Thank you, convener. I will be brief. I thank the committee for inviting me here today to give evidence as part of its pre-budget scrutiny. The budget will seek to maintain the Scottish Government’s strong record of public service delivery to ensure stability, security and quality of services right across Scotland. The principles that govern our justice system, including the rule of law, public safety and the protection of rights, are essential to ensuring and maintaining sustainable economic growth and wellbeing.
The justice system contributes significantly to our economy, employing tens of thousands of staff directly and indirectly in critical roles across all parts of Scotland, protecting and maintaining key infrastructure, ensuring safety at high-profile national and international events and challenging those who undermine legitimate businesses. The portfolio contributes to longer-term prevention and equality through, for example, our whole-systems approach to youth crime, violence reduction and tackling adverse childhood experiences.
As has been the case for the past decade, we are once again delivering the budget in very challenging circumstances. We continue to deal with the impacts of the UK Government’s austerity agenda and the uncertainty caused by Brexit. Regrettably, we are now having to plan for a no-deal Brexit. No-deal planning is already absorbing significant resource within justice agencies. Maintaining the rule of law in the event of a no-deal Brexit will have a significant financial and operational impact on justice agencies, further damaging our economy and public services. That includes, for example, removing police officers from community duties in the event that they are called on to provide mutual aid to other UK police forces and the cost of funding additional police officers should that be required.
In spite of that challenging financial context, justice agencies have performed well over the past decade. Recorded crime is down 42 per cent. That is down to the policy choices that this Government has made but, undoubtedly, also to the commitment of all those working in the justice sector. The delivery of substantial and challenging public service reform and rationalisation including police and fire reform has provided substantial and recurring reductions in revenue expenditure that are built into the Scottish Government’s baseline budget while maintaining and improving services. Police and fire reform are on track to exceed the delivery of anticipated net savings of over £1.1 billion and £328 million respectively by 2027.
Last year, the UK Government finally acknowledged the inequity of forcing our police and fire services to pay VAT—a position that no other territorial police or fire service in the UK has faced. The Scottish Government has ensured that communities will benefit in full from Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service being able to reclaim £35 million of VAT from March 2018. The Justice Sub-Committee on Policing heard in pre-budget scrutiny evidence from the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland about the potential for its digital, data and information and communication technology proposals to transform policing. I reiterate my calls for the UK Government to fully reimburse the £175 million that has already been paid in police and fire VAT over the previous five years. That would go a significant way in helping us to fund that digital, data and ICT transformation.
Within the wider justice portfolio budget, we are directing resources in line with the priorities and outcomes that are set out in our document “Justice in Scotland: Vision and Priorities”, which was developed and agreed jointly by key justice agencies and published last year. That includes increasing funding for services to support the victims of crime and also preventative services to help to divert people away from crime and to reduce reoffending. Third sector organisations play a vital role in helping us to deliver those services.
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