Community Payback Order Annual Report

COMMUNITY

PAYBACK ORDER

ANNUAL REPORT

FINANCIAL YEAR: 2017/18

Types of unpaid work projects and activities which have been carried out; the total number of unpaid work hours completed during the year; and information and examples that help to demonstrate how communities benefit from unpaid work.

For 2017/18, 43,700 hours were carried out by the Aberdeenshire Unpaid Work Service. There was an increase in both the number of Unpaid Work Orders made and people who undertook unpaid hours increasing from 711 (2016/17) to 730 (2017/18). Despite the increase in Orders made and individuals undertaking unpaid work hours, the total hours worked has reduced. This can be attributed to a lower attendance rate of 61.4% compared to 66.0% during year 16/17.

The Service has had to become more responsive to the range of more complex needs which are assessed as part of the suitability of people to undertake unpaid work. The Court is consistent in imposing Unpaid Work with the expectation that placement type and reporting instructions meet these complex needs to enable the individual to complete the hours imposed. Immediacy at the start of the Order, speed of completion and attendance are significantly affected by the responsivity needs of the individual. Additional individual placement opportunities and changes to how workshop spaces are used have continued to be developed during year 17/18 in response to the diversity of need which the service requires to accommodate on both an equality basis and also to fulfil the expectations of the Court.

The following provides in geographical area examples of unpaid work projects which have in the main being undertaken by the traditional unpaid work party model of delivery. Bigger projects often bring two work parties together and also attract cross area working with Aberdeen Unpaid Work Service.

Fraserburgh: Exterior painting of community hall; clearing litter, debris and weeds from beach and esplanade; painting out racist graffiti on community buildings; landscaping garden spaces in schools, snow clearing during the harsh weather in and around supported accommodation units; clearing community pathways of weeds and brambles to improve access; gardening and tidying at communal community areas; renovating garden benches and planters for care homes; clearing board walks of sand at Philorth.

Peterhead: grass cutting, painting bollards and toilet at Boddam harbour; grounds maintenance at Cruden Bay harbour green; internal painting at offices at Mind; gardening and landscaping at care home; painting sheds at care homes, snow clearance; building a fence and gate at a private home to improve access and safety for a child with a disability child who has a disability; ground works at Cruden Bay Library; beach clearance at Peterhead Bay with environmental and coastal agencies to clear tonnes of industry waste. Shelter Trading Ltd provided assistance with the installation of shelving and delivery of shop items.

Banff/Huntly: allotment work involving landscaping for flower beds and vegetable plots for community Mental Health services; fence painting and ground clearance at heritage site; clearing away fly tipping debris from community areas; town litter picking in Turriff; gardening project at Auchterless school; Portsoy Boat festival litter and putting up/dismantling barriers; clearing public rights of way at Gamrie and Oldmeldrum; snow clearing; delivering food parcels from food banks to other locations.

Inverurie/Ellon: landscaping and building renovation at the community garden at Methlick; extensive work at Methlick War memorial gardening/path laying; path clearing at cemeteries at various locations; invasive plant species clearance along Deeside; setting mink traps in Deeside alongside Natural Heritage; gardening for supported housing at various locations; Can Do Recycling and benchmark project which is a supported employment project for people who have learning needs. Unpaid work contributing to the production of recycled garden furniture and recycling of tin cans.

Stonehaven: Constructing paths for walking and cycling at Tarland; litter pick and renovation of town figure head at Inverbervie; litter clearing in Johnshaven; extensive work at local animal sanctuary; renovation of horse buggies for animal sanctuary to give pony trips to children who have a disability; slabbing and making paths around a seating area at care home in Banchory; general grass cutting in Stonehaven community areas along with litter picks; constructing raised beds and other small gardening items for gardening space within a supported adult services centre.

Central Aberdeenshire: extensive work at Balmedie which involved laying and maintaining boardwalk to make the beach wheel chair accessible from the car park as well as painting and some restoration work to the community groups cabin; assisting in the construction of a wildlife garden.

Workshops:

During year 17/18, an additional workshop base was secured in Peterhead. Renovation work was also undertaken at the workshops in Fraserburgh and Banff in order that these spaces can be multi-purpose in their use providing opportunities for work parties as well as smaller groups, individual placements and assisted work alongside a support worker. Within the safe space of the workshop, tasks can be adapted in response to ability and also self-confidence. Start times are not reliant on transportation through the traditional pick-up process so additional needs around medication and physical health can be met. Reporting instructions are made around these arrangements to meet compliance management and also ensure that other groups do not experience a sense of discrimination if they are expected to comply with different reporting instructions. Examples of tasks which are undertaken at the workshops include: furniture upcycling, bicycle repair, making bat and bird boxes.

