Redesigning the Community Justice System

As an amendment to motion S4M-06433 in the name of Kenny MacAskill (Redesigning the Community Justice System), leave out from "acknowledges" to end and insert "commends the work of local community justice practitioners in making progress to tackle reoffending; notes the recent reports from Audit Scotland and the Commission on Women Offenders that highlight shortcomings in the community justice system; further notes the publication of the Scottish Government’s consultation document, Redesigning the Community Justice System, and looks forward to an informed future debate, based on an analysis of the submissions to the consultation and publication of the Scottish Government’s response, prior to the introduction of any primary legislation; agrees that the status quo is untenable, and recognises the importance of continuing to work constructively with all relevant stakeholders including the Scottish Prison Service, COSLA, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and the Association of Directors of Social Work to put in place arrangements that support strong leadership and robust accountability and bring together the public and voluntary sectors to deliver better outcomes for victims, communities and offenders and their families; believes that further improvements are required to address reoffending, and considers that substantially greater engagement by offenders in meaningful activity while in prison would assist in making changes to the community justice system more effective."