Job Description
The Glasgow Youth Court was introduced to Glasgow Sheriff Court in June 2021 following discussions between Glasgow HSCP Justice Services and Glasgow Sheriff Court. The ethos behind the youth court model is to prevent young people from becoming subject to formal statutory measures (either via the Children’s Hearing system or adult Criminal Justice system) and to use the authority of the court to enhance the rehabilitative power of community sentences such as Structured Deferred Sentences (SDS). The Glasgow youth court endeavours to combine the provision of multi-disciplinary intervention and support in the community, with regular court reviews to monitor and encourage young people’s progress.
A key aim in introducing a youth problem-solving youth court in Glasgow was to improve sentencing and outcomes for young people aged between 16-21 years initially, with a view to extending this to all young people aged up to 25 years, in line with updated sentencing guidelines issued nationally.
The goal of the youth court is to create a direct link between the young person and the sentencing sheriff. This approach allows for a more coordinated tailored disposal to be developed between the sheriff, the social worker and the young person, which better meets the needs of the young person.
Another key aim of setting up a Youth Court for young people is to reduce the number of young people being sentenced to higher tariff disposals such as CPOs in Glasgow. This is part of our commitment to improving outcomes for children, young people and their families by developing services that seek to reduce risk of escalation for young people who are involved with the criminal justice system.
The QSW role is essential to the delivery of the Youth Court model. QSWs within the team are responsible for carrying out statutory tasks including completing Court reports timeously, managing statutory orders such as Structured Deferred Sentences and compiling risk assessments and risk management plans for young people. QSWs support young people to attend Court, present their assessments to the Sheriff presiding within Court and work with a variety of statutory and voluntary agencies to ensure young people are supported to address the underlying causes of their involvement in the Justice system.
Membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme & SSSC will be essential on taking up appointment. Please note successful candidates for the above position will be required to pay for their PVG Membership/or Scheme Checks.
These posts are excepted under Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Order 2013 (as amended).
Working for us!
For more information on Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (GCC) please visit the following websites:
GCC Website and GCC Conditions of Service
Application Packs
Alternative Application Packs can be requested in other formats for example, Large Print, Braille, Audio and other languages. To request an alternative Application Pack please phone 0141 287 1054. Packs will be posted out to you within 3 working days of receiving your telephone request. Please note the closing date of the job advert to ensure that you give yourself plenty of time to complete your application form and return it to us.
Further Information
Please note that Glasgow City Council is currently completing a Job Evaluation exercise and introducing a new pay and grading structure which may impact on current salaries quoted in job adverts, see
GCC Job Evaluation