The Scottish Government

Respect, Responsibility and Rehabilitation

RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY AND REHABILITATION IN MODERNSCOTLAND

APEX LECTURE by First Minister Jack McConnell

Signet Library,Edinburgh

September 16, 2003

I am very pleased to have been invited to give tonight's Apex lecture and am grateful to you for your welcome.

I want to start by offering my congratulations to Apex for the important work you do. You have positioned yourself as the leading non-statutory organisation inScotlandin the field of employment for those who have a criminal record. This is important work and over your 15 years you have won a formidable reputation for the quality and effectiveness of your work.

I am particularly impressed by the initiative you have taken to link up with the Scottish Criminal Records Office so that you can provide real evidence of the impact of employment on re-offending. Your first results, showing a reduction in re-offending rates, are encouraging and I applaud your commitment not only to measure your own performance, but to apply the lessons you learn from that to the development of your services.

Our devolved Government has made higher sustainable growth for the Scottish economy our top priority for the second term of the Scottish Parliament. We have set out a programme of investment and reform to drive up standards and results in our education and health services. We will continue to build good relationships at home and abroad and to stand up for the interests ofScotland.

And I am determined to continue our efforts to tackle racism and sectarianism, improve our national health and protect our environment - so that modernScotlandis a country we can all be proud to call home.

But there is one subject that is, rightly, at the top of our immediate agenda and, I believe, top of the agenda in households acrossScotland. So tonight, I want to outline:

Why tackling crime and building communities and relationships based on respect are so important

What reforms are required to improve the system, deliver the service victims have a right to expect, increase public safety, improve sentencing and reduce re-offending, and

Who should be responsible for securing greater confidence amongst the population ofScotlandin law enforcement, our justice system and the effectiveness of sentences.

Scotland's criminal justice system has a long and proud history. In the days whenScotlandandEnglandwere at war the barons sent their sons to the universities on the continent, toLeidenandUtrecht. And they brought back the principles of Roman Law, of Justinian and Gaius, the building blocks of the Scottish legal system. We are rightly proud of a system based on principle and reason and our courts still look to writers such as Hume and Macdonald to guide the development of our criminal law.

Scots Criminal Law still has a world-wide reputation. The Lockerbie trial showed the world the quality of our criminal law and those who practice it. The prosecutors at Kamp Zeist won two prestigious awards from the International Association of Prosecutors, reflecting and acknowledging their professional commitment to securing justice for the victims of the bombing. And Colin Boyd, our Lord Advocate has recently been elected onto the Board of Management of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law - recognition of the standing of our legal system and what we can offer the international legal community.

In the last session of Parliament we passed the Criminal Justice Act which enhanced victims' rights, tackled child pornography, increased the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults and took important steps to tackle sectarianism.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has embarked on the most radical reforms in its history:

• recognising the needs of victims and addressing these through the country-wide victim information agency
• promoting greater co-operation between prosecutors and police
• increasing the number of prosecutors from 280 in 1998 to over 400 today

We have delivered record levels of police officers, established the effective Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency and channelled the profits of the dealers' back into communities to address the damage done by their dealing.

We have channelled new resources into improving the prison estate, increasing secure unit placements and support for community based sentences and reparation.

And the appointment of Elish Angiolini, the first woman, the first solicitor and the first career prosecutor as Solicitor General, signalled my determination that appointments in the criminal justice system should be on merit, and my commitment to reform.

So we are right to be proud of our past. And right to be pleased with the changes introduced since devolution.

But the confidence of ordinary families in law enforcement, in our courts and hearings and in the effectiveness of sentencing is far too low.

Investment in our police service has risen. We now have the highest number of police officers ever inScotlandand largely through their efforts, the highest clear up rate since the Second World War. But our communities cry out to feel more protected and listened to. We have crimes unreported, citizens who don't see the point in calling the police because they won't turn up, or they can't do anything, or the person responsible will be out again only hours after they've been caught.

We have made major strides to modernise our Crown Office and courts with again, significant investment of resources. Over 40% increase in the 5 years from 2001 to 2006. Half way through that and we still have hundreds of police hours wasted hanging around in ante-rooms, witnesses unwilling to come forward because they are afraid, or just simply can't see the point.

