Community Justice Authorities (CJA’s) were created by the Management of Offenders Act 2005. Since then Cosla and the Scottish Government have developed guidance on the policies and procedures which CJAs should develop over time.
In total these suggested polices and procedures extend to 40 separate polices and cover a range of issues from a scheme of delegation for the chief Officer to recruitment and health and safety issues.
In adopting an approach it is recommended that the CJA also develops a framework for which reflects The Good Governance Standards for Public Service. There are six standards :
Focusing on the purpose of partnership and on delivering better outcomes
Performing effectively in clearly defined functions and roles.
Promoting values for the whole partnership and demonstrating the values of good governance
Taking informed, transparent decisions which are subject to scrutiny
Developing the capacity and capability of members and officers to be effective
Engaging with local people and other stakeholders to ensure robust public accountability
We have developed a Governance Action Plan (Nov 2008) which identifies the arrangements that have been established or used to date and what further work requires to be carried forward.
The policies and procedures we have in place currently are shown below. These will be added to over the coming year.
GCJA Scheme of Delegation
GCJA Code of Conduct
GCJA Equality Scheme
GCJA Freedom of Information Scheme