Individual Placements:

The individual placement at the community trust owned Dalgety Castle near Turriff continues to provide a whole range of individual work placements. The café offers catering and waitressing opportunities. The maintenance of the grounds involves hard landscaping, fencing, path clearing, pond maintenance and dry stone dyke restoration. The work party becomes involved at Dalgety for bigger project work.

A range of new charity shops have provided individual placements across all locations in Aberdeenshire. In many incidents the experience has led people to continue volunteering as new skills and confidence develop and support networks widen.

An individual placement has also been created at the King Street Resource Centre. The establishment of the Centre as a working base has created opportunities for people on unpaid work to contribute in a meaningful way on both an unpaid hours and any other activity basis. For example, the clothing bank which is located at the Centre is maintained on the same basis as clothing donated through a charity shop. Unpaid work tasks are undertaken in the sorting, washing and ironing of the items which are donated. Emergency food parcels are also available from the Centre. Unpaid hours are undertaken through the maintenance of stock and packaging. New skills are rehearsed in both these tasks as well contributing the wellbeing and support of others in need. Art, photography and craftwork undertaken as any other activity is displayed around the Centre. This promotes a sense of investment in the building and pride in achievement which is visible to others.

Horticultural placements at the “Community Justice Allotment” in Longside, SAMH gardening project at Mintlaw and the community owned Huntly allotment links opportunities for unpaid work with active community participation. These placements can be supported on an individual basis as well as providing opportunities for small group and traditional work parties. The services within criminal justice and substance misuse use the allotment space at Longside as an alternative intervention space as well as introducing health and wellbeing through exercise and growing fruit and vegetables.

Quotes from people on CPOs and beneficiaries about the impact of the unpaid work on them and/or the community.

The following quotes have been taken from Questionnaires completed by people who have successfully completed their Unpaid hours.

“Doing the unpaid work gave me the drive to get up and got me back into the swing of having a job and made me go out and start volunteering at a local charity shop”

“My interaction with the staff, volunteers and indeed, customers helped me regain self-belief and self-confidence. I was not made to feel different despite my reason for being there”

“ It put some structure in my life which helped my depression and I managed to reduce my medication gradually over the time I was doing the Order”

“I learned the proper way to do things and new skills. I have stopped drinking and feel good and am working forward to my new start in life”

“ I have been out of work and socialising for a long time, unpaid work has gotten me used to working as part of a team again, given me confidence to try new skills and show that I am capable of finishing a project once it’s started”

“Unpaid work helped me see that there are consequences to doing crime and I feel good that I helped the community and also I got a lot out of it like routine and new skills”

These comments have been taken from questionnaires completed by beneficiaries:

“I can't thank you enough for helping to organise a work party for Saturday. Please pass on my huge thanks to the task supervisor, I'm not sure if the young man she brought, who is a builder, was intentional but he saved the day!

It was cold, wet and we ran out of materials, which was unfortunate, as about 2/3 of the plinth was completed within an hour. We really are very grateful please remember to pass on our thanks. As a result the plinth now has over a week to dry before the sculpture arrives” - Preparation for a sculpture in a community space.

“The task supervisors and the people on unpaid work were a pleasure to work with. I enjoyed their company. They worked hard at a difficult physical activity with excellent enthusiasm and commitment. One of the team was carrying a physical injury which limited his capability but he worked as hard as this constraint permitted. I have frequently worked with others on manual projects and these guys involvement was little different from those undertaking paid employment” – Construction work for a Community Project

“We are extremely happy with the outcome – the area was thoughtfully prepared for painting and painting carried out to a high standard. Our hall now looks fresh and modern after its revamp” – Painting a Community Hall.

“The Community Payback Team have undertaken a number of tasks at the Centre that the local heritage society owns and runs. The work has been really helpful to us and has allowed us to make progress with repairs and improvements that we could not otherwise have done in a timely way” - Improvement work at Community Heritage Centre.

“The work undertaken by the Unpaid Work team has been very helpful and much appreciated allowing the roads crews to get on with other tasks. This is a joint effort and everyone works together for the benefit of the Project” – Drainage and road side maintenance work for Community Project.

“A very positive placement that offered our service great support during the work placement. We are pleased to be able to offer a volunteer post ongoing so people can stay involved after the work has been completed. Overall a great success and positive outcome for all” – Individual Placement at Community Day Services

Types of "other activity" carried out as part of the unpaid work or other activity requirement.

One of the commitments with the Aberdeenshire Community Justice Outcomes Improvement Plan (CJOIP) for 2017/18 was to continue to enhance the Community Payback Order Unpaid Work Service, increasing community and partner involvement in the planning and delivery of services to people in Aberdeenshire and maximising the use of the ‘Any Other Activities’ Requirement.

Discussions have taken place with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Skills Development Scotland with a view to identifying where both partners can become involved. For the Fire Service, this has taken place through the provision of the Fire Setters and Fire Skills programmes, which are delivered to relevant individuals as part of the ‘Any Other Activity’ component of a Community Payback Order. The Fire Service have also offered to deliver inputs to service users around Home Fire Safety, again this could count towards Any Other Activity, as it supports the individual to make small changes to their lifestyle that increases both their own safety and potentially that of others.

Skills Development Scotland have expressed an interest in delivering workshops around all aspects of employability and training. To date this has only taken place on an individual basis and specifically to young people through the Criminal Justice Young people’s social worker.

The Resource Centre at 88 King Street, Peterhead, provides a base from which a range of activities and services can be delivered. Multi agency partners are involved in delivering these services and the “one stop” concept of the resource centre facilitates the active engagement of service users in interventions which can address a range of complex needs. The Clinical Substance Misuse Team work out of the Resource Centre and attached to their Service is an advocacy worker. Service users who access the advocacy worker engage in programmatic interventions around a range of social care issues such as benefits claims, housing issues, finances. Any Other Activity hours can be attributed to this work.

During year 17/18, more targeted any other activity programmes have been developed by the service, for example, a rolling 8-week programme also based at the Resource Centre has been developed as an Any Other Activity group. The Group covers a range of subjects including benefits and budgeting advice, healthy living and healthy diet, job skills and employability, community safety, consequential thinking.

An Any Other Activity “Community Payback Order Running Group” has also been established – helping to make the links between how improved mental and physical health and wellbeing can contribute to a reduction in reoffending. Uptake has been good as have been individual achievements.

The Unpaid Work service also deliveries a Women’s Craft Group which provides any other activity work at the same time as providing a safe space for women to meet and engage in a range of supportive discussions. The products produced are linked to local initiatives and other community and third sector outlets.

Third sector partnerships have continued to provide opportunities for any other activities. The following provides a list of providers:

 Princes Trust REACH Programme  Venture Trust  SaMH  Peer Support Groups for Substance Misuse  Residential Rehabilitation Supports (SMS)  Foyer training programmes  Alcohol and Drugs Action Support  Cruse Bereavement Counselling Support  SACRO Support  Transition Extreme - As a leading youth charity Transition Extreme offers a number of youth and community programmes. Our Alternative, Outreach and Extreme Arts Academies support young people disengaged from traditional forms of education.

Statutory partners further provide any other activity opportunities such as:

 Community Learning and Development (Literacy, CV, Life Skills support)  Health Points  Community Mental Health Service  Community Substance Misuse Service  Acupuncture Groups (SMS)  Adult Education and training with employer  Children’s Services (Parenting programmes)  Job Centre Plus Courses  Employability Services  Scottish Prison Service – in situations where an Order is continued during a short custodial sentence then opportunity exists within education and vocational workshed based activities for any other activity hours to be worked against a community payback order. This provides some momentum rather than interruption due to a short term prison sentence.

People who engage in training through employment and additional learning can also contribute to any other activity where relevant.

Within the Criminal Justice fieldwork team additional opportunities to complete any other activity exist through individual work and other group work which is not attached to a Requirement. The following give some examples:

 Living Skills Groupwork  1:1 Programme ( Covers a range of topics related to social and emotional decision making and management)  Managing Emotions ( Individual work)  Sex education/Sexual Health/Legislation/Internet safety (Individual Work)  Self-esteem/ Identity formation (Individual Work)  Mindfulness Exercises

Activities carried out to consult prescribed persons and organisations, pursuant to section 227ZL of the 1995 Act, and wider communities on the nature of unpaid work and other activities and how the consultation results helped determine which projects were undertaken.

Aberdeenshire Community Justice Partnership have a website within the Aberdeenshire Council internet. Contained within the Partnership webpage is a dedicated website about Unpaid Work. The previously filmed video has been updated and appears as an introduction to what Unpaid Work actually is. The webpage is updated monthly with before and after pictures of the work undertaken and the hours attributed to each Project. Contact details through the generic email which receives enquiries and requests for project work to be undertaken is advertised through this website.

In addition, within the monthly health and social care newsletter which captures good news and development stories, Community Justice has a regular feature and within this, the Unpaid Work service provides recent project work in different areas which link with locality plans and feature positive community outcomes. The Contact details are visible within these news features so together with the examples of how unpaid work benefits communities, there is an invitation for further referrals to be made from a wide range of internal and external individuals and agencies.

Regular short features which give examples of unpaid work projects which are linked to community projects and charities appear in the small local papers across Aberdeenshire. This not only promotes visibility but generates really good interest in how unpaid work can contribute in a meaningful way to communities.

Attendance by members of the Unpaid work team at local Community Councils and Community Committees across Aberdeenshire takes place by invitation and usually following some work being undertaken in their area. This extends the awareness of the service and increases direct community participation in requests for unpaid work placements.

The Third Sector Community Justice Forum meets quarterly and a range of community justice initiatives have been presented to better develop the working links, increase awareness of the service and engage third sector partners in any other activity opportunities and individual/work party placements.

The Team Manager for the Unpaid Work Service attends the Local Area Committees on an annual basis to inform of elected members of work undertaken in their local areas. This promotes greater awareness of the Service and understanding of the aims of the Service. Elected members who are informed in this way are more likely to then contact the Service requesting input in an appropriate way and in response to constituent and community need.

Community Justice Partnership also provides six monthly briefings to area Committees on the progress of the CJOIP. Contained within this is again an update around the unpaid work service, this being a priority in the improvement plan.

Use by the courts of CPO requirements other than unpaid work, for example what, and in what way, different requirements are being used for those whose offending is driven by drug, alcohol and mental health issues; or how requirements such as programme or conduct are being used to address offending behaviour.

CPO Requirements and graph as follows:

2017/18 2016/17 2015/16 Offender 364 315 270 Supervision Compensation 6 15 11 Unpaid Work 589 568 560 Programme 49 34 26 Residence 1 1 0 Mental Health 0 0 0 Treatment Drug 9 6 0 Treatment Alcohol 4 6 1 Treatment Conduct 24 18 11 Restricted 1 0 0 Movement

The above illustrates that there has been an increase across some of the requirements. Unpaid Work requirement continues to increase as does the number of people who have been made the subject of an unpaid work requirement. This has already been explored in terms of the increased need to respond in a more flexible and creative way to provide equal opportunity to complete Orders in a timeous and effective manner.

The number of Supervision Requirements has also increased to a proportionately greater extend that unpaid work. The Supervision Requirement allows for the engagement of people in short programmatic work. The suitability for accredited programmes can relate to higher assessment of risk and needs, therefore, the opportunity to access programmatic work such as the RESPECT individual domestic abuse programme and the newly developed Aberdeenshire Sex Offender programme through the imposition of a Supervision Requirement is beneficial to address risk and reoffending.

There has also been a positive increase in programme requirements with both Caledonian System and Moving Forward: Making Changes accredited programmes being central to the work undertaken. Liaison with Court Services ensures that there is a good understanding of what the programmatic groupwork entails. This leads to consistency and effectiveness in practice. People who are not reaching the suitability assessment for these programme requirements can undertake alternative short programmes through supervision which is proportionate to address risk and need associated with offending behaviour.

Residence Requirements continue to be rarely made. A number of factors could relate to this, for example, the LSCMI quick score assessment does not feature residence issues as part of the risk and needs assessment or that the requirements around residence are included in a Conduct Requirement.

There is a continued under representation of Mental Health Requirements in the number of Orders being made during year 17/18. It would appear that the very specific conditions that require to be satisfied to make a mental health requirement specifically, the need to be eligible for statutory mental health services and to require to remain actively engaged in this service reduces the opportunity for this requirement being made. The prevalence of Tier One and Tier Two mental health and mental wellbeing needs is significant across the people who are in the justice system. Eligibility criteria for statutory mental health services is challenging where there is no diagnosis and therefore, eligibility criteria for intervention through health or social work is not met. The assessment of risk can indicate risk of serious harm in many respects, however, this does not always allow for referral into these services. The “lower level” mental health needs around depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder impact on the mental health and wellbeing of many people and can contribute to reoffending but is managed through non statutory mental health services. Criminal Justice contribute through the Community Justice Partnership, a part time mental health social worker who works in HMP Grampian supporting people who have “lower level” mental health issues in the preparation for release so that this need can be factored into throughcare arrangements. The demand in the community is huge. It is hoped the investment through Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy will make a positive contribution to increasing access into mental health services within primary care. Should access into such mental health supports be realised then the opportunity to include a mental health requirement could potentially increase given additional resource which matches eligibility with need.

In relation to both drug and alcohol requirements, they continue to be very rarely used. The area of North Aberdeenshire has a prevalence of alcohol and drug misuse issues. The Strategic Needs Assessment undertaken for the first Community Justice Outcomes Improvement Plan identifies very clearly that alcohol is a highly featured factor in offending in Aberdeenshire. That said, the low numbers of Requirements made is not consistent with the numbers of people in the justice system who are engaged with drug and alcohol services. Since the Integration of Health and Social Care the developing Integrated Drug and Alcohol service has established even closer operational links with criminal justice. This promotes seamless referrals and joined up working. The direction around a requirement to engage may not, therefore, be as relevant if these working arrangements around a person is in place. Where there continues to be a challenge in relation to active and consistent engagement with drug services, then the Court are consistent in their imposition of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders. This has had further positive impact on joined up working to address substance related offending behaviour.

There has been a further increase in contact requirements imposed. Practice examples where a conduct requirement has been used relate to a range of situations, for example:

 Directing the use of Internet devices and permitting Police to use powers to examine internet history (People who have been convicted of internet offences)  Excluding someone from a certain home/premises/certain area which has been associated with their offending behaviour

 Giving direction not to approach a victim ( often applied in conviction for domestic abuse offences)

 Require a person to attend services as directed by his/her supervising officer (Substance Misuse and Mental Health)

Any issues affecting access to services which are provided by other partners (e.g. drug and alcohol services) and, where such issues have been identified, what work is underway to resolve them.

The introduction of new GDPR has impacted on the efficiency of information sharing in relation to Court Services. Delays exist in the provision of information regarding disposals which are affecting induction timescales for both supervision and unpaid work. The issue is currently being resolved at a national level and in time access to relevant information will take place via the Court Portal.

Reference has already been made to issues around the access into mental health services including psychology. Both eligibility criteria and lack of resource is a factor. This does impact on the access to appropriate assessment which requires to inform the nature of how an intervention around offending can be delivered. This is very significant in terms of the defensible management of risk. Action 15 investment is hoped to improve this situation.

The Whole Systems Approach is embedded into practice, however, a change in third sector provision for Court Support for 16 and 17 year olds who are appearing in Aberdeen Sheriff Court has created a gap in provision. Although cover where feasible has come from the Court Support Worker attached to Peterhead and Banff Sheriff Court, the provision of support has not been consistent. Young people who are appearing in Court for the first time and in situations where they lack stable family support, experience the Court process as difficult. This can lead to non-appearances, the issue of warrants and potentially remand. It has been necessary to respond to this, therefore, as part of the development of a criminal justice court social worker who is linked to routine court processes and custody support, the additional support around 16 and 17 year olds is to be built into the remit of this post.

Any other relevant information. This might include details of work which is carried out with people on CPOs to address their offending behaviour but which does not fall into the category of a specific requirement.

A review of the Aberdeenshire Community Payback Order Unpaid Work Service took place during 2017/18 and as a result, the service has been restructured from two areas to three. This is in response to the increase in the number of Community Payback Orders which include a requirement for Unpaid Work, and also the large, rural nature of Aberdeenshire which can present a challenge in terms of identifying and managing suitable placement options. The service across Aberdeenshire is now delivered in- house by three dedicated teams and additional workers have been recruited to support the delivery of this model in a more flexible and responsive manner.

The King Street Resource Centre as referred to above, provides access to meeting rooms and facilities which can be used as a safe and accessible place where a range of interventions and delivery models can take place. The people who attend the Centre are involved in the justice system in a range of different ways including statutory provision, voluntary contact, unpaid work and throughcare. Both health and social work services work from the Centre which means that the concept of a “one stop shop” is being actualised. Different parts of the criminal justice and substance misuse service deliver drop-in, structured and therapeutic interventions on an individual and group work basis. This widens the opportunity to work with people on a needs led basis and is more inclusive and accessible regardless of their pathway within the justice system. The Aberdeenshire Women’s Service are partially based within the Centre and a multi - partner access provision is made possible through both drop in and structured interventions, for example, health improvement, Skills Development Scotland. Health and employability/training/education issues identified as a significant factor which underlies offending behaviour.

COMPLETED BY: Dawn Leslie

DATE: 31 October 2018

CONTACT FOR QUERIES ABOUT THE REPORT

Name: Dawn Leslie

E-mail: [email protected]

Telephone: 07917790902