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PERFORMANCE INSPECTION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOCIAL WORK SERVICES
Report on Argyll, Bute and the Dunbartonshires' Criminal Justice Social Work Partnership
1. CONTEXT AND ARRANGEMENTS
Introduction
1.1 This report on services in the Argyll, Bute, and the Dunbartonshires' Criminal Justice Social Work Partnership (subsequently referred to as the partnership) is the first in a rolling programme of inspections of practice in all the groupings of local authorities and unitary authorities providing criminal justice social work services across Scotland. Local authorities provide a range of statutory services to the criminal justice system. These include social enquiry reports for the courts and home background reports for the Parole Board and the supervision in the community of offenders on probation and community service orders and parole and non-parole licences. They also provide or commission a range of other services such as drug treatment and testing orders, supervised attendance orders, bail information and supervision schemes, diversion from prosecution, and supported accommodation services. This inspection focuses on the core elements of service provision.
1.2 This first inspection of delivery of key aspects of criminal justice social work services is an important step in providing a more systematic approach to reporting on the delivery of effective practice. It has enabled SWSI to pilot the methodology set out in 'The Guide for the Inspection of Performance of Criminal Justice Social Work' published in August 2003 which was developed in collaboration with representatives from ADSW, and in consultation with CoSLA and representatives from the voluntary sector. The methodology may be amended for future inspections in the light of experience.
1.3 The fieldwork for this inspection took place during August and September, 2003.
Partnership structure
1.4 Following the launch of 'Community Sentences - The Tough Option' and the agreement between CoSLA and the Scottish Executive on the formation of groupings, the Councils of Argyll and Bute, West Dunbartonshire, and East Dunbartonshire formed a partnership to deliver criminal justice social work services. Operational since April 2002, the partnership is accountable to a joint committee of elected members from each of the 3 authorities with fully delegated powers. Management direction is provided by a partnership manager who also acts as service manager for West Dunbartonshire. He is assisted by service managers in each of the other 2 authorities. West Dunbartonshire Council administers a single budget.
1.5 As the map below shows the partnership covers a wide geographical area, including island communities, yet has a relatively small and scattered population. Argyll and Bute is the second largest local authority in Scotland (after Highland) and poses significant challenges for service delivery including limited opportunities for pooling and sharing resources, the dispersal of small numbers of staff, and poor public transport.
1.6 Argyll and Bute Council is the most westerly of the 3 councils covering a landmass of 2,680 square miles, with a population of 91,390. This is expected to fall to around 80,500 by 2016. The area is largely rural with an economy tending to be low wage and dependant on farming, fishing and tourism. The unemployment rate is 9% ( Source: Argyll, Bute, and the Dunbartonshires' CJSW Strategic Plan 2002).
1.7 West Dunbartonshire Council is significantly more urban than Argyll and Bute. It covers an area of 70 square miles and has a population of 93,000. The economy is based around a number of traditional industries now in decline. This has led to a high unemployment rate of 11% with the area ranked as the third most deprived in Scotland. ( Source: Argyll, Bute, and the Dunbartonshires' CJSW Strategic Plan 2002).
1.8 East Dunbartonshire Council covers an area of 77 square miles and has a population of 110,000. It is a mix of urban and rural areas with an economy also based largely on older industries. These have not been totally replaced and the economy now looks towards Glasgow. While there are some pockets of deprivation, the area is seen as relatively affluent with an unemployment rate of 5% ( Source: Argyll, Bute and the Dunbartonshires' CJSW Strategic Plan 2002).
Crime statistics
1.9 After Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, West Dunbartonshire Council area has the highest numbers of crimes recorded by the Police per 10,000 population ( Source: 'Recorded Crime in Scotland' Scottish Executive, Statistical Bulletin Criminal Justice Series 2002). Crime rates vary across the partnership from 458 per 10,000 population in Argyll and Bute and 429 in East Dunbartonshire to 970 in West Dunbartonshire.
Sentencing statistics
1.10 There are significant differences between the sentencing patterns of the Sheriff Courts in West Dumbarton, Argyll and Bute, and Glasgow served by the partnership ( Source: 'Costs, Sentencing Profiles and the Scottish Criminal Justice System' Scottish Executive, 2002). For example, Dunoon has the second lowest percentage, Glasgow the ninth highest, and Dumbarton the fifth highest use of custody in Scotland. On the other hand, Dumbarton has a low average length of sentence (85 days) compared with Campbeltown (117).
