A Safer Scotland: Tackling Crime and its Causes

Section 2: Tackling the causes of crime

The Government's Manifesto commitment was 'Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime'. If the causes of crime are to be addressed then attention, and resources, must be targeted on those factors and circumstances which are known to have a link with offending behaviour. These include poverty, unemployment, poor housing, poor parenting and low educational attainment. There is a need for broadly based policies of social inclusion to address the social causes of crime.

Social inclusion

1. The Government aim to ensure effective action to address the needs of individuals, families and communities who are excluded from the mainstream of society and its benefits. We need to provide opportunities for people to participate in work, in learning, and in community life more generally, and we need to enable them to take up those opportunities. We need to support today's children, and their families, to ensure they grow up able to take their place in an inclusive and prosperous society.

2. The Government are taking forward an unprecedented programme of action in pursuit of these aims. This section describes the main elements of this programme. As part of this wide-ranging and well-resourced programme, we are taking steps to ensure that all this action 'fits together' to make a real difference to the lives of the individuals, families and communities concerned. With the help of the Scottish Social Inclusion Network, the Government are preparing a 'social inclusion strategy' - a programme of work which will help ensure this action is integrated and effective. This strategy will be published shortly.

Over the next three years we have provided: An extra £300 million on housing An extra £1.7 billion on health An extra £1.3 billion on education

Government Spending

3. In July 1998 the Government completed the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), which has allocated resources to enable us to bring spending priorities into line with Manifesto commitments and to deliver in Scotland the programmes needed to create successful communities and to combat deprivation.

There is ample evidence to show that the high risk factors which can lead to delinquency include poor education and poor health.

More than £4 billion of new money will be spent in Scotland over the next 3 years. Within this, the Government have targeted education and health as the highest priorities for extra spending. Improvements in these areas will have a significant impact on communities and, consequently, on crime. Alongside these top two priorities, housing is an important part of the wider commitment to social inclusion. The Government have made an extra £66 million available for this both last year and this year (1998-99), and have pledged an extra £300 million over the next 3 years. Without good quality housing people cannot benefit from education and employment opportunities.

The condition of the homes and neighbourhoods in which people live has a very real effect on their quality of life and the Government see the provision of good quality, affordable housing as fundamental to constructive community life.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

4. The Government are setting up new Social Inclusion Partnerships, targeted on the most deprived communities and groups in Scotland, and backed by an investment of £48 million over the next 3 years.

Social Inclusion Partnerships: will be based on underpinning principles of co-ordination, prevention and innovation; will co-ordinate and fill gaps between existing programmes, for example linking with, and adding value to, community safety strategies; will be multi-agency partnerships, comprising all relevant local partners _ such as Scottish Homes, the local enterprise company, the local council, the local health board, the Employment Service, local schools and colleges, and the police; will include representatives of the voluntary and private sectors, and the community itself will be at the heart of the process; will start work in April 1999.

5. The existing Priority Partnership Areas and Regeneration Programmes will convert into Social Inclusion Partnerships, and they will focus on promoting inclusion in communities. The early experience of the partnerships set up in Priority Partnership Areas and Regeneration Programmes has demonstrated the commitment of local partners to work together to make their communities better places in which to live. The partnerships are exploring the links between poor housing, drugs misuse, truancy and other factors which cause social degradation and heighten residents' fear of crime. They are benefiting from good co-operation, both formal and informal, from the local police. It is hoped that police forces will continue to expand and develop their contribution to Social Inclusion Partnerships.

New Deal for Communities

The Government have developed the New Deal for Communities programme in Scotland as a specific response to social exclusion, in recognition of some of the particular problems which face communities in deprived areas. £1.3m has been allocated to the programme for 1998-99, and over the three years 1999-2002 some £12.9m will be available.

Working for Communities

6. One of the key features of the response to social exclusion is improved co-ordination of services, at community level as well as at local authority level or national level. Under New Deal for Communities, we shall provide, through the Working for Communities programme, funding to test out ways of improving service delivery co-ordination on the ground, and to give local communities increased influence over provision. Two Pathfinder Initiatives are already being developed: in Easterhouse (Glasgow) and Wester Hailes (Edinburgh). Additional Pathfinders will follow shortly.

New Deal for 18-24 year-olds

Employment is central to self-belief and social inclusion. And offending is at its highest among young men aged under 25 who are unemployed. Our commitment to provide jobs, full-time education or meaningful work experience for around 25,000 young unemployed Scots per year will provide quality opportunities which represent real alternatives to a life of crime.

7. Within any disadvantaged community, there may be dozens of public sector agencies - from schools to the police, social services, the employment service, local health services and the Benefits Agency - undertaking vital work. Yet often this work takes place at cross-purposes or at least without adequate communication. It can also be difficult for local residents to understand the pattern of service provision, or to influence service providers and decision makers. We believe that all public sector authorities and agencies must work much more directly together to make sure that their efforts contribute to the common purpose of promoting inclusion. As one of the main service providers, the police will have an important role to play. The Pathfinders present an opportunity for joint participation in local initiatives which will tackle, among other problems, concerns about community safety and crime in deprived neighbourhoods.

New Community Schools

8. The New Community Schools Pilot Programme is a radical initiative to raise attainment, modernise schools and promote social inclusion. New Community Schools will be based on the fundamental principle that the potential of all children can be realised only by addressing their needs in the round, and attacking the barriers to learning that many face. Co-ordinated approaches involving a number of professional services are necessary to achieve this. New Community Schools are an excellent example of the cross-cutting approach which is so vital if community problems are to be tackled successfully and are, therefore, a central part of the Government's strategy to promote social inclusion.

