Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Official Report 857KB pdf

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Topical Question Time

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Homeless People (Winter Access to Housing)

To ask the Scottish Government, after Scotland experienced its coldest night of the year with temperatures as low as minus 15.6°C, what action it is taking to ensure that homeless individuals have access to safe, warm housing during this winter period. (S6T-01046)

Scotland has some of the strongest homelessness legislation in the world, and local authorities have a legal duty to provide accommodation to anyone who is at risk of homelessness. It is particularly important that people can access accommodation immediately during cold weather. That is why we have provided over £907,000 of funding since 2020 to support the operation of rapid rehousing welcome centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh through the winter. Those centres provide people who are at risk of rough sleeping with 24/7 immediate access to accommodation alongside wraparound support to move on to settled accommodation.

National Records of Scotland recently released statistics that showed that 250 homeless individuals died in Scotland last year. Ahead of the Scottish budget on Thursday, what assessment has the Scottish Government made of the impact of on-going cuts to councils’ budgets on their ability to provide services that aim to alleviate those tragedies?

The death of any homeless person is a tragedy and something that we want to avoid. We understand some of the complexities for people who have complex needs, which we need to address in the round. That is why our housing first approach is not just about getting people into accommodation but is about providing wraparound support to address addiction and mental health issues. We are providing funding through local authorities to do that, and we will continue to provide that because of its importance.

The Scottish Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic included accommodating in hotels and other single-room accommodation people who had been sleeping rough. Under its “Ending Homelessness Together” action plan, will the Scottish Government make similar provision for weather crises such as cold spells, and prioritise the transition to settled accommodation after such crises?

Nobody in Scotland should have to sleep rough; we do not want anyone to sleep rough. That is why we are working with local authorities, including the City of Edinburgh Council, to identify further solutions that will build on and expand the rapid rehousing welcome centre provision in the short term, because we recognise that winter is really challenging. We are confident that, by doing so, we will protect those who are at risk of rough sleeping in Edinburgh, and support them into more settled accommodation.

Although rough sleeping levels remain low, we do not want anyone to sleep rough. We want the capacity to be available to ensure that everyone has a bed for the night and does not sleep rough.

How will the recently introduced legislation to remove the local-connection test help to ensure that people find a settled home and access to support as quickly as possible in an area that they choose?

The rules on local connection were recognised as a barrier to accessing homelessness services, which is why we chose to remove them. That move was welcomed by people with lived experience of homelessness.

Most people who are homeless want to live in a community where they are already settled, but the new legislation allows people who are experiencing homelessness to move somewhere new if they want to. That puts homeless households’ rights on a par with those of people who own or rent their homes and ensures that they have access to consistent services wherever they are in Scotland.

It is not just homeless people who are cold; people who are in housing are, too. Last week, the Social Justice and Social Security Committee discussed how the winter heating assistance payment will not be made until February next year, which means that many families will be left to struggle through the worst of the winter without support. How does the cabinet secretary expect such families to pay for heating in December and January? Does she consider that that delay ensures dignity, fairness and respect for people who need our help?

What Jeremy Balfour did not say is that the winter heating assistance payment will reach more people and will do so regularly, rather than having to be triggered by the weather. Cold weather payments are not always made and, when they are made, that does not happen consistently everywhere. Winter heating assistance will provide to more people a payment that they can expect to get, rather than a payment that must be triggered by cold weather.

Jeremy Balfour will be aware that that is not the only support that we are providing to people. The fuel insecurity fund has been doubled to £20 million, and I urge anyone who is struggling with their heating bills and who might be eligible to access that fund to access it. People can find more information on the cost of living pages on the Scottish Government’s website.

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Lockerbie Bombing (Detention of Suspect)

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that a suspect involved in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has been detained in custody by US authorities. (S6T-01041)

The bombing of Pan Am 103, in which 270 people tragically lost their lives, remains the deadliest terrorist attack in the United Kingdom, and I express my sincere condolences to all those who have suffered so much as a result of that dreadful act.

Scottish prosecutors and Police Scotland welcome the significant steps that the US justice authorities have taken. Seeking to bring to justice all those who were involved in this act of state-sponsored terrorism was, and remains, a shared endeavour. The suspect is an individual who featured on the original Scottish indictment, and investigations into his involvement have continued over the years.

Scottish prosecutors and law enforcement stand ready to afford all possible co-operation to our US partners in accordance with the rule of law and will continue to pursue the investigation into the involvement of all those who were part of this terrorist attack.

I thank the Lord Advocate for that response and welcome her to her place.

As we approach the 34th anniversary of the Lockerbie air disaