Armed Services
Skills for Justice are currently engaging with the Armed Services to help develop skills.
The role played by Armed Forces personnel is extremely important. Working in a changing working environment means that the need for high quality Qualifications and Apprenticeships linked to National Occupational Standards is vital.
To find out more about our work within Armed Services, please contact Employer Relationship Manager Zoe.Scott@skillsforjustice.com
Children’s Workforce
Just about everyone working or volunteering in the Justice and Community Safety sectors will have an impact on the lives on children and young people. One of Skills for Justice’s key activities is to ensure that the workforce has the right skills and knowledge to improve outcomes for children and young people. One way in which we do this is work jointly with our colleagues work in health, social care, education, youth work, play and other related areas. Our role is work closely with our partners to help create a workforce that supports working together to provide coherent services for children, young people and their families.
Community Justice
Our work with Community Justice covers:
- prevention of offending and re-offending
- supervision of offenders in the community
- community-based rehabilitation projects.
Our role is to work closely with our partner organisations to represent the Community Justice workforce and support their development needs to deliver skills that build safer communities across the UK.
The workforce involved in Community Justice related initiatives is in excess of 50,000 staff. This large number includes the significant contribution of voluntary sector organisations. It is important to recognise the diverse nature of justice related voluntary sector work, including work related to housing, employment and substance misuse.
Courts, Tribunals and Prosecutions
Courts and Tribunals
There are currently more than 23,000 staff that work in the support and administration of the Courts and Tribunals across the UK. We work to ensure a high level of skills and competence for this workforce, working closely with the Ministry of Justice, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, Scottish Courts Service and Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service.
Prosecution
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
As the principal prosecuting authority in England and Wales employing around 8400 staff. The Crown Prosecution Service is responsible for:
- advising the police on cases for possible prosecution
- reviewing cases submitted by the police
- determining any charges in all but minor cases
- preparing cases for court
- presenting cases at court
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (Scotland)
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) employs around 1600 staff and is responsible for:
- the prosecution of crime in Scotland
- the investigation of sudden or suspicious deaths
- the investigation of complaints against the police
Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland (PPS)
The PPS is the principal prosecuting authority in Northern Ireland and is responsible for:
- taking decisions as to prosecution in cases investigated by the police in Northern Ireland
- considering cases investigated by other statutory authorities, such as HM Revenue and Customs
Through working with these employers individually and through the collaborative work of the Courts, Tribunals and Prosecutions Occupational Committee we have developed a suite of National Occupational Standards (NOS) for staff working across UK Courts, Tribunals and Prosecution services.
From these standards we have developed several vocational qualifications and Apprenticeship frameworks including;
- Level 2 Courts, Tribunals and Prosecution Administration
- Level 2 & 3 Courts, Tribunals and Prosecution Operations
- Level 3 Witness Care
Custodial Care
There are over 200 Custodial Care establishments throughout the UK. The HM Prison Service (HMPS) in England and Wales has 143 prison establishments and the majority employ more than 200 staff. In Scotland, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) runs 13 prison establishments. Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) has three prison establishments employing a workforce of 2,150.
Our work with Custodial Care covers employees working in prison establishments, immigration detention, secure escort services and electronic monitoring. There are around 71,000 Custodial Care employees in the UK.
Our role is to work closely with our partner organisations to represent the Custodial Care workforce and support their development needs. We have established a Custodial Care Occupational Committee that consists of representatives of stakeholders from across the UK.
Fire & Rescue
We work in partnership with the UK Fire and Rescue Sector to promote community well being and to deliver skills that build safer communities across the UK.
The United Kingdom (UK) Fire and Rescue sector is made up of an array of talents and vocations spread across the public and private sectors.
The sector operates in a number of different ways throughout the UK. There are currently Fire and Rescue Services operated by 58 Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) established by statute; the Defence Fire Risk Management Service; private and specialist brigades operating around airports, and the nuclear and petroleum industries. Fire and Rescue Services include operational staff, control room staff, managers, specialists, other professionals and other support staff.
In April 2009, the UK Fire sector entered our footprint. We work closely with fire services and key stakeholders to help meet the key challenges that our employers face to enable them to get the right people, with the right skills across the areas of:
- Prevention
- Protection
- Response
- Resilience
Forensic Science
We are keen to work with providers of Forensic Science services to help them embed the National Occupational Standards (NOS) into their existing quality management systems. If you already have an accredited quality management system we believe you can meet the requirements of the NOS in a very cost efficient and effective way.
If you are starting out on your journey regarding quality management we can help you embed the NOS from the start of this process thus ensuring the most effective and efficient implementation.
If you work for a police force there are several ways we can help you with the embedding of the NOS within your scientific support unit to maximise efficiency and which can, in the long term, reduce your costs.
We are particularly interested in working with employers who provide digital forensics services and working with them to integrate the forensic science and countering e-crime NOS into their quality management systems.
Fit for Purpose?: Research into the provision of Forensic Science degree programmes in UK HEIs
In response to employer concerns about the fitness for purpose of forensic science degree programmes, Skills for Justice embarked on a lengthy and detailed research project to understand better how the proliferation of these programmes has impacted on the overall quality and relevancy of Forensic Science degrees in the UK.
Legal Services
We extended our footprint in early 2010 to include Legal Services. We are now working closely with employers and other stakeholders (including regulatory and representative bodies) to
- identify the key skills issues and needs for Legal Services
- help employers and individuals to be better skilled
- influence employers, policy makers and the skills system to take full account of skill needs in Legal Services.
We provide a unique focus upon skills and workforce matters across the whole Legal Services workforce in the UK.
Local Government
Skills for Justice are currently engaging with Civil Service Learning, National and Regional Employers Organisations and individual local authorities.
Part of this engagement is to ensure that the work plans previously owned by Government Skills are completed. We will undertake regular Sector Skills Council activity within Local Government including liaison with the sector around any specific work they may require.
Policing and Law Enforcement
We work closely with all Police Forces and Law Enforcement agencies throughout the UK and their associated Government Departments, National Assemblies and Staff Associations. Our aim is to increase the use of a competency based approach across training, learning and development and human resources in all forces and agencies.
New website launched for Office of Police and Crime Commissioners
A new website has been launched to support the local Offices of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) in carrying out their roles to the highest possible standards.
The OPCC will carry out a wide variety of tasks to support the new Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC), who will be accountable to the public for how crime in their area is tackled.
The site has been developed by those working within policing governance in association with Skills for Justice in preparation for the election of the first Police and Crime Commissioners.