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Victim Support Scotland Training News Summer 2018

Highlights Open Courses

Hate Crime Review Results

Blog from Policy Man

Scottish Criminal Justice Survey Summary

Learning and Conference Centre

Victim Support Scotland training courses -Open to all

Click on the images above to find out more and book through Eventbrite or contact our L&D team to arrange invoicing or to discuss bespoke training for your organisation. For information about courses later in the year please visit

www.victimsupportsco.org.uk/events

Discount Available Enter VSSCODE when booking any of our open courses through Eventbrite to get a 15% discount!

Michael Salkow, Learning & Development Manager, describes how the training

programme evolved to benefit anyone who might come into contact with a victim of crime.

62% of crime in Scotland goes unreported.

Why don’t people report crime, how does crime impact people and how can we better support

them?

These are questions explored and answered in the range of training courses that my team and

I provide.

Our Impact of Crime, Domestic Abuse, Victims of Sexual Crime and Hate Crime training

provides an understanding of how people’s lives are affected by crime, why they might choose

not to report it and what happens if they do report a crime to the police.

Last year my team and I delivered training courses to over 1200 participants covering the

impact of crime, the challenges when dealing with the criminal justice system, the

communication skills required to effectively engage with people affected by crime and much

more.

I’m committed to supporting and assisting people to continually develop their knowledge and

skills in the best ways possible. In fact, when I first took up the post of Learning &

Development Manager I began the process of accrediting our training courses with the

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) certification service.

CPD accreditation provides participants with official recognition for their training and

development. It has transformed attitudes and encouraged a passion for learning at VSS,

which is reflected in my courses.

Once our courses were CPD accredited, I began expanding our course portfolio and the

demand for our high-quality training took off! We now design bespoke courses for a variety

of organisations who meet people affected by crime and we also run specific courses which

are open for anyone to attend.

These courses develop participants’ knowledge and skills to treat people affected by crime

with increased understanding, to support people to deal with complex emotions, and to help

them to reintegrate back into their relationships and their wider community.

Training is a valuable part of our toolkit to better support both strangers and loved ones

affected by crime. Whether we are helping people to overcome the impact of crime and/or to

report it, only by increasing our knowledge and experience can we, as a society, better tackle

crime in all its for

Lord Bracadale’s Independent Review of Hate Crime legislation in

Scotland was published on the 31st of May 2018. We have been part of the extensive engagement process, making sure that victim issues have

been heard, and welcome the report. The impact of hate crime can cause deep, long lasting

harm to individual victims and to members of the group to which they belong.

The recommendations take account of the impact hate crime has on victims and that hate

offences motivated by gender and age will now be considered as an aggravating factor. This

means that a perpetrator’s sentence will now reflect the seriousness of a crime motivated by

prejudice.It is important to have clearly-defined hate crime legislation, along with well-

developed criminal justice procedures and appropriate support throughout the whole process

for victims. This will increase awareness of hate crime and provide individuals with the

confidence to come forward and report offences.

Kate Wallace, Chief Executive of Victim Support Scotland, said:

“We welcome clarity on what will be considered offences, to deal with threatening or

abusive conduct that stirs up hatred in respect of each of these characteristics.

“We look forward to continuing involvement with the independent review team, politicians,

and our third sector and justice partners to ensure any new hate crime laws are both

understood by victims and workable in practice.”

Lord Bracadale was appointed by Scottish Government Ministers in January 2017 to conduct

an independent review of hate crime legislation in Scotland. He was asked to consider:

• the current law and consider how well it deals with hate crime behaviour

• whether new statutory aggravations should be created for example in relation to age and

gender

• whether the religious statutory aggravation is fit for purpose or should be expanded

• whether we should make hate crime laws simpler by bringing them all together in one place

• any issues or gaps in the framework for hate crime laws and to make sure that hate crime

laws are compatible with laws that protect human rights and equality

Lord Bracadale’s report provides his recommendations which are based on evidence and

what he has learnt from a wide range of people about their experiences of hate crime and the

impact that this can have on individuals and communities.

Lord Bracadale’s report considers:

• Whether hate crime laws are needed

• What is working well under the current system and should be retained

• What should be changed and what the benefit would be

• What policy and procedural developments are underway or planned

What happens now?

It is for Scottish Government Ministers to now consider his reviews and recommendations,

and how they would like to take them forward. We will keep everyone updated on the

developments on this website.

More information

You can read the main points of what Lord Bracadale said in this summary report.

You can view the full report on the Scottish Government website.

Anyone affected by hate crime or any other form of abuse can contact Victim Support

Scotland for help and support on our national Helpline 0345 603 9212 (Mon-Fri 8am -8pm).

