Learning Manager, Glasgow Life
Glasgow Life has been working in partnership with Scottish Prison Service – HMP Barlinnie and the Throughcare Strategy Group to offer inmates enhanced support to apply for and maintain their Universal Credit (UC) claim on release. In the pre-release period the service, which is now offered within HMP Barlinnie on a full-time basis, works with inmates to ensure they are ready to complete a claim and have the necessary paperwork, email address, bank account and tenancy details in place. Inmates also complete a Holistic Needs Assessment to ensure they are connected with other support – from digital skills to Universal Credit advance payments, employability, housing, health and debt support – they will need on release.
Glasgow Life have also been working with HMP Barlinnie to further enhance the library offer by developing the core library collection – with increased investment in a range of materials for the new library. Using feedback from Barlinnie library users, the service has been improving gap areas in collections, such as audio books, information and law collections and more foreign language material as well as the development of children’s collections for the family visiting area and mobile unit within the prison library service.
The links between Community Learning & Development (CLD) and Community Justice are stronger than ever. High quality, accessible helps to address the city’s high levels of health and poverty-related inequalities by reducing barriers, improving life chances and raising the aspirations. These inequalities increase the risk to young people and adults of ending up in the justice system, I won’t go into detail about this as the Community Justice Annual Report 2019-20 set out the rhetoric and evidence around this – so you can read more about the effect of poverty-related inequalities for people in the justice system HERE and HERE. Effective and targeted CLD improves confidence, self-esteem and raises aspirations and supports our young people and adults to make better choices and decisions. In other words, CLD can help to prevent and reduce offending and anti-social behaviour.
In addition to prevention, CLD also can be an effective means of supporting those who have been rehabilitated to return to their communities and take up learning that will improve their confidence, skills and prospects. It supports their reintegration and encourages them to develop their potential.
CLD also contributes to youth justice to support young people who are involved in offending or anti-social behaviour to connect with high quality tailored services that supports their learning and development needs. CLD is linked into the Community Justice Glasgow Youth Justice Strategy Group (YJSG). A range of partners attend including Glasgow Life, Crown Office and Procurator Services, Police Scotland, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and many third sector partners who not only provide advice and guidance but also provide services on behalf of Youth Justice Services – commissioned by Glasgow Health & Social Care Partnership.
While Glasgow Life does not currently provide dedicated Youth Justice programmes, we offer a range of diversionary activities through our existing programmes to respond to the Youth Justice agenda. CLD Youth Work has been proactive by enlisting the Vice Chair of the YJSG as a member of the Glasgow Youth Work Partnership group to ensure the Youth Justice priorities and programmes are shared with youth work providers across the city.
Consultation on the new CLD Plan 21-24 has identified that Community Justice needs to feature more prominently within the Plan. This feedback has been incorporated into the new Plan and a stronger commitment has been made particularly to ensure that those who have been rehabilitated have clear, accessible pathways into CLD in their communities.
Tom Jackson, Head of Community Justice commented:
“The work of Glasgow Life, including their leadership for the local Community Learning & Development Plan, cuts across the whole of Community Justice, making it difficult to articulate a single priority theme for their work.”
Figure 1
Glasgow Life provides foundations across Community Justice and helps to deliver on the outcomes set out in our Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan and the Community Justice Glasgow Outcome & Performance Improvement Reporting Framework 2018 – 2023. Reflecting on this has highlighted for me how far we have travelled in our relationship with Glasgow Life since the implementation of the new arrangements for Community Justice in 2017, under the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, which embedded our community justice partnership within Community Planning arrangements and the associated networks.
Glasgow Life help to deliver across the shared Community Justice objectives for those who find themselves in the justice system, including:
- Person-Centric Outcome (PCO) 1 – Life Chances are improved through Needs, Including Health, Financial Inclusion, Housing and Safety Being Addressed – Specifically:
- PCO1(b)
- People develop positive relationships and more opportunities to participate and contribute through education, employment and leisure activities.
- POI1(c)
- Individual’s resilience and capacity for change and self-management are enhanced.
- PCO1(c) – also refers to (a) & (b) – Individual’s Resilience and Capacity for Change and Self-Management are Enhanced.”
- Structural Outcome (SO) 2 – Partners Plan & Deliver Services in a More Strategic & Collaborative Way – Specifically:
- SO2(a)
- Partners have leveraged resources for Community Justice.
- Development of Community Justice workforce to work effectively across organisational / professional / geographical boundaries.
- SO2(a)
- SO2(b)
- Partners have identified and are overcoming structural barriers for people accessing services.
- Initiatives to facilitate access to services.
- Structural Outcome (SO) 3 – People Have Better Access to the Services they Require, Including, Welfare, Health & Wellbeing, Housing and Employability.
- Structural Outcome (SO) 4 – Effective Interventions are delivered to Prevent and Reduce the Risk of Further Offending.
It is difficult to house Glasgow Life into just one theme. Given the strong links between the Community Learning & Development Plan and the skills that support people along the employability pathway, we have given it a home here in employability.”