Investment in our prison service and in local authority criminal justice services has risen by 45% in the past 10 years. But we have community sentences that the public neither trust nor find credible. And the numbers of people who will re-offend has barely altered over that period. 7 out of every 10 of those convicted have a previous conviction. Over 50% of those sentenced to prison or to a community sentence will re-offend within 2 years. Ours is one of the worst records inEuropeand it is time to address this situation in a concerted and comprehensive way.

Despite major investment of money, resources and time in community sentences, the prison population is rising and most of the sentences are for less than 6 months. Sentences where we know with absolute certainty that the prisons can do nothing more than 'process' the individual. No programmes for changed behaviour, no time to tackle the drug or debt problems or the violence that characterised the crime in the first place - and will do so, again and again.

And in the eyes of the public, precious little punishment for the offence committed - and the short-term offender out automatically, half way through.

So, by our actions, we need to renew the respect of all our communities for the service. Because the manner by which we as a society both protect our citizens and deal with those who offend against them, is a measure of our civilisation, our maturity and our humanity. More than this, our capacity as a society to produce fewer criminals will be a measure of our success in building safe and secure communities. Communities where all those who live in them feel protected and respected and which, as a result, are enriched, prosperous and strengthened to face their future.

Building those communities is more than building a sound economy. More than creating opportunity which is truly shared by all. It is, at its heart, about asserting our shared values as a society - values of respect, compassion, justice and responsibility. Values which we want our courts, our prisons and our criminal justice service to uphold. Values which we translate and make tangible in a public justice service for the 21 ^st century.

A public justice service, working to these values - clearly stated and understood by everyone. Those who work in the service, those who look to it for resolution and redress, those who are dealt with by it - and those in whose name it operates.

Society, through its government and other institutions, is right to assert its values and standards. It is right to state unequivocally that crime is unacceptable and that criminal behaviour will be punished. But we have to do more than express disapproval. And all of us have to do more than we are doing now.

Over the years, successive politicians have allowed the pendulum to swing in an entrenched and sterile debate between punishment alone on the one hand and no punishment but lots of understanding, on the other. The right argued that only prison worked and the left countered by citing social and economic circumstances as the sole cause of criminal behaviour.

Neither was right. Neither really listened to how it felt to those at the sharp end. The right claimed the law and order ground as their own and the left behaved as if the people who struggled with the damage of crime should wait for economic change before their concerns were addressed. Both sides were too concerned with winning other political points. And each inflicted a major disservice on those who are fearful of crime, those who have suffered the violation of crime and those who experience daily disorder in their streets and sometimes, in their own homes.

The truth of the matter is much more complex. The problems of crime in the 21 ^st century demand a comprehensive and considered response.

Now, each of us can throw up our hands in horror - and cry " that's not fair, we've done this or we've done that ". We can turn to our neighbour here tonight and say " it's not me, it's your fault " - the police, or the sheriffs, or the prison officers, or the social workers, or the politicians. Or we could even get together and say " the public don't understand…it's more complex than that…you can't change things overnight….there's not really more crime, it's the media making people more afraid ".

We could do all of those things. In fact for too many years, that's exactly what we have done. Someone else is not doing their job, someone else is to blame. But not me. I'm doing my best. It's that other person's fault.

Well I have to say to all of us tonight. No more. That is not good enough.

I have spent a lot of time listening to those at the front line of this service. Police Officers, Panel members, victims, scared and angry pensioners, social workers, prison officers, solicitors, prosecutors, judges - and young people caught up in offending as offenders and as victims, and suffering the impact of crime on their own lives and opportunities.

No one believes that the status quo is good enough, although many assert that nothing can or will change. And while they rightly take pride in the many successes of the system and the recent improvements, the cumulative impact of their negative experiences is a litany of lack of enforcement in communities, delays in courts, failures in support for hearings and re-offending levels hardly changed.

That experience has convinced me that change must be possible, that we can turn this tanker around - but that no single one of us will do that alone. This is a complex situation and it needs a comprehensive set of solutions, and sustained leadership, if we are to succeed.

There is a balance to be struck. A balance between protection and punishment - and the chance for those who have done wrong to change their behaviour and re-engage with their community as full and productive members.

It we don't get that balance right then the system will fail through lack of confidence and trust. Our justice service depends absolutely on ordinary people speaking up for what is right and speaking out against what is wrong. We need them to be willing to provide information to the police and ready to come forward as witnesses or to serve on juries. And we need them to be tolerant of the offender who returns to the community, because they believe the person truly has been punished and has made amends and they are now ready to give him or her their second chance.

An inter-relationship of expectation and responsibility. Flowing both ways - between the public and the justice service and between the offender, who has the responsibility to take the second chance and the community, whom we need to be prepared to give it.

So paying very close attention when they tell us they have little confidence in the system, when they don't feel any safer and they don't see the wrong-doer being dealt with effectively is not the just responsibility of the politician. It is the duty on all those who work in this service.

But government does have a job to do. And political leaders have a responsibility.

To set out clear objectives which directly address the concerns and the aspirations of those in whose name we govern. To provide the strategic direction our public justice service must travel in. To supply the resources and where needed, the legislation, to allow the service to meet the objectives set. To set standards and hold the service accountable for meeting those standards. And to provoke and support fresh thinking and the drive for improvement.

As a government, we have set out in our Partnership Agreement an ambitious programme for the next four years. A programme to apply Scottish solutions to Scottish problems. And it is an ambitious programme because of the scale of change we are aiming for. The Partnership Agreement sets out the building blocks towards our long-term goal of a safe, healthy, prosperous and confidentScotland. And I am determined that we will drive a sense of urgency across this country in tackling those Scottish problems with comprehensive and effective solutions.

For years, I've heard about howScotlandimprisons more people than just about any other country in the world. How our re-offending rate is too high. How people - ordinary, decent hard working people - young and old - don't feel safe anymore. This situation is corrosive. It undermines every one of us, it produces despair and gnawing anxiety. And perhaps worst of all, it breeds the cynicism that nothing works, it will never change, it will never get any better.

It is a cynicism that mocks aspiration and diminishes ambition. If we are going to build a newScotland, forward looking, confident and ambitious for our future - then we need to act now. We need the lives our people live tomorrow to be tangibly better than the lives they lived before. And at the centre of that, is their confidence in the public services - public services they believe are working in their name.

The criminal justice service is a public service. It is part of our drive to regain trust and confidence. Indeed, it is central. Because it exists on the basis of our shared values. It exists to protect and to serve.

Tonight's audience brings together all parts of the public justice service. I understand the challenging work you do, the complexity of the problems you grapple with every day, the moral and intellectual dilemmas you face. I understand and I do not under-estimate the responsibility you hold or the seriousness with which you approach your task.

But I also know the impact your decisions have because you are dealing with complex issues, the onus is on harnessing the skills and expertise you have, on working together.

Our objectives are clear:

• More police officers on operational duty, including investigation and 'on the beat' - supported by local services and local people
• Children's services which support opportunity and ambition, but a Hearings system and youth justice services which reflect the 21 ^st century for those who go wrong
• A prosecution service which administers the action required effectively and efficiently
• Courts which deliver a fair trial for the accused and consistent, appropriate sentences for those convicted - while not punishing the victims or the witnesses, and
• Sentences - custodial and community which are appropriate to the harm done, deter others and reduce re-offending

Matching that, each of you and each of the agencies you represent, have responsibilities too.

To work as public servants - putting first those who look to you for justice and support. To work together - not protecting your own patch, inside your own agency, and with your partners in the service. To take responsibility for the effectiveness of your work - and stop looking to blame someone else when your work, isn't working. To deliver the improved and constantly improving, public service of criminal justice.

You already know that criminal justice is one of the main pillars of the programme I have set out for the next four years. We are building on the work we began before May. But we need more than 'steady as you go' progress. We need a step change in attitude and effectiveness.

We have set out a package of measures which, taken together and underpinned by the resources we have committed, will drive forward the improvement we need to regain the respect of our communities.

It is important for us all to understand that it is the combination of the measures our programme outlines, building on the work that we began in recent years, that will deliver the results our communities need. There is no single initiative, no one agency, no isolated piece of legislation - no magic trick. The package, together with the resources and the determination to drive improvement for effectiveness - together they signal our determination to build a saferScotland. And our determination to place the victims of crime at the centre of the criminal justice service.

For far too many years, the victim felt downgraded to a case number or a crime statistic. But if we are talking about rebuilding respect for the criminal justice service and respect between people in our communities, then we must show respect for the victim of crime.

