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Building a Better Scotland
JUSTICE
To create a safer and fairer Scotland
We have made significant progress - overall crime is going down, whilst detection rates are going up, and we have taken steps to create a more efficient, open and accountable justice system. But further investment is needed to tackle violent crime and drugs and to make our streets safer.
Our key objectives for the Spending Review period are set out below. We will focus our resources on:
- maintaining the capacity of the police and fire services;
- improving the effectiveness of services;
- non-custodial programmes that reduce re-offending and a 40% increase in prison rehabilitation programmes;
- enabling prisons to cope with the rising prison population;
- creating more modern court services; and
- better access to justice.
Tackling Drugs in ScotlandExpenditure on tackling Scotland's drugs problem is driven by the commitments in our Drugs Strategy Tackling Drugs in Scotland - Action in Partnership and our Action Plan Protecting our Future. We have also published a range of very demanding targets, for example: - reduce the proportion of young people under 25 reporting use of heroin by 25% by 2005;
- reduce the proportion of drug misusers who inject by 20% by 2005;
- increase the number of drug seizures by 25% by 2004; and
- reduce the total number of drug-related deaths by at least 25% by 2005.
We have recognised from the outset that we must adopt a joined-up approach across portfolios and involve partners at local level. We have established the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency, which is working with our police forces to stifle the availability of drugs in our communities. Seizures of the drugs which cause the most harm are at record levels, but there is scope to do more. Within the criminal justice system, we are supporting a 40% increase in rehabilitation programmes for prisoners, along with innovative community disposals such as Drug Testing and Treatment Orders and Drug Courts, aimed at breaking the vicious circle of drug misuse and offending. Neighbourhood Wardens will work alongside the police to identify and resolve the concerns of communities. We must protect our young people from drugs, and provide them and their parents with information and sources of advice and help. Our "Know the Score" communications work is helping to provide people with factual information about drugs, and details of where help can be obtained locally. We support a wide range of projects designed to guide young people away from drugs into healthy and positive lifestyles. New community schools will provide a further boost, as will investment in sports and our wider work to improve public health. Our Youth Crime Initiative will help to tackle those young people who do get involved in drug misuse, and associated criminal and anti-social behaviour, and make communities safer places to live. Our integrated and inclusive approach to Scotland's drug problems, backed by record levels of investment, is already delivering real benefits to communities across Scotland. |
OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS
OBJECTIVE 1
To make Scotland a place where people are safer, and feel safer |
Target | 1 | Further reduction in serious violent crime. The Scottish Police Service agreed a target in March 2002 to reduce serious violent crime by 5% by 2004. A new target involving a further reduction will be agreed for 2006. |
Target | 2 | Increase seizures of Class A drugs. The Scottish Police Service already has a target to increase such seizures by 25% by 2004. A new target will be agreed for 2006. |
Target | 3 | Reduce fear of crime, or seriousness of worry about crime. Measures will be contained in the next Scottish Crime Survey due in 2004. |
OBJECTIVE 2
To have a fair and more efficient justice system that commands the confidence of its customers and the public |
Target | 4 | 85% of summary cases completed in 20 weeks of first calling in the Sheriff Court by 2005-06. |
Target | 5 | Increase the percentage of those victims who want support having been offered or successfully sought that support by 12% by 2006. |
OBJECTIVE 3
To reduce offending and provide more and more effective non-custodial penalties |
Target | 6 | Provide 6,300 prisoner places by 2005-06. |
Target | 7 | Increase the number of prison rehabilitation programmes and approved activities by 40% to 1,500 by 2005-06. |
Target | 8 | Provide capacity for 17,000 community disposals by 2005-06, focusing on priority groups such as women, young people and drug users. |
Target | 9 | Accreditation Panel in place by 2003 to improve quality of community programmes with at least three offending programmes developed for accreditation by 2004-05. |