1.11 There are also sentencing variations between courts within council areas for example in the percentage use of probation and community service. Variations are also evident in sentences passed for specific crimes. For example, a housebreaking conviction in Dumbarton has a 61% chance of a custodial sentence compared with 10% in Dunoon and 13% in Oban.
Staffing
Argyll and Bute Council
1.12 The criminal justice social work service currently comprises the service manager, 1.5 senior social workers, 3.9 social workers, 3.11 social work/criminal justice assistants and 9 community service supervisors. Staff based at Dunoon, Oban, and Campbeltown cover all parts of Argyll except the islands, which are covered by generic social workers. One criminal justice social worker is employed specifically as a peripatetic worker but all staff effectively operate in this way to provide cover for sickness, leave, and training. Criminal justice staff are not specialised and are required to deliver all aspects of the service, including community service. They are located in generic social work teams. Staff in these teams provide administrative support on the basis that criminal justice staff are available for standby duties and for providing advice and assistance on related matters. The full time senior criminal justice social worker supervises the criminal justice staff, while the part time criminal justice senior supervises the criminal justice work undertaken by generic social workers. For logistical reasons, services in Helensburgh are provided by the West Dunbartonshire criminal justice team. The Council uses its social work assistants to deliver group work programmes (where numbers permit), to supervise low risk cases, and to provide cover when social workers are absent There are plans to put a new structure in place that would reduce reliance on generic staff.
West Dunbartonshire Council
1.13 The criminal justice service comprises the service manager (who is also the partnership manager), 4 senior social workers, 14 social workers, a group worker, a supervised attendance worker, two community service workers, and one full-time and a number of sessional community service supervisors. The service is centrally located and structured into separate assessment, supervision, and community service teams. A fourth recently established team is responsible for work with high-risk offenders including sex offenders, and for the throughcare service throughout the partnership. The assessment team is responsible for diversion, court services and the preparation of all court and home background reports (responsibility for the last of these may transfer to the throughcare team). The supervision team supervises all statutory orders using the 'Constructs' modular group work programme as the main means of delivery. To broaden experience and to provide cover where necessary, staff in one team may undertake responsibilities normally carried out by the other two.
East Dunbartonshire Council
1.14 The criminal justice service is centrally located. It comprises the service manager (whose job description also includes some responsibility for youth justice), and the team leader who has line management responsibility for 5 social workers, (including the social worker based at Lowmoss prison), one community service officer, one assistant officer and 3 supervisors. A youth justice worker is also attached to the team. The team leader also contributes to policy and practice developments in youth justice.
Methodology
1.15 In carrying out their work inspectors:
- looked at the available information about service performance. They requested management information in advance to build up a picture of local procedures and practices for establishing the direction of services, assuring their quality, and evaluating their effectiveness;
- examined a sample of reports submitted to the courts during a specified period and assessed the quality of the reports held in the case sample files;
- examined a sample of probation, community service, and throughcare case files. These included women offenders and offenders considered to pose a serious risk of harm to others;
- observed individual and group work practice either directly or through video recording;
- visited a number of community service sites selected to reflect the different ways in which community service work placements were delivered;
- interviewed offenders following their observed interviews, group work sessions, or community service work;
- interviewed staff at different levels in the organisation. These interviews focused on issues arising from the management information, file reading, and observation of practice;
- attended a meeting of the joint committee;
- consulted Sheriffs and beneficiaries of community service by asking them to complete a short questionnaire about the quality of the service they received.
Assessing the quality of reports and practice
1.16 The inspection team used a 4-point scale to assess the quality of reports and practice as evidenced in case records. The scale distinguishes between practice which is 'very good', 'good', 'adequate', and 'poor'. 'Very good' indicates a very high standard which exceeds an acceptable level of competence. 'Good' means that work is carried out to an entirely acceptable level of competence. 'Adequate' confirms a general basis of competence, but suggests substantial room for improvement. 'Poor' means that work is of an unacceptable standard.
1.17 The tables of data in this report represent actual numbers in each category rather than percentages. The reason for this is that for some specific questions the relevant sample is quite small, and the inspection team felt that it was more transparent to present the specific data rather than data grouped in percentages.
The inspection team
1.18 The SWSI inspection team comprised Jo Knox (Depute Chief Inspector), John Waterhouse, Gerard Hart and Irene Scullion (Inspectors). To provide a broader base to the team, SWSI invited criminal justice service managers to form a pool of co-opted inspectors on which the Inspectorate could draw. The Criminal Justice Manager for Dundee City Council assisted with this inspection. Assistance with file reading was also provided by local service staff.
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