In recent years, we have begun to address that situation and have taken the first important steps. Steps to provide support for victims, increase information to them and their families about their case and what is happening, and improve their rightful participation in the process of justice. Working with the police, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal service and importantly, with Victim SupportScotland- we have made a start. We have begun to show them our respect for their experience and give them the recognition they deserve for the harm that has been done to them.

Like many people, I have often wondered why trials are so often postponed. When confronted by example after example, I find it hard to explain to ordinary people why the system has perverse incentives, why vested interests encourage offenders to plead not guilty until late in the proceedings, refuse to roll up all the outstanding charges to be dealt with at one time and seem happy to condemn offenders to the conveyor belt of crime, because it perpetuates the system.

I accept that many lawyers must earn their bread and butter from the criminal justice system, but I will not condone or assist the few who expect the system to deliver for them.

So the programme of change to put justice first and end self serving practices is evident in our programme of court reform.

Before the autumn recess we will introduce a Bill to enact the main provisions of Lord Bonomy's report into the working of the High Court. The Bill will introduce a package of measures which, taken as a whole, will address the current problems of the highest court in the land and improve our capacity to deal with the most serious cases. We will give judges more authority than ever before to manage their courts so that we can end the countless adjournments which plague our High Court and cause frustration for witnesses and jurors and heartache for victims.

At the same time, we are preparing for the next stage of the court reform process. We have made it clear that we expect to receive the recommendations from the review, chaired by Sheriff Principal McInnes, by the end of the year. We will turn our attention then to reforming the summary justice system.

What the public and victims want most, is to see offenders brought to justice. And here, the police are the first line of our service. This is why in the last 3 years we have increased police resources by 20% and we will take expenditure to over £1 billion by 2006.

As a result, the number of police officers and support staff have risen to record levels. In June this year, there were 15,560 police officers inScotland, 846 more than in June 1999. Support staff numbers have increased even faster - by around 1,000 in whole time equivalent terms. All of whom should release police officers onto operational duties.

But this exercise is about more than numbers. It's also about changing how work is done. Our Crown Office recently introduced a change in the delivery of witness citations. By moving away from an entirely labour intensive system to one that uses the delivery facilities of the national postal service, they have improved efficiency, freed up staff time to do more productive work and increased the percentage of successfully delivered citations.

The combined impact of new working practices, rationalisation, new technology and the transfer of work to support staff within forces has led to an even greater increase in the numbers of officers available for front line duties. During the period of this Parliament, we are committed to a further increase in the numbers of officers on operational duty in every Scottish force - officers to investigate crime and make their presence felt on our streets.

The Chief Constables have set their recruitment and staffing targets. They are ambitious and will demand a great deal of effort - and that is precisely the determined and positive response I look to others to emulate. So when the Tayside force can meet their 28 day target to pass cases on to the Procurator Fiscal for decision, I know that other forces are working hard to match that.

But the improved performance of the police is futile if not followed through into the work of the prosecution service, sentencing by the courts and work with offenders. This is why we are building the capacity of the system from start to finish. We are playing our part - additional resources, legislative improvements drawn from professional expertise, clarity of direction and expectation. But we need you to match our commitment. An end to professional preciousness, a step change in attitude which understands the imperatives of public service and a culture where every person working in criminal justice believes that the good work they did today can be done even better, tomorrow.

Regardless of where we would like to be, the fact is that right now we have a significant number of our population who are committing crime. For these individuals our task is to punish their behaviour in a way that is appropriate to the harm they have caused and which, where possible, offers them the opportunity to make redress by changing their future behaviour.

I believe that the punishment should fit the crime. But I also strongly believe that, wherever possible, the act of punishment should contain within it the capacity for restoration and for the offender to change. I understand that punishment by itself does not work for our objective of reducing offending. It sends out the clear and necessary message that the individual has done wrong, but punishment does not tell the person how to change their behaviour in the future. And that is the change we need them to make.

But there are some crimes and some types of criminal behaviour where we know that the means of constructive or restorative punishment are largely beyond our abilities - and may remain so. In these circumstances I am certain that the right balance is struck when we promote the objective of public safety. Public safety must be paramount.

I am thinking here of crimes of violence and sexual crimes. The crimes which violate that most basic human right - the right to live in safety and free of violence.

Crimes of violence remain unacceptably high. And a small number of very serious and violent offenders continue to pose an unacceptable risk. The new Risk Management Authority which will have begun its work by October next year, will manage this group of offenders. One of its main responsibilities will be to oversee high-risk violent and sexual offenders who are sentenced to an Order for Lifelong Restriction.

