Community Justice Glasgow Team
Tom Jackson
Head of Community Justice, Glasgow City Council
Tom Jackson, Head of Community Justice, Glasgow City Council
Community Justice … for me, it represents effective and efficient justice through trust, communications and collaboration across our diverse public and third sector systems and derived from listening to the voice of the lived experience stakeholders.
Hi, I’m Tom and I have headed up Community Justice Services in Glasgow since 2012. At risk of cliché, it is fair to say this year has been like no other. While the implications of the pandemic have challenged justice services, they have also demonstrated the commitment and opportunities of partnership working. In every area of Community Justice we witnessed partners responding to ensure the best possible outcomes, such as the cooperative efforts to ensure prison throughcare and “Early Release” was safe and tailored to need during the height of Covid-related restrictions.
We have seen great learning as well during the past year. Since 2015 I have been Chair of the Board for the charity Street Cones, an arts based project run for and by people with lived experience of the justice system. This charity, historically reliant on live workshops and theatre, evolved an on-line approach and has supported local authorities to deliver CPO Unpaid Work requirements and is now taking that learning beyond the pandemic. I also am, since its inception, Chair of the charity Braveheart Industries (trading as Street and Arrow), focussing on employability for people with convictions. With a key focus on catering, the charity was hit hard by the restrictions, but has revised its business plan, recruited new Board members and is emerging with strength and a deeper understanding of the business model needed for the coming years.
Community Justice may be about effective and efficient justice, but at the heart of effectiveness and efficiency there will always be partnerships.
Margaret Smith
Policy, Planning & Development Officer
Hi I’m Margaret one of the core team here at Community Justice Glasgow.
I have been working in Community Justice since the establishment of Community Justice Authorities (CJAs) in 2008. In 2015, I took up the Position of Policy, Planning and Performance Officer for the Glasgow CJA, followed in 2016 with a seconded role to support the further development of One Glasgow to better align with the wider community justice arrangements of the Glasgow CJA.
The majority of my day-to-day work focussing on Engagement, Health Improvement, Victims of Crime, Service User Voice, Alternatives to Prosecution and Custody, Families impacted by a loved ones contact with the justice system and Performance Management.
Over 2021-22 much of the focus across the partnership and certainly for my work has been getting services back up and running, using the learning from Covid 19, dealing with some of the backlog of work that occurred. A lot of effort has also gone into capturing and building on some of the benefits that came out of the necessity to quickly adapt to new ways of working – for instance hybrid models of delivery. I look forward to seeing some of that work grow and deliver benefits for people coming into the justice system and wider communities. Without strong partnership so much of this would not have been possible.
I am Chair of the Board of Trustees for The Croft, HMP Barlinnie’s Visitor Advice and Support Service. Through this work I am able influence and advocate for families impacted by imprisonment around a variety of issues such as financial inclusion, health and wellbeing, homelessness etc. and bring a focus for these families in the wider considerations of Community Justice planning and delivery.
I am also on the Board of Trustees of Hope Connections which has been operating since early 2019. Hope Connections is focussed on developing a Living Hope Outreach Team, a Hope Connections Network, and Hope Connect Communities across Glasgow. Hope Connections exists to provide an additional horizontal layer that helps to join the dots and link up assets across the city, enabling more person-centred signposting, referrals and connections to be made for those in need, focussing their attention on the links between addiction, homeless and offending.
Karen Baxter
Policy Officer, Community Justice
I have worked in community justice since January 2016, when I took up the Policy Officer post to assist with the transition to the new model of Community Justice, and have continued working with the Community Justice Glasgow core team. Prior to this I worked in various roles in NHS Health Planning before moving on to Social Work Services in Renfrewshire and Glasgow, most recently working in addictions and homelessness service commissioning and contract management.
My role is varied, there are always new challenges and I enjoy working with so many different local and national partners. Working in partnership to see positive change is the most satisfying part of the role, and while this does not always happen as fast as I’d like, it is truly heartening to see partners work together to improve systems and services for people.
To me, community justice means getting the right support to people at the right times to prevent reoffending, helping to address the underlying issues that lead to offending, which in turn helps to reduce victimisation and improve our communities.
Lyn Pyper
Administration and Partnership Support
Hi there, I’m Lyn, I’ve worked with the Community Justice Glasgow (CJG) team for last 5 years. Previously I was in Committee Services for a number of years. My role in the team as Administration and Partnership Support Officer involves a broad range of duties, from admin assistance to the CJG team, diary co-ordination, arranging and clerking meetings to organising larger community events for the team, and providing assistance to wider partner organisations. During this time I’ve visited many Scottish Prison Service establishments, met a wonderful variety of people involved in the system, and had the opportunity to see a lot of ground breaking initiatives looking to resolve issues contributing to offending and enhance opportunities for individuals to reduce re-offending, maintain desistance and to overall improve their outcomes.
The role is varied, interesting and all in all keeps me very busy. Since working in the justice arena I realise there are many complex issues involved, in both factors contributing to an individual’s involvement in the Justice System and complexities in the structures, both statutory and third sector, in place to deal with all the different stages of this involvement.
Richard Hill
Seconded Data Analyst
I am the Senior Data Analyst across Community Empowerment services with responsibility for both Community Justice Glasgow and the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership. I have worked as a Data Analyst for more than 10 years in the Council across several different areas including finance and human resources. I joined Community Empowerment Services way back in 2015, initially as a part of Community Planning Partnership however my role expanded to include Community Justice Glasgow when the new model for the team began soon after.
