Minute of the Meeting of the Lothian and Borders Community Justice Authority

In Attendance: Chris Hawkes (CJA), Angela Gentile (CJA), Tim Ward (WLC), Michelle Miller (CEC), Murray Leys (ELC), Gordon Miller (ELC), Eibhlin McHugh (MLC), Graeme Stenhouse (CEC), Morag McLaughlin (Crown Office Procurator Fiscal), ACC Iain Livingstone (L&B Police), David Cressey (SBC), Phil Mackie (NHS Lothian), Dr Alan Mordue (NHS Borders), Fiona Allan (Families Outside), Marjory Frew (Apex), David Haines (Venture Trust), Sally Crighton (CJA)

Apologies: Ian Quigley (WLC), Monica Patterson (ELC), Andrew Lowe (SBC), Colin Anderson (MLC), Jim Dustan (SPS), Dr Eric Baijal (NHS Borders), Mary Bowman (Audit Scotland), Alan McCloskey (Victim Support) Joe Connelly (Venture Trust), Fiona Steel (Action for Children)

Presenting: Linda Dorward (Scottish Prison Service)

WELCOME

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Mr Murray Leys who is the new Head of Social Policy in East Lothian Council. The Chair also welcomed Ms Eibhlin McHugh who is the new Head of Service for Criminal Justice Social Work in Midlothian Council.

The Chair noted formal thanks to Mr John Scott, Midlothian Council who has recently moved post within Midlothian Council, for his support across a range of CJA projects. The Chair also extended thanks to both Mr Gordon Miller, Acting Head of Service, East Lothian Council and to Ms Jane Ramsay, Service Manager, East Lothian Council and wished them both well in their retirement. Councillor McLeod seconded his thanks to Ms Ramsay for her support.

1. APOLOGIES

The Chair advised the meeting of the apologies for absence.

PRESENTATION

The Chair welcomed Linda Dorward, Project Leader of the National Programme Board for Prisoner Healthcare. Linda presented the meeting with a detailed update on the integration process being carried out by Scottish Prison Service and the NHS. Prison healthcare will be managed by the NHS from 29th October 2011. There is a national and local programme being carried out to ensure that the current level of service is maintained and there is minimal disruption.

Funding and staffing will transfer from the Scottish Prison Service to the NHS over the course of the integration process. The nine health boards which have prisons located in their areas and to which they provide direct throughcare in the prison, will be the recipients of the funding. The remaining health boards have been invited to link up with the local implementation groups.

In Lothian & Borders, NHS Lothian already provide a liaison service for NHS Borders with direct links to primary care and provision of secondary care in Edinburgh hospitals for offenders who live in the Scottish Borders. Psychiatric care is also provided by the Orchard Clinic for Borders prisoners detained in HMP Edinburgh.

Mr Mackie, NHS Lothian, updated Members on the new shared Community Care Assessment which has been introduced in HMP Edinburgh and is the first of its kind in Scotland. This assessment ensures there is short term discharge planning for all HMP Edinburgh prisoners.

The Chief Officer highlighted the growing issue of an ageing prison population and the need for ongoing and potentially increasing numbers of Community Care Assessments. There is currently a question around which local authority area has the responsibility to carry out the Assessment if the prisoner chooses to return to their home address i.e. the local authority where the prison is located or the local authority where the prisoner will return to, or alternatively if it is a cross resource issue. Ms Dorward agreed to take away this issue and raise it at a national level.

The Chair thanked Ms Dorward for her presentation.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST Councillor Paul Edie advised the meeting that in relation to Item 5 on the Agenda he is Chair of the Edinburgh Community Safety Partnership. There were no other financial or non- financial interests noted by any Member in respect of any other matter included in the Agenda for this meeting.

2. PREVIOUS MINUTE

The Chair requested the Minute of 22nd April 2010 be noted and accepted.

Decision The Members agreed to: 1. The Minute of the previous meeting of 22nd April 2010, was approved and accepted as an accurate record.

3. MATTERS ARISING 3.1 East & Midlothian ‘Agenda for Change’ Gordon Miller, Acting Head of Social Policy, East Lothian Council provided Members with a verbal progress report. Mr Miller stated work is still ongoing in respect of the governance options and further work is required, however both local authorities remain committed to a joint Criminal Justice Social Work service. A business case has been prepared and following Mr Miller’s retiral, the project will be led by Mr Murray Leys, Head of Social Policy, East Lothian Council in partnership with Eibhlin McHugh, Midlothian Council.

