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National Objectives for Social Work Services in the Criminal Justice System: Standards - Community Service
CHAPTER 2: NATIONAL STANDARDS: INTRODUCTION
2.This statement of National Standards for Community Service in Scotland is intended to translate agreed operational objectives for the development of Community Service into a framework for the effective managing and running of Community Service Schemes in local areas.
3.Such a framework requires to set national standards for the following reasons:
3.1every court should have a clear understanding at the point of sentence of the obligations placed on the individual offender when a Community Service Order is made;
3.2by the same token, the offender should have a clear appreciation of these obligations, so that if they consent to the making of a Community Service Order they know what they must do to complete their Order satisfactorily and what will happen if they do not comply with its requirements;
3.3in the interests of fairness, these expectations should show a measure of consistency both locally and nationally;
3.4.Community Service Schemes should be seen to apply standards to their management and practice which command general respect for their clarity, consistency and fairness with the courts, organisations providing placements, the general public, and the offender;
3.5so that the courts may use Community Service with confidence where custody is warranted;
3.6to enable effective national and local planning with particular reference to the identification of resource requirements.
4.The use of the term is not intended to denote the rigid application of rules which allows little scope for managerial flexibility and initiative or professional judgement. Rather it is used to establish bench marks against which fairness, consistency, and good management practice can be tested, and the performance of the individual Community Service Schemes assessed. A measure of flexibility has therefore been built into the statement of individual standards to allow adaptation in their application to local circumstance.
5.There may also be exceptional circumstances where it is appropriate for Community Service managers and practitioners to depart from particular standards in full or in part.
6.Where any discretion is exercised under 4 or 5 above, it must always be justifiable.
7.These standards are the result of extensive consultation by The Scottish Office with COSLA, local authority social work departments and other bodies, and build on the excellent foundations laid by social work managers and practitioners in developing Community Service Schemes since their inception in 1977. They are intended to promote the further development of Community Service under 100% funding arrangements, and in particular to encourage the courts to make maximum use of Community Service for more serious cases which warrant custodial sentences.
8.Community Service Schemes should take account of SWSG Circulars 102/1989 (Medical Certificates) and 111/86 (Invalidity Benefit) in the application of these National Standards. The Circulars are annexed at Appendix 1.
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