Having worked intermittently with the team on various projects, in 2019 I became more involved when I joined the Pathfinder to Health Housing and Benefits (PHHaB) partnership, where I was part of the team creating the Data Sharing Agreement with Scottish Prison Service and subsequently planning the use of the data we received, to secure tenancies, reduce homelessness and safeguarding financial support for those leaving prison. Subsequently, the team has been unable to get rid of me, as I joined many other projects and now see myself as a core team member.
Millie Brown
Data Analyst
I moved to Community Justice in March after working as a graduate in the Corporate Policy and Governance Team. My role in the team involves ensuring data is shared with appropriate partners, such as within the PHHaB (Pathways to Housing, Health and Benefits) partnership that attempts to reduce the risk of homelessness of prison leavers.
I have also been involved in collating data about Glasgow, from health indicators to employment, and displaying it in a meaningful way. At the moment, this means making a dashboard that colleagues can use to understand the profiles of neighbourhoods and wards in Glasgow.
Temporary Chief Inspector Elaine Tomlinson
I have completed 21 years police service, with my career spanning across numerous frontline operational policing duties, working in collaboration with community partners, addressing the concerns and needs of local residents. I also worked at a National level as the Operational Lead for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention working with global and national partners, health and social care, emergency services and 3rd sector colleagues to improve the journey of people in our communities in periods of distress or mental health crisis.
In April 2022, I was promoted to the temporary promotion post as Partnerships Chief Inspector for Greater Glasgow division which is the perfect platform to incorporate the knowledge and learning from my national and operational roles and adapt these into this local policing role.
Since taking on this role, I have been inspired by the cohesive work being carried out by all relevant partners to support all communities across Glasgow.
My team work collaboratively with our partners and I lead and empower them to consider innovative ideas to gain trust and build rapport with our seldom heard and harder to reach communities to ensure their voices are heard and they feel included in the future development of Glasgow.
I am both delighted and honoured to hold this vital role in Greater Glasgow division and I am excited to watch all of our partnerships flourish.
Inspector James Friel
Police Scotland Greater Glasgow Division Safer Communities Department
I have 20 years police service and have performed a number of roles within response policing, community policing and event planning before joining the Greater Glasgow Division Safer Communities Department in April 2022. In this role, I am responsible for a team of officers working on crime prevention and intervention, missing people, counter terrorism and equality and diversity issues to ensure a consistent approach across the division in line with national practice.
Since arriving, I have been impressed by the work undertaken by our partners- public, private and 3rd sector- and the skills and knowledge which they use to provide meaningful support to the diverse communities across the city. My team has forged strong relationships with our partners which I intend to maintain and evolve in the coming years- identifying and working collaboratively to deal with issues across the city- to maintain public confidence in our respective organisations.
One Glasgow Core Team
Michael Fletcher
Sergeant, Police Scotland Safer Communities Department – One Glasgow and Children and Young People.
I have been in the Police for 12 years and have had a variety of different roles covering response policing, community policing and organisational development.
I joined the One Glasgow team in 2018 and it quickly became evident to me that early intervention with young people is the most effective way to ensure better outcomes. This can only be achieved through partnership working and close links between the Public Sector, Private sector and 3rd party agencies.
The One Glasgow model ensures that information is shared between these groups to quickly identify and react to those who need additional support. I have seen countless young people who were on a dangerous trajectory and, through the hard work of our 3rd sector partners, have been diverted away from criminality and improved their lives and their families’ lives.
The One Glasgow team are constantly looking at ways in which we can further support our partners, the community and most importantly young people who need our help.
Alan Graham
Police Constable, Police Scotland & One Glasgow
I have been a Police Officer for 24 years and have spent most of my service working in a uniform operational environment. For the past 5 years I have been part of the One Glasgow Reducing Offending Unit. My day to day role within the department is to identify suitable young people, involved in offending behaviour, or potentially on the cusp of offending, for intervention work from our partner organisations. I liaise with my Social Work colleague and between us we refer a number of suitable young people each year. I then provide support to the partners for each young person and this is done through analytical support and regular scheduled meetings. I really enjoy the role and take a lot from it knowing that we have helped, through a partnership approach, many young people. This support helps to reduce the cycle of offending and in many cases offending ceases altogether. The work that I do, in connection with our partners, really helps to improve the lives of young people and their families across Glasgow.
Nanette Blair
Social Worker – One Glasgow and Glasgow City Council Intensive Services, Intensive Support and Monitoring Service (ISMS) and ISMS Alternative to Remand
I have been a qualified Social Worker since 2003 and I was initially in the area team locality as a Youth Justice Social Worker. I moved to ISMS (Alternative to Remand) in 2009 to develop and provide a new service to the Courts as a direct alternative to custody with an intensive package of support to reduce risks and vulnerabilities for young people. This has been a beneficial service for young people to provide support in the community and create positive outcomes for the city’s most vulnerable children/young people. I have gained a wealth of knowledge from my involvement in the service and I have an informed understanding of the criminal justice system and the impact on young people.
I moved to One Glasgow in May 2016 to develop the links between One Glasgow and Social Work. The team has created a multi-agency partnership model that is aspired by other local authorities which include strong links with statutory and third sector agencies. This has allowed us to be efficient and effective in our response to offending to create the best outcomes for young people. The timely response using data and information are crucial to identifying the right service at the right time to create change and support young people move on to a positive lifestyle.
I am very proud to be part of the One Glasgow Team and I am looking forward to the future development of the service to continue to support the city’s young people. However, the credit needs to go to the young people who work hard with services to make that change.
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