Thematic report on community engagement

1. That specific responsibilities and targets to be achieved in relation to Community Engagement, in particular those relating to Area Procurator Fiscals and the Portfolio Owner, should be identified, written down and made available in order that future staff will know what their responsibilities are.

2. That Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service adopts in some form the Scottish Government standards for Community Engagement as a model of good practice. This should be made known to staff and the public and a process introduced to assess whether standards are met.

3. That guidance relating to Community Engagement is created. This could incorporate a revised Area Diversity Pack. It would be of benefit to include in this guidance links to the Scottish Government National Standards on Community Engagement and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Competency Framework (particularly the competencies relating to 'Customer Focus' and 'Effective Communication') and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service 'Accessibility Policy'.

4. That staff should be reminded to complete Community Engagement and Media Planners (if their use continues) on a regular basis and a system of formally monitoring activity including a measurement of success/benefits should be introduced and maintained.

5. That Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service consider whether it would be of benefit to the organisation in using the VOiCE software package to help plan, monitor, evaluate and record their community engagement.

6. That the existing central repository of standard presentations should be further developed and also that a main list of contacts is established and maintained.

7. That consideration is always given to getting messages across to the public through the media where it is thought to be appropriate and there may be opportunities to be had in liaising with Councils to place articles such as outcomes and achievements in local community newsletters.

8. That consideration is given to introducing social networking as a medium to help improve making contact, providing information and obtaining feedback from the public and also in promoting the work of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

9. That given the current economic climate Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service should identify opportunities to reduce costs such as reducing duplication of work, increased partnership working and making use of technology such as information networks or online pop-up surveys.

10. That in order to ensure that staff are properly prepared for and can deliver communications in a confident, effective and efficient manner Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service should identify whether there is a need to invest in training for staff involved in community engagement.

11. That Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service update their list on the intranet detailing current working groups and committees.

12. That all Fiscal Areas in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service consider liaising with partners such as Police and Councils to identify whether there is an opportunity to be included in community/public surveys or consultations.

13. That where engagement has taken place outcomes should always be recorded either using an in house approach or through a package such as VOiCE to allow management to measure success against strategic objectives and identify lessons to be learned.

14. That Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service consider the suggestions for improvement made by community members as referred to in this report at page 44.