OBJECTIVE 4
To make Scotland fairer through a modern, efficient and user-friendly/ accessible civil justice system |
Target | 10 | Increasing the number of people getting access to justice through legal aid and other means by 5% (20,000) over the Spending Review period. |
Target | 11 | To make a statutory debt arrangement scheme accessible to everyone burdened by multiple debt who is eligible to participate by the end of 2005-06. |
What we will do
Over the Spending Review period we will:
- provide an additional 37/89/146 million for a new pay structure for federated ranks (those between constables and chief inspectors);
- make available an additional 9/24/38 million to take forward the delivery of a modern and efficient fire service as set out in our Policy Consultation Paper The Scottish Fire Service of the Future;
- invest a further 25 million to support the roll-out in Scotland of Airwave, the new digital radio communication system (to replace analogue systems) being adopted by police forces throughout the UK;
- provide an additional 2/12/11 million for other centrally-funded police services to assist in the fight against crime, including training, IT and national security initiatives and a replacement of the Livescan fingerprint recognition system, which captures and stores fingerprints electronically and transmits them to the central records at the Scottish Criminal Records Office;
- invest an additional 15 million to provide 6,300 prisoner places in line with the Executive's Prisons Estates Review. Over the Spending Review period, there will be a 40% increase in rehabilitation programmes and approved activities in prison;
- support community justice services with an additional 4/6/10 million, including funding for a further phased rollout of Drug Testing and Treatment Orders, and better resettlement for prisoners at the end of their sentence;
- make available an additional 0/1/1 million to roll out the Witness Service to the High Court and to improve support services for child witnesses;
- invest a further 2/8/6 million in the Supreme and Sheriff Courts to improve service delivery and increase access to justice. This will support the use of new technology to enable the public to access courts electronically and provide for video links between courts and prisons. Other investment in technology will enable serious and complex criminal cases to proceed more quickly and facilitate the exchange of information between the courts, Crown Office and police; and
- make available a further 5/6/9 million for legal aid, to help make Scotland fairer by supporting wider access to justice.
Spending Plans
m | 2002-03
Plans | 2003-04
New Plans | 2004-05
New Plans | 2005-06
New Plans |
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
Community Justice Services1 | 67 | 80 | 83 | 88 |
Fire Central Government | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Legal Aid2 | 138 | 147 | 148 | 151 |
Miscellaneous | 24 | 23 | 24 | 24 |
Police Central Government | 79 | 83 | 104 | 106 |
Scottish Prison Service3 | 301 | 299 | 299 | 314 |
Scottish Courts Service | 69 | 71 | 77 | 75 |
Courts Group (incl. Judicial Salaries) | 25 | 30 | 30 | 32 |
Accountant in Bankruptcy | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Total | 742 | 773 | 807 | 832 |
Police Grant4 | 404 | 437 | 463 | 492 |
Civil Defence Grant | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Police LA Capital | 30 | 26 | 31 | 31 |
Fire LA Capital | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
Justice support to Local Authorities | 458 | 488 | 519 | 548 |
Police GAE5 | 824 | 883 | 935 | 992 |
Fire GAE5 | 212 | 232 | 247 | 261 |
Notes
1. Includes provision of 3.5/4.25/5.25 million for Youth Crime.
2. The figures reflect the move to record Scottish Executive NDPBs on a resource basis. Included within the legal aid baseline is 3 million for 2002-03 and 7 million from 2003-04 onwards to cover this change. The cash provision available to the Scottish Legal Aid Board for the Spending Review period is 140/141/144 million.
3. The fall in SPS provision between 2002-03 and 2003-04 is due to the inclusion of impairment costs, which amount to 35 million in 2002-03 and 18 million in 2003-04. If impairment costs are excluded, SPS's provision rises from 266 million in 2002-03 to 281 million in 2003-04.
4. Police Grant, which forms part of the Justice budget, is derived from Police GAE - which is accounted for in the Local Government Spending Plans table.
5. Programmes form part of the Justice portfolio, but are accounted for in the Local Government Spending Plans table.
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