Service Manager, Justice Services, Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership
The Caledonian System consists of a behaviour change programme for men convicted of domestic abuse offences and support, safety planning and advocacy services for their (ex) partners and children. It was introduced into Glasgow Justice Services in 2019. National data informs that just under 50% of clients that have a Caledonian Condition to their Community Payback Order (CPO) in Scotland are within Glasgow Justice Services.
Men attend as a requirement of a Community Payback Order or post release license, for at least two years. The Caledonian System men’s programme is designed as a resource to courts for dealing more effectively with men who commit domestic abuse-related offences than other sentencing options do.
Public health restrictions during the Covid pandemic continued to significantly impact upon the provision of Community Payback Unpaid Work (CPO/UPW) placements over 2021-22. We told you about some of those challenges and how we were working with our partners to overcome them in last year’s Annual Reporter – you can refresh on those by CLICKING THE PICTURE LINK OR SCANNING THE QR CODE BELOW:
As can be seen from the figures below, although not back to pre-pandemic levels, the overall number of hours of Unpaid Work delivered over 2021-22 were up by 59,387 or 150% (Figure 1) an improving picture on the previous year when the restrictions that came with the pandemic were at their most severe. When compared to 2019-20 (pre-pandemic), the figure for 21-22 is 38.4% lower.
The number of hours delivered through Personal Placements over 2021-22 rose by 157% when compared to 2020-21. When looking at the number of individuals carrying out Unpaid Work with a personal placement provider, this was up by 101 individuals or 16.3%. This can be attributed to the additional difficulties of squad placements due to social distancing restrictions, transportation etc., it does also however, demonstrate the value that personal placements brought over a particularly difficult period of time.
Justice Social Work Services have continued to provide crucial supervision and support to individuals on CPOs, with a particular focus on increasing capacity to manage UPW hours. This is integral to maintaining confidence in the Justice System and offering reassurance to victims of crime.
As well as the opportunity for someone convicted of a crime to pay back to the communities, a CPO/UPW Order is also an opportunity for services to engage with people, provide supports that contribute to a lower risk of re-offending and provide the offender with an opportunity to develop new skills.
In Glasgow there are 3 different services providing unpaid work opportunities:
- Glasgow City Council Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability
- SACRO
- Various Personal Placements provided by charitable organisations, for example Charity Shops and community cafes
Unpaid work carried out this year since returning from reduced capacities has been wide and varied. Tasks undertaken within local communities include:
- general gardening;
- refurbishment of fencing and railings;
- de-littering and environmental enhancement of communal open spaces including cutting back overgrown foliage.
- support and assistance to educational establishments citywide to enhance garden and outdoor areas of primary schools and nurseries – enabling them to utilise their spaces for outdoor learning experiences.
The work undertaken within nurseries, schools and care homes has been very well received and it has been reported that the pre-school children have developed an interest in woodworking as a result of receiving picnic benches made by UPW teams.
“We have a big area and really our children need some furniture and joy! This has brought joy to my heart. Thanks you!”
“Can I just say a MASSIVE thank you for the wonderful benches, chairs and tables that your crew have made for us. The pupil Eco Committee are going to decide where they are to go this afternoon. They are really going to brighten up our playground. I can’t thank you enough!”
“The leadership, guidance and expertise demonstrated by the Senior Officer was outstanding throughout the duration of the project. No request or question was ever an issue and the team sought to ensure that the work undertaken was of a high standard throughout. The unpaid work supervisor and teams hard work and commitment was excellent and they were always extremely keen to ensure that the work carried out was in line with expectations and again, always took the time to listen and provide the school with the best service possible. I am very grateful to the whole team and hope to work with them again in the future. Many Thanks”,
“The work carried out by Community Payback and their clients was fantastic, a derelict path which had become little used due to becoming over-grown with weeds, full of litter, evidence of drugs & other anti-social behaviour, silt, debris, fly tipping, foliage encroaching on paths & overhanging at head height restricting movement, gulley’s blocked with silt/weeds & no longer flowing causing localised flooding.
Scraping away weeds, moss & silt, facing off of bushes/hedges, clearing gulley’s & channels, lifting overhanging foliage to allow unrestricted passage, allow light in and remove hiding places for anti-social behaviour, removal of all fly tipping, debris, litter and evidence of anti-social behaviour.
All of this was cleared and tidied up by the Community Payback clients and has now become a much-used thoroughfare for residents, visitors, pedestrians/cyclists and wheelchair users, giving safe access/egress to negotiate the busy M8 Junctions on Castle Street via the hitherto unusable underpass.”
Personal Placements provide an opportunity for individuals to develop new skills and support local communities, working directly with a third sector organisation, often with Social Enterprises. There is a strong focus within personal placements for individuals to learn and develop new skills as this can contribute to sustaining future employment opportunities which is a vital factor in reducing reoffending. There may also be opportunities for individuals to volunteer for organisations when they have completed their Unpaid Work hours. Social Enterprises play a crucial role across the points in the justice system, providing opportunities at earlier intervention point, for those sentences and serving a Community Sentence as well as for those re-integrating into the community following a custodial sentence. Some of that benefit can be seen in the short film ‘Shared Sentences – Social Enterprise’, one of a series of short films commissioned by Community Justice Glasgow and made by people with lived experience of the Justice System. CLICK THE PICTURE LINK BELOW TO WATCH:
You can also read more about this work in the article ‘Shared Sentence – An Education in Media’.
The benefits to Personal Placement host organisations are also important, providing a resource in terms of people hours, support from Social Work Services and, potentially, a unique community connection through the relationships forged between the individual and the organisation.
Glasgow Justice Services work with a wide range of organisations who provide Personal Placement. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from organisations and individuals undertaking UPW with a number going on to secure employment opportunities. Personalised placements allow for tailored work experiences for individuals, thereby increasing the likelihood of desistance from offending, development of employability assets and increasing community engagement and cohesion.
Within Glasgow we have developed a Personal Placement action plan which has also seen the commissioning of a short film to demonstrate the positive impact of community sentences for the judiciary, the public and other stakeholders. This film is being developed with a number of individuals who have undertaken personal placements and who are able to reflect on the positive impact of the placement in terms of payback to the community as well being supported with their own resilience and well-being.
Throughout 2022 and 2023 we intend to hold regular information/Q&A sessions online – at the sessions the film will be shown as well as an opportunity given for any potential placement providers to ask any questions about the process. We hope this will lead to an increased number and range of placements available.
