strong commitment to supporting and investing in the third sector alongside clear examples of partners working collaboratively to plan and deliver services.

Innovatively, partners are supporting the development of the Resilience Learning Partnership (RLP) social enterprise. This new social enterprise which was incubated by the partnership is already working in commercial partnership with other national organisations to meaningfully inform policy and practice developments. 

There is clarity of role and purpose among community justice partners and leaders with a clear strategic connection between developing work and partnership achievements to date. Supported by an ‘Ambassador Toolkit’ of relevant data and research, partners and political leaders disseminate the vision and represent the work of the community justice partnership within their respective organisations, agencies and communities.

Council Leader Ellen Forson, said: "We are delighted to have received such positive feedback from the Care Inspectorate. We work closely with our partners to deliver a connected smart justice system which is built on sound research evidence. 

"Our innovative projects, including the Resilience Learning Partnership which supports people with lived experience of trauma to influence improvement in wider services, make a real difference and we are glad that as part of this process, our self-evaluation of the service has been recognised."