This development is significant not only because it is a viable approach to tackling the lifelong risk this group of offenders pose to public safety. It is significant because, crucially, its success rests on the multi-agency control of such offenders. It depends on co-operative work - it is a test of how prepared we are, in each part of the service, to end the cover of operational or professional independence as the cloak to disguise self-protective working practices.

We are providing the courts with a stronger legislative framework. This is the framework within which the judiciary exercises discretion on sentencing in individual cases. Nothing probably exercises the collective mind of the public, and the voice of the press, more than the issue of sentencing. Respecting the independence of the judiciary does not mean that Government can abdicate its responsibility to reflect the concerns of the public. All of us who serve the public must be accountable for our decisions.

The independence of the judiciary is a cornerstone of our democracy. Judges must be free to make decisions, even unpopular ones, without the fear of political interference or public denigration. As First Minister I will support the important role they have and will play my part to maintain public confidence in our judges.

But our judges must also reflect the values of our society and the times in which we live - both through the sentencing of crimes which rightly provoke public revulsion, and by working with us to make sure that our courts are more efficient and accessible.

The court system will only enjoy the respect of the public if it gets sentencing right. We administer a system whereScotlandimprisons more than almost any other country inEurope- where prison numbers are at an all time high. Alongside that there is growing public and police concern about the numbers of those charged who continue to offend whilst on bail.

At the same time, a high proportion of those who are imprisoned, are imprisoned for very short periods - many because they have failed to pay fines for minor offences which pose no risk at all to the public. I am not advocating a system which puts more and more people into our prisons. There is a balance to be struck in the use of custody and the use of alternatives to custody. And a debate to be had on where the boundaries between the two should lie and the action that is required to make sure that both custodial and non-custodial sentences meet our objective of reducing re-offending.

That is why we have established the Sentencing Commission to be chaired by Lord MacLean. Its remit is deliberately wide and reflects the complexity of the issues before it. It will review bail and remand, the basis on which fines are collected, the arrangements for early release and how these work with our commitment to proper risk assessment to strengthen public protection, and the scope to improve the consistency and effectiveness of sentences within the requirements of public safety.

Alongside the Sentencing Commission sits our commitment to publish proposals for consultation on a single agency to deliver custodial and non-custodial sentences. I know that these proposals have provoked concern and disagreement. I want to welcome here tonight all the views and importantly, the ideas, that many of you will have.

But let me be clear. The status quo is not an option.

The simple fact is that we have community and prison based sentences which, on all recent statistics, are failing to deliver our central objective of reducing re-offending. The public does not find them credible and they do not believe that they make any difference to their chances of personally experiencing crime. So that is the starting point. What we are currently doing is not working.

Now I have never been one to believe that you can solve problems only by structural change. But I am certain of this. Our current fragmented service has too many gaps between the disparate parts - gaps that offenders fall through. And if we are to deliver the serious and urgent improvements people inScotlanddemand, then we need to change our attitudes and remove the structural blockages to that change. This isn't about tinkering with the system, but an opportunity to build on what does work and bring together all the strands into one coherent package.

We have looked elsewhere at others whose work is proving more effective in this regard than our own. Of course, no-one has the full and perfect answer, but we believe that the right way to do that - alongside all the other steps I have described and the many more I do not have time for tonight - the right way, is to create a single organisation, bringing together the management of sentences in prison and in the community, and providing a clarity of purpose and a sharpness of focus on effective delivery.

Let me say again. These are not isolated measures. They are part of a package of reform. If the criminal justice service is going to win the respect of communities, then we must demonstrate that it can be more effective in prevention, detection, conviction and in reducing re-offending.

Young People

In this evening's lecture, I have addressed the current level of confidence in our criminal justice system, the need to resource and reform the service and the specific reforms we propose.

Members of the audience will have noticed the absence, so far, of any references to youth crime and anti-social behaviour. Before closing I do want to turn to them. Not because they grab headlines or win votes, but because tackling youth crime and anti-social behaviour by youngsters and adults is an absolute pre-requisite for winning the level of public trust we need and for sustainable improvements in safety and crime reduction overall.

