Councillors Robertson (Argyll & Bute Council); O'Donnell (East Dunbartonshire Council); Lafferty (East Renfrewshire Council); McIlwee (Inverclyde Council) and Williams (Renfrewshire Council).

Councillor Williams, Convener, presided.

J Hunter, Chief Officer (North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority); C Sneddon (Argyll & Bute Council); J Hinds (East Renfrewshire Council); A Howard (Inverclyde Council); E Coventry, D Forbes and E Currie (all Renfrewshire Council); N Firth (West Dunbartonshire Council) and K McFall, Audit Scotland.

Councillors Casey and McColl (substitute for Councillor Casey) (both West Dunbartonshire Council); and J Ryan (Action for Children).

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting held on 5th September, 2014.

DECIDED: That the Minue be approved.

There was submitted a joint report by the Treasurer and Chief Officer in respect of the Authority. The report intimated that expenditure on core services was anticipated to be £282,537 over budget and expenditure on non-core services was anticipated to be £94,484 under budget, which resulted in an anticipated £188,053 net overspend for the Authority.

East Renfrewshire Council was projecting an overspend of £90,555; Inverclyde Council was projecting a break-even position; Renfrewshire Council was projecting an overspend of £1,229 and Argyll, Bute and Dunbartonshire Criminal Justice Social Work Partnership was projecting an overspend of £97,123. Any over-spend at the year-end was required to be met by the relevant local authority.

DECIDED: That the virement during the quarter by Inverclyde Council from non-core services to core services of £50,000 be noted.

There was submitted a joint administration grant revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Chief Officer in respect of the Authority. The report intimated that expenditure against the administration grant was currently projected to result in an underspend of £1,572. Details of the projected expenditure were attached to the report.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

Under reference to item 3 of the Minute of the meeting of this Authority held on 13th June, 2014 there was submitted a joint report by the Treasurer and the Chief Officer relative to the audited annual accounts for the Authority 2013/14. The report intimated that the Audit Certificate issued by Audit Scotland submitted a clean audit opinion that the abstract of accounts presented a true and fair view of the financial position of the Authority as at 31st March, 2014, in accordance with the accounting policies detailed in the accounts. A report on the 2013/14 audit by Audit Scotland was also attached to the report and indicated that there were no matters arising from the audit which required reporting to members.

DECIDED: That the audited accounts be approved and the report by Audit Scotland be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Planning Officer relative to the North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority Action Plan 2014/15. The report intimated that the Authority was required to produce annual action plans to progress the overarching strategy of the 2014/17 area plan. There were 12 actions in the action plan which would be undertaken as a partnership and 37 associated activities, the majority of which were the responsibility of the Chief Officer or Planning Officer of the Authority. The report focussed on the four actions which were due for completion by the end of December 2014.

DECIDED:

(a) That the report and appendix be noted; and

(b) That authority be delegated to the Chief Officer, in consultation with the Convener, to amend the action plan if required.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Officer relative to community justice redesign. The report intimated that the second consultation exercise on the redesign of the community justice structure closed on 2nd July, 2014. The Scottish Government had not, as yet, published a formal response to the consultation but it was hoped that this would provide clarity on the duties and powers of the new national body and the duties and powers given to Community Planning Partners (CPPs).

A ‘Transitions’ workstream had been established to begin to identify what assistance CPPs would require to assist them in their additional duties. The CoSLA Leaders Group had agreed to establish a Community Justice Sub-group, which would be chaired by Councillor Harry McGuigan, which would sit within the Health and Wellbeing Executive Group Structure. The sub-group would provide governance and oversight for the transfer of the new community justice duties to CPPs.

Community Justice Authority (CJA) staff had requested a meeting with the Deputy Director, Community Justice Division, to clarify the position of staff and the process of disestablishing CJAs.

The Justice Division had contracted consultants to provide a costing for this and had been meeting with Scottish Government IT and Estates regarding linked costs.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Officer relative to the progress made in womens services in the Authority area.






The report intimated that Renfrewshire Council had received funding to develop a volunteer support service as part of a larger multi-disciplinary women’s support team based in Back Sneddon Street, Paisley which would end on 31st March, 2015. The Volunteer Co-ordinator facilitated the drop-in group and the women’s justice service team had engaged with 83 women during the period 1st April to 30th September, 2014. The team were currently working with third sector partners to explore alternative funding sources.

Inverclyde Council received funding to employ a social worker and support workers employed by Action for Children to provide one-to-one support, a drop-in service and a groupwork programme. The service was mainly delivered in the Action for Children base in Greenock and at present there were six women who regularly attended the drop-in sessions. This funding would end on 31st March, 2015 and the Council were looking to reconfigure existing services to ensure continuity.

West Dunbartonshire Council received funding to employ a project worker to facilitate the groupwork programme and develop an enhanced service for women including one-to-one support, a drop-in service and a volunteer group. The project worker had developed links with a range of external agencies including local further education college who had offered placements to service users. The Partnership Manager was currently looking at options to sustain the service beyond 31st March, 2015.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive, Turning Point Scotland, relative to the Turnaround Service. The report intimated that to date there had been 50 admissions to the residential unit this financial year, 30 (60%) of whom were from the Authority area. The service outcomes had improved across all areas and occupancy in the residential unit had been maintained at a consistently high level with a rolling average for the financial year of 93%.

The Turnaround Community Service was entering its third year of co-location with criminal justice social work in the North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority and South West Scotland Community Justice Authority areas and the team had worked with 164 service users since April 2014. The Service’s programme had been restructured and now included training for health and safety cards which might increase employability options and more physical exercise and recovery groups as well as linking in with Recovery services in the community.

The Scottish Government had yet to approve funding for the financial year and Turning Point Scotland would continue to engage with Inspiring Scotland and the Scottish Government with a view to securing a longer term commitment.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive, Turning Point Scotland, relative to the Turnaround Service. The report intimated that to date there had been 50 admissions to the residential unit this financial year, 30 (60%) of whom were from the Authority area. The service outcomes had improved across all areas and occupancy in the residential unit had been maintained at a consistently high level with a rolling average for the financial year of 93%.

The Turnaround Community Service was entering its third year of co-location with criminal justice social work in the North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority and South West Scotland Community Justice Authority areas and the team had worked with 164 service users since April 2014. The Service’s programme had been restructured and now included training for health and safety cards which might increase employability options and more physical exercise and recovery groups as well as linking in with Recovery services in the community.

The Scottish Government had yet to approve funding for the financial year and Turning Point Scotland would continue to engage with Inspiring Scotland and the Scottish Government with a view to securing a longer term commitment.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Officer relative to the development of a Throughcare Service for HMP Inverclyde. The Chief Officer advised that an up-to-date report on HMP Inverclyde would be considered at the meeting of this Authority to be held immediately following this meeting.

DECIDED: That the matter be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Officer relative to accommodation for the Authority. The report intimated that the current lease of the office expired on 12th December, 2014 and agreement had been reached with the landlord to extend the lease for 12 months to December 2015 with an option to extend on a month to month basis thereafter.

DECIDED: That the renewal of the lease for Unit 905, Mile End Business Centre, for a further period of one year to December, 2015, with an option to extend on a month to month basis, be approved.