Extra cash for local community justice programmes

Domestic abuse and unpaid work programmes across Tayside are to benefit from more than £300,000 of Scottish Government cash.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson announced an additional £337,356 of ring-fenced funding which has been split 50:25:25 between the three TCJA authorities, giving Dundee City Council £168,678, whilst Perth and Kinross and Angus will each receive £84,339.

A requirement of the funding commitment was an update by the end of September on how the money will be spent and the latest meeting of Tayside Community Justice Authority received details on the programmes and projects which will benefit.

Dundee City Council is to use the six-figure windfall to increase and improve the range of interventions delivered to perpetrators of domestic abuse.

The issue is a key priority in the city and across Tayside and Dundee is also liaising with colleagues in the partner councils to explore the delivery of shared services.

Perth and Kinross will use their share to increase the capacity of their unpaid work team in terms of staffing, training and additional resources.

Money will also be used to enhance the current Tayside Council on Alcohol counselling/ mentoring service provided to those receiving a Community Payback Order from the courts.

In Angus, the £84,000 will be used to purchase equipment to support activities in the area’s unpaid work team and develop practical living skills for people with convictions.

The council also plans to explore opportunities for joint working/sharing services with partner authorities and agencies to improve access to communitybased group work in the district. Regional CJA’s will be abolished in March next year and replaced by local partnerships.

Welcoming the boost for the various initiatives, TCJA Bailie Helen Wright said: “We want to see a legacy from this money, rather than just boom and it’s gone.”