Statistics tell us that one in ten 18 year old males were convicted of a crime or an offence in 2001. The persistent offending of these young men, and an increasing number of young women, lies at the heart of much of the anxiety and too much of the experience of our communities about crime. And it starts early. Vandalism at the local shops, deliberately broken bottles in the middle of the road, verbal abuse and intimidation as you walk along the street.

And it damages the young people themselves. Because it locks them into a cycle of offending, punishment and re-offending. For too many of them it is their chosen passage to adulthood.

Now I want to make something very clear. I understand that a disruptive home, a poor experience of education, early experimentation with drugs or alcohol can all combine to make a young person believe that committing crime is acceptable. That crime doesn't matter because they feel no loyalty to the community in which they live.

I understand these explanations - but I do not accept them as valid reasons for criminal behaviour. I do not accept them as an excuse for not knowing the difference between right and wrong. I do not accept them as the rationale for a lack of respect for yourself and others which causes direct misery and damage. And I believe that for far too long, too many have excused such behaviour because that was easy from their comfortable homes, and taking a stand was too hard.

I remember the arguments that said that poverty, deprivation and unemployment caused crime. But today, in aScotlandof low unemployment and even lower youth unemployment, in a country where significant steps have been taken to reduce poverty and increase opportunity, I am increasingly convinced that the person who offends, and then offends repeatedly, chooses to do so.

And having made that choice, they must accept the responsibility for the consequences. Not just the hard consequence of being caught and convicted - but the even harder consequence of being seriously challenged to make amends and repair their behaviour.

In 2001/2002, 4% ofScotland's children were referred to the Children's Hearing Service. 63% for their care and protection, 37% on offence grounds. In the 10 years up to that date, we have witnessed a 247% increase in the number of cases arising from lack of parental care; a 27% increase in cases where the child was a victim of an offence and a 10% increase in the number of referrals on offence grounds.

These are appalling numbers. They are shameful for us all. But please, let's stop wringing our hands. Let's confront the situation where so many young lives are damaged - often irreparably. For those children who are offending, I am certain that we will add to their abuse and the neglect they suffer, if we stand back and do nothing.

So for them and for the adults who condone the behaviour, profit from the misery, take part themselves and encourage the damage - our serious attempt to confront anti-social behaviour and introduce youth courts, measures to strengthen the role of the Children's Hearing service, add to the choices they and our courts have and provide a clear set of standards for acceptable behaviour, is the right thing to do.

The evidence is clear - fire-raising and vandalism up by 6% between 1991 and 2002, a 33% increase in petty assaults in the same period and breach of the peace offences up by 34%. Add that to the abandoned cars, the damage to property, the physical and verbal intimidation and we have a growing catalogue of acts of nuisance, disrespect and abuse.

From the 2000 Scottish Crime Survey, 40% of women, and 50% of women over 65, told us that they felt 'very' or 'a bit' unsafe when walking alone after dark. 40% of respondents felt that people who had been drinking or taking drugs was a problem in their neighbourhood and 32% identified vandalism, graffiti and other deliberate damage as a problem they had to deal with in their neighbourhood.

The police and local authorities need new powers to deal with this. Those who dismiss this proposition are dismissing the reality of life in too many of our communities.

To do nothing would be criminal. To do nothing is to write off our young people. I, and my colleagues, are not prepared to do that.

Ours is a country built on communities - communities we need to be strong and confident if we are to build aScotlandfor the 21 ^st century.

Tonight I have set out the next steps we need to take - the milestones on our way to realising a 21 ^st century public justice service.

For nearly 900 years the world has looked up toScotlandas having one of the most sophisticated, effective and fair criminal justice systems. But that accolade was earned because Scots have always known that the law is a living thing, that its application needs to change as society changes. This is an exciting time and the journey we are making will be rewarding.

We are not proposing piecemeal changes, or making one of the simplistic choices from the old debates. We have a programme for a four-year term.

New resources will be targeted to improve the system. A comprehensive package of reforms from youth justice through police and court operations, to sentencing policy and sentencing delivery, has been laid out.

As a government we understand the complexity, but we are also prepared to speak simple truths. We will continue to listen, and we will act where change is necessary.

I want all of you to be part of that journey with us. We have a shared responsibility to face the difficult issues, confront the obstacles to change and find the solutions that can take us forward. Each of us has a valuable contribution to make in building a criminal justice service we can be proud of. A criminal justice service, on the side of victims, witnesses and ordinary families and at the heart of a country we are proud to call home.