2 Ms McHugh further advised Members that there should be good progress made over the coming weeks and the Project Board remains optimistic the project will move towards implementation.

Decision The Members agreed to: 1. Note the report.

3.2 Caledonian Delivery The Chief Officer advised Members that the Scottish Government approved the resubmitted bid which had been approved by Members at the CJA meeting on 22nd April. The Chief Officer further advised Members he has signed the Terms and Conditions for the Caledonian Delivery in Lothian & Borders, on behalf of the CJA, which will be delivered across all councils with the exception of West Lothian Council.

Decision The Members agreed to: 1. Note the contents of the report 2. Receive a quarterly update report

3.3 DTTO II Pilot Evaluation The Drug Testing and Treatment Order lower tariff pilot, known as DTTO II, has been operating in Sheriff and Summary Courts across Lothian & Borders (with the exception of West Lothian) since 2008. The evaluation report for this pilot, published by the Scottish Government, confirms that the pilot has met its principal aims. Following the Scottish Parliament Questions & Answers session on 1st July 2010, it was recorded under the Written Answers of that date (Reference: S3W-34994) that Mr Fergus Ewing decided to extend funding of the pilot until the end of March 2012 to provide an opportunity to build on the pilot’s success by collecting longer term monitoring data for a larger sample of clients.

The Chief Officer praised Mr John Tyson, City of Edinburgh Council who is the lead person for this pilot and his team, for receiving such a positive evaluation which is reinforced by the Scottish Government’s decision to extend the pilot.

Decision Members agreed to: 1. Note the contents of the report 2. Receive a quarterly status update via the Group Tracker reporting mechanism

3.4 ELBEG Strategic Group ACC Iain Livingstone provided Members with a verbal update on the new Strategic Oversight Group which has been discharged to provide the central governance for MAPPA across Lothian & Borders. This Group is chaired by David Hume, Chief Executive Scottish Borders Council.

ACC Livingstone highlighted the imminent review to be led by Susan Ferguson of the Scottish Government’s Police Powers and Protection Unit, which will review the local and national MAPPA structure now that the implementation phase is complete. Part of this review has resulted in the termination of the National MAPPA Coordinator post, held by Willie Manson.

Deci sion 3 Members agreed to: 1. Note the verbal report

3.5 Area Plan 2011-14 The Chief Officer provided Members with a verbal update report. The feedback from the Scrutiny Panel held on 13th July was broadly positive and a report will be issued by the Scottish Government outlining any changes that need to be incorporated prior to the Plan being signed off by the Cabinet Secretary in September.

Decision Members agreed to: 1. Note the verbal report

4. FINANCE 4.1 Section 27 2009-10 Mr Stenhouse advised Members that East Lothian Council have submitted their return subsequent to the issue of this report and this additional paper has been made available to Members for this meeting. The report from Scottish Borders Council remains outstanding.

The reported summary position for each Council does not include any council subsidy. City of Edinburgh Council and East Lothian Council have reported a nil variance with Midlothian Council reporting an overspend of £15,000 and West Lothian Council an overspend of £90,000.

The Chair requested clarification on the reported nil variance by City of Edinburgh Council, as this appears to contradict the reported underspend figure quoted in the report under Item 4.4. Mr Stenhouse advised the Chair that there had been a misunderstanding regards the underspend which was recorded at the meeting on 18th June, attended by the Chief Officer and City of Edinburgh staff and which informs the report under Item 4.4, as this was to be a contribution towards the City of Edinburgh Council’s overheads and not resubmitted to the CJA.

Mr Cressey advised the Chair that Scottish Borders Council plan to submit their report by Friday 23rd July. The delay is a result of miscommunication.

Decision The Members agreed to: 1. Note the contents of the report

4.2 Purchased Service Review Report Ms Miller presented a summary of her report to Members. Only one of the six services which went out to tender has not been finalised as the bids exceeded the grant available. This service will be considered as part of the ongoing reviews being carried out within Cit of Edinburgh Council.

Notice has been given to the current providers and the new providers advised of the intent to commence the new contracts in October 2010. The new contracts will run for an initial 6 month period with the possibility of extending this to one year, subject to funding.

Ms Miller advised Members the introduction of these new contracts will realise approximately £67,500 savings over the period of 6 months from October 2010-March 4 2011. Ms Miller acknowledged the Chief Officer’s proposal that these savings may be available for virement to support front line core services but advised Members of the

outstanding issue of councils subsidising their Criminal Justice Social Work Service due to there being no cost of living uplift for several years. The 8% historical management costs for delivering Section 27 services has also not been recouped on a regular basis by several of the councils and Ms Miller stated that this needs to be reviewed by all councils in light of the impending budget constraints.

