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Tayside Community Justice Authority (TCJA) is one of eight Community Justice Authorities across Scotland.

They were established through The Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 to bring all community

justice authorities together, to create a more coherent and flexible system of offender management, which

builds services round the offender. The work of the eight CJAs is set out in the National Strategy for the

Management of Offenders, as published in 2006 by the then Scottish Executive and now being taken forward

by The Scottish Government.

The shared aim of the CJA and partners is to target services to reduce re-offending and to ensure close co-

operation between community and prison services to aid the rehabilitation of offenders. The role of the CJAs is

to plan, co-ordinate, monitor and report on the delivery of offender services, both in the community and within

the prison service.

Their statutory functions include:

to prepare, in consultation with other bodies responsible for the delivery of services, a plan for reducing

re-offending

to monitor the performance of bodies responsible for the delivery of these services;

to report annually to Scottish Ministers on delivery of services in compliance with the plan;

to promote good practice;

to allocate resources provided by Scottish Ministers to local authority criminal justice social work services; and

to arrange with partner bodies for the sharing of information relating to relevant persons.

TCJA has six elected members, comprising of two drawn from each of the three local authorities. Meetings are

held quarterly and are open to the public and press. At these meetings major decisions on the management of

services are made by the elected members and supported by officers from across the CJAs statutory partners.

Further information on how the CJA works can be found in our Area Plan 2008 - 2011 (see the publications

section of the website.

Through working in partnership locally, each CJA has the opportunity to create a new model for managing

offenders, characterised by a well-focused problem-solving an approach, and driven by a shared commitment to

making practical improvements towards reducing re-offending. This can be achieved by addressing the factors

that lead to a greater risk of offenders re-offending, such as homelessness, unemployment, substance misuse

and health/mental health issues. In reducing re-offending communities may feel safer and be safer