West Lothian Council delivers

Criminal Justice Social Work Service

West Lothian Council operates community-based Criminal Justice Social Work services throughout the council area, as well as prison-based social work services in Addiewell Prison for longer-term prisoners. We are committed to promoting community safety in order to help make West Lothian an even better place to live. We aim to increase public safety by reducing offending behaviour.

We are responsible for providing all criminal justice social work services for people resident in the council area. These include assessing the risk and circumstances of offenders in our community and in custody. Core services include: assessment reports such as Social Enquiry Reports and Home Circumstances Reports, which contribute to the decisions made by the Courts and the Parole Board as to whether an offender is able to remain in or return to the community; supervision and monitoring of offenders placed on a range of court and post-release orders and licences, all of which are intended to reduce both risk of reoffending and risk of harmful behaviour towards others; and provision of unpaid work opportunities for people otherwise at risk of custody.

In order to achieve these aims, staff of the Criminal Justice Social Work Service work closely with other organisations. These include other areas of the council's social work services, such as Children and Families teams and services for people with mental health problems, housing providers, health services, Police and other partners in the justice system.

As part of the Lothian and Borders Community Justice Authority (new window), we work with a number of other organisations in south-east Scotland to co-ordinate our work and to improve our practice.

HOW TO CONTACT US

The Criminal Justice Social Work Service now operates from two main bases:

Main Office address: Criminal Justice Office, West Lothian Civic Centre, Howden South Road, Livingston EH54 6FF

Here is a map showing the Civic Centre's location. (new window)

Tel: 01506 280999           Fax: 01506 281243   

Email: criminaljusticeteam@westlothian.gov.uk

Addiewell Prison Social Work Team: HMP Addiewell, Station Road, Addiewell, West Lothian, EH55 8QA

Tel: 01506 874566    Fax: 01506 874563

Here is a guide to public transport access to Addiewell Prison. This is a large file (6.3 Mb), and may be slow to load. Also available as a booklet from main West Lothian Council Information Offices and from Addiewell Prison.

IF VISITING US IN PERSON...

The Criminal Justice Office within the Civic Centre is normally open to visitors from 8.30 am to 5 pm (4 pm on Fridays). Please go to the main Civic Centre Reception. If you know who you need to speak to, please ask for that person. You may wish to bring your appointment letter with you. The Receptionist will try to contact the person you wish to see, or if that person is not at their desk, the main Criminal Justice number.

We also still use facilities in our previous base (Lomond House, Beveridge Square, Livingston EH54 6QF) for interviewing and for groupwork. The office is not permanently staffed by CJ workers. Service users should only attend there if specifically instructed to do so.

IF PHONING THE OFFICE...

Please use the numbers shown above. At times of pressure, calls may go to Voicemail. Please leave a number and the CJ Receptionist will phone you back.

All staff have individual voicemail, and will get back to you as soon as possible. However, if you are phoning about your court order, and are told by the telephonist that the worker you have asked for is off work, you should make sure that you speak directly to someone. If you have called at a time when there is no duty worker, we may have to call you back.

There is a duty Social Worker available from 1 pm until 5 pm (4 pm on Fridays). A member of the Community Work Order Team is available to deal with enquiries about Community Service Orders or Supervised Attendance Orders from 9 am to 1 pm each day (till 4 pm on Fridays).