The Chief Officer advised Members that this is referred to in Item 4.3 which recognises there are a complex set of circumstances to be considered and a wide variance of charges within the current charging structure. The Chief Officer recommended that the CJA request to meet with the Directors of Social Work/Chief Social Work Officers (CSWO) to agree a baseline of costs, if possible and to understand the Government’s intention for future funding.

Deci sion Members agreed to: 1. Note the report 2. Receive a progress report in September for the October 21 CJA meeting

4.3 Independent Review of Financial Allocation The Chief Officer presented his report to Members outlining the background to the current funding arrangements which relate to the introduction of ring fenced funding in 1991.

The Core Service review was commissioned by the Directors/CSWO to identify a more equitable distribution of funding to each local authority. The Chief Officer advised Members and Directors/CSWO that the draft Core Service review report had only been received late on 21st July and this will be quickly distributed to the Directors/CSWO although Members should note the report does not include any recommendations or finance models at this time. The Chief Officer will meet with the report author to agree timescales for finalising the report and communicate timescales to the Directors/CSWO in order for the final report to be jointly reviewed and discussed and proposals submitted to Members for the October CJA meeting.

It was noted that the delays have not been due to any lack of cooperation by any party but due mainly to the complexity of the required data. This has subsequently been compounded by the availability of the report author as the timeline for this project has extended into their busiest time of year.

Decision Members agreed to: 1. Note the report 2. Seek a report at the October CJA meeting reflecting an agreed approach for core service finance allocation

4.4 Section 27 - City of Edinburgh Council The Chief Officer presented his report providing Members with an update on the item taken in closed session at the CJA meeting held on 22nd April.

5 The Chief Officer sought legal advice from Anderson Strathern before contacting the Finance Director, City of Edinburgh Council regarding their unanticipated third quarter overspend. Following a meeting with City of Edinburgh on 18th June, the Director of

Finance has confirmed in writing the overspend was in-fact misstated and following a thorough investigation, there is a pre-audited overspend. A full review of procedures has been carried out and future quarterly reports will be duly amended.

The Chair thanked City of Edinburgh Council for their excellent explanation.

Decision Members agreed to: 1. Note the contents of the report

5. CJA Community Planning Partnership Update Angela Gentile presented her report to Members. Ms Gentile has been in post as Strategic Development Coordinator for one year and the two main functions of her work are to establish integrated planning with the Community Planning Partnerships across the five local authority areas and to establish effective links with the Community Health Partnerships. Ms Gentile advised Members she has received enormous support from all CJA partners in respect of developing the relationships across the organisations and wished to take this opportunity to thank them formally for their support. The Chief Officer noted the remarkable work that has been achieved by Ms Gentile over the last 12 months. Councillor Scott as Chair of the Community Health and Care Partnership in Scottish Borders added his support for the inclusion of the CJA in Community Health Partnerships.

Members agreed to: 1. Note the contents of the report

6. CJA Groups Angela Gentile updated Members on the status of all CJA related projects. Only one project is reported as ‘off track’ due to issues around recruitment and this matter is being addressed by the Chief Officer.

It was noted that the Group Tracker did not include the Health & Wellbeing Group which is led by Phil Mackie, NHS. It was noted that this group has reported to the CJA and is on track. It was further noted that the Group Tracker will be amended for the next quarterly report in October.

Decision Members agreed to: 1. Note the contents of the report

7. Public Sector Equality Duties The Chief Officer updated Members on the Scottish Government’s proposal to list CJAs in schedule 19 of the Equality Act 2010 and the new single equality duty legislation which is due to come into force in April 2011.

Decision 6 Members agreed to: 1. Note the contents of the report 2. Receive a further report following implementation advising how the CJA will meet the new duty.

8. AOCB

(i) Chief Officer – Notification of Retiral on 31/12/10 The Chair announced the Chief Officer had submitted his intention to retire on the 31st December 2010. The Chair noted the contribution he had received from the Chief Officer since he took up post in 2007 and thanked the Chief Officer for his support to the CJA.

The Chief Officer thanked the Chair and advised Members and partners that prior to his retirement he will sign off the audited accounts as Accountable Officer; ensure the Area Plan 2011-14 is finalised and published; ensure the Annual Report 2009-10 is published by September 2010 and take the lead role in the recruitment of his successor, although he will not be involved in the selection process.

9. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Thursday 21st October at 2pm, at Newbattle Abbey College, Dalkeith.