Watch this short clip from our CPD Accredited Understanding Hate Crime course for

tips supporting victims of hate crime. Click here to book a space on our next course on

the 27th June 2018.

Blog from VSS Policy Man

Our mission is to support people affected by crime and keep them at the heart of justice in

Scotland. We provide direct person to person support through our services based in

communities and courts throughout Scotland. Our work to keep people affected by crime at

the heart of the criminal justice system is perhaps a less obvious part of what we do. Our

Policy, Parliamentary and Research Officer Kevin Kane has written a blog to share how we

collaborate with criminal justice agencies and influence the legislative process in Scotland,

championing the rights of victims and witnesses.

Policy work constitutes a key role in our efforts to effect change in external policy, practice

and public opinion for the benefit of victims and witnesses of crime, their families and

communities.

My role involves developing new and existing partnerships with key organisations in the

criminal justice sector and beyond. I liaise with parliamentarians, assist with campaigns and

events, manage policy forums, sit on policy working groups, and operate in collaboration

with other policy makers and influencers. Other day-to-day tasks include conducting

research, writing briefs, and coordinating and responding to government and external

consultations. It is an essential, varied and busy role – but I love it!

I have just completed a brief on the pre-recording of evidence (child and other vulnerable

witnesses) consultation to update colleagues on the situation with The Scottish Government’s

intention to introduce legislation to enable child and other vulnerable witnesses to have their

evidence pre-recorded in advance of a trial - with a particular focus on strengthening and

improving the current arrangements for evidence being taken by a Commissioner.

Next on the agenda is to write and coordinate our response to The Scottish Government

Consultation on Establishing a Statutory Appropriate Adult Service in Scotland, review the

transcripts from the recent Justice Committee oral evidence session on The Management of

Offenders (Scotland) Bill and set up a meeting with The Scottish Courts and Tribunal

Service (SCTS) on how together we can provide better support to victims and witnesses of

crime in a court setting.

This is a snapshot intended to highlight that the work of VSS policy is fundamental to us

being the best advocate we can for victims and witnesses of crime, and in delivering on the

VSS 18-21 plan, to be an organisation synonymous with providing high quality support that

makes a lasting difference to people and communities.

What drives me personally and professionally is a desire to enhance VSS’s position as a

recognisable, progressive, service-user focused, diverse and outward facing organisation that

places values such as respect, equality and fairness at the heart of what we do - putting

victims and witnesses first in Scotland.

In 2018 VSS Policy has responded to 17 formal consultations which can be found at the

following link:

https://www.victimsupportsco.org.uk/about-us/policy-research/consultations/

Scottish Crime and Justice Survey

The SCJS is a large-scale social survey which asks people about their experiences and

perceptions of crime. The survey is important because it provides a picture of crime in

Scotland, including crimes that haven’t been reported to, or recorded by the police and

captured in police recorded crime statistics. Have a look at our video on YouTube or Vimeo

for an introduction to the survey, and the information that's available on this webpage.

The findings from the SCJS are used by policy makers across the public sector in Scotland to

help understand the nature of crime in Scotland, target resources and monitor the impact of

initiatives to target crime.

Click here to access the Main Findings of the latest survey published on the 27th of March

2018.

Learning and Conference Centre Our Learning and Conference Centre is in the heart of Glasgow and just across the road from Glasgow Central Station. If

you are looking for a venue to hold an event or run a training course we can offer excellent facilities, convenient city centre

location and discounted rates for third sector organisations.

Customer testimonies

'We recently used Victim Support Scotland as the venue for a large leadership workshop, and we will definitely be

using them again. Donna and the team provided excellent support with all equipment and catering needed and was also

present during the day to make sure that everything ran smoothly.

The room is light and spacious with plenty of room to move around for an interactive workshop.'

Learning Coordinator @ Social Enterprise Academy

'Fantastic venue, in an easy to find location.

Room was brilliant with great, easy to use IT equipment and very helpful staff on hand to help with whatever issue may

arise. Also, on a hot day when we had our meeting the Air conditioning and heating points in the room were easy to use

so that we could set the room to a comfortable temperature and adjust if needed easily.

Lunch was AMAZING! – one of the few if not the only venue/hotel etc. I have been to that have got the dietary

requirements spot on! Not only that but the food was absolutely delicious!

Staff were brilliant also, from booking the venue to support on the day of meeting, the staff were just so helpful and easy

to work with.

We will definitely be going back!'

Arthritis Care Nation Administrator - Scotland

For more information please email facilities@victimsupportsco.org.uk or call Donna Rafferty on 0141 404 7125

That's what been have been up to since our last newsletter. Hope to see you at one of our courses or attending an event at Learning and Conference Venue. Lets hope the sun keeps shinning:-) Thanks for reading VSS L&D Team