The Moray Community Justice Partnership has formally launched its new improvement plan, which will bring together local agencies and communities to strengthen efforts to make Moray a safer place to live and work.ย
The five-year plan focuses on rehabilitation and public safety. It builds on existing work to reduce reoffending and minimise the number of victims by offering individuals who have offended support to make positive life changes.
Crime rates in Moray are relatively low, but offences such as assault, housebreaking and vandalism significantly impact residents and businesses. Poverty, trauma, housing insecurity, poor mental and physical health, unemployment, alcohol and drug misuse are all significant drivers of offending behaviour, which the 2024-2029 justice plan aims to address.
The launch event, held last week at the Alexander Graham Bell Conference Centre at UHI Moray in Elgin, was opened by Jillian Petrie, Chair of the Moray Community Justice Partnership and Justice Services Manager at Health & Social Care Moray (HSCM).
Introducing the plan, Ms Petrie said: โWe want people to feel safe and supported in their communities. As a partnership, we believe we can reduce reoffending, and in turn the number of victims, by supporting people who have offended to make positive changes in their lives.
โWe know that to support change, we must understand and respond to the individual needs of people and enable them to find their own path away from the justice system. This means ensuring people have access to the right supports at the right time. We are asking our partners to think differently about how they can deliver their services to better meet the needs of people in a trauma-informed and person-centred way.
โWe want to work more with our communities, and utilise their strengths to support people to rehabilitate, to address stigma, and to heal from the harms caused by crime. Lived experience must be at the heart of everything we do, and we will work to embed the voices of people who have offended, their families, victims, witnesses, and the wider community impacted by crime.โ
The day also highlighted the importance of lived experience in justice reform. Award-winning Scottish author Graeme Armstrong was the eventโs guest speaker, sharing powerful insights from his experiences of youth gang culture and substance abuse โ themes which inspired his bestselling debut novel, โThe Young Team.โ
Moving films created by members of the Rise and Switch groups, which are supported by HSCMโs Justice Social Work Service, were screened, illustrating personal journeys of transformation and rehabilitation.
Ainya Taylor, Moray Community Justice Coordinator, said: โAt the heart of our work is the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to rebuild their lives and find a path to recovery. This event was a testament to the power of community, storytelling, and lived experience in driving real change.โ
The local priorities for improving justice outcomes were identified through engagement with community justice stakeholders and residents, and a strategic assessment of Moray’s strengths and needs.
By 2029, the Moray Community Justice Partnership aims to:
- Strengthen engagement with communities to reduce stigma, increase understanding and support for community justice, and embed lived experience within its work;
- Improve access to support for individuals leaving prison to aid reintegration
- Expand access to employability skills and employment opportunities for those with convictions
- Enhance support for individuals in police custody;
- Develop more community-based restorative justice options.
Following the event, joint funding from the Moray Community Justice Partnership and Moray Council Education Service also supported a further talk by Mr Armstrong for parents and carers at a Moray secondary school. The session explored themes of gang involvement, street violence, and substance abuse, while highlighting the role of community in changing life paths.
For more information on the outcome improvement plan and the work of the Community Justice Partnership, visit https://morayprotects.co.uk