New Community Schools will provide integrated provision of school education, social work, family support and health education and promotion services. Through New Community Schools, we aim to secure a step change in the attainment of children facing the destructive cycle of underachievement. £26m will be invested in the three years from April 1999 to pilot over 60 New Community Schools across Scotland.

Parenting

9. One of the single most important factors in explaining youth crime is the quality of a child's family life, including parental supervision. The Government are keen to ensure that parents have access to all the support and advice they need. The Scottish Office has published a booklet for parents Your Children Matter - Know your responsibilities and rights and has commissioned research on support and training for parenting skills.

Support for Families with Very Young Children

The Government will invest £42 million over three years in Scotland to help families with very young children (principally aged 0 to 3) in areas of greatest need. Funding will be used to provide childcare and other services to such families.

The aim is to help develop children so that they are ready to thrive when they enter education. Services will be designed to promote the physical, social and intellectual development of young children, based on evidence of what works.

Effects of Poor Health on children

10. Childhood mental health problems are strongly predictive of poor mental health and social outcomes later in life. Factors leading to poor mental health in children and young people are maternal depression, adverse early childhood experiences, the quality of parenting, and adverse social and family circumstances. Early interventions aimed at identifying those at risk and providing appropriate support are important not only for the promotion of good health but also for the longer term prevention of delinquent behaviour and crime.

11. The Green Paper Working Together for a Healthier Scotland, published last year, consulted on a fresh approach to better health, which recognised the adverse effects of poor social and environmental conditions on health and well-being. This will be followed shortly by a White Paper which will set out the Government's strategy for improving health in Scotland, with a special focus on the health of children and young people.

Effective parenting protects against acquisition of a criminal record. We are taking supportive measures which include:- universal nursery placements family aides/respite care (social work) parenting classes for teenage parents easier access to child guidance/psychiatry early referral for remediable problems, eg attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, severe behavioural problems.

Early intervention

12. The Government are committed to the principle of early intervention, recognising its importance in preventing future problems. It is important that appropriate services are available for children who have problems which may be dealt with outwith the formal Children's Hearings system.

On 13 January this year, the Government announced as part of the Invest to Save project additional funding to establish a pilot scheme in Central Scotland. This will seek to identify 8-14 year olds where risk factors which may lead to offending behaviour are most acute and to co-ordinate action across agencies to reduce these factors and enhance the protective factors which influence the lives of children and families. Special schemes to involve and support parents will be developed as an integral part of addressing the child's behaviour. This is the broadest multi-agency approach to be tried in Scotland. It should deliver effective co-ordinated early intervention which, if proved successful, can contribute to a sustained reduction in offending behaviour.

13. As part of the development of the Hearings system, the Government are anxious to encourage: a sharper focus on early intervention measures increased attention to the offending behaviour of young children.

We believe that although the system is not punitive it should not ignore the impact of offending behaviour, either on the individual or on the community. Young offenders have to be made aware of the consequences of their action.

Youth Diversion Schemes

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that disaffected young people, who have a propensity to commit a high level and wide range of minor crimes can be diverted to more positive and healthier lifestyles if attractive opportunities are otherwise available.

The Scottish Office Crime Prevention Unit has entered into discussions with COSLA with a view to identifying and funding a small number of pilot projects to make access to sporting and leisure facilities for young people at risk easier. These projects will be evaluated to determine and demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of such an approach.

14. This may be achieved through programmes of activity in the community, which already can form part of the supervision requirement made by a Hearing. Participation in these is not always easy for children but, through activity, the young person can begin to appreciate the consequences of anti-social behaviour. This should be seen as a constructive challenge to help the young person adjust to being an inclusive member of society. The Government expect that local authorities and social workers, in making recommendations to Children's Hearings, will feature suitable activities wherever appropriate.

Role of research

15. Research has a continuing role in identifying the main factors which increase the risk of criminal behaviour. Children, Young People and Offending in Scotland (a study carried out by Glasgow University and published by The Scottish Office Central Research Unit in 1998) identified the key risk factors which may lead to criminal behaviour. They included poor parental child management and neglect; early child bearing; deprived background; absent father; and hyperactivity. Such research confirms the need to tackle crime through a broad range of social policies.

16. While research cannot provide all the answers, the Government are committed to pursuing policies which are informed wherever possible by evidence of what works in the continuing fight to reduce and prevent offending in Scotland.

17. A new three-year Crime and Criminal Justice Research Programme was published in October 1998 by The Scottish Office Central Research Unit. Over £1.5 million has been committed to the programme over the next three years.

18. Much of the research commissioned under the Crime and Criminal Justice Research Programme will contribute to a greater understanding of the reasons for, and nature of, persistent and regular offending and disruptive behaviour. The Research Programme identifies the need for research into early identification of the main characteristics of offending lifestyles, to assist in the targeting of early intervention initiatives.

19. Since taking office the Government have focused research effort on exploring ways of improving the delivery of services within the criminal justice system and on identifying the causes of crime and the most effective ways of preventing or reducing it. For example: a research study published in 1998 confirmed the value of Strathclyde Police's witness protection scheme for witnesses who had suffered serious intimidation; research on services for women who have experienced domestic violence formed a basis for mounting the Partnership on Domestic Violence; research published in 1998 demonstrated the value of Strathclyde Police's Hamilton Child Safety Initiative, which reduced offending and disruption in the housing schemes covered.

20. The new Research Programme has identified initiatives targeted at preventing and reducing crime, such as Communities That Care and the use of CCTV, which will benefit from research. A range of initiatives taken to improve the experience for witnesses within the criminal justice system and to design prison programmes to reduce offending and disruptive behaviour have also been identified for future research. Further information on our plans for research is given throughout this paper.