The Scottish Government

The Scottish Government is committed to reforming the criminal justice system in Scotland to reduce re-offending:

• Reoffending is a major problem and appropriate interventions are vital to addressing the issue
• We need to address the weaknesses identified in our current system
• We want to ensure that criminal justice agencies work in partnership with other key agencies to break the cycle of offending and reoffending
• We want to ensure that there are closer operational arrangements between the criminal justice agencies to support offenders

Measures which will help to achieve this include:

• The creation of the Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 in December 2005
• The publication of the National Strategy for the Management of Offenders in May 2006.
• The creation of eight Community Justice Authorities (CJAs)
• The public consultation on the management of offender services
• The establishment of the National Advisory Body on Offender Management (NAB)
• The publication of The Criminal Justice Plan in December 2004
• The work of the Management of Offenders National Support Team (NST) in facilitating the significant changes in culture and joint working practices, which underpin the Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005.

For further information please contact Community Justice Services on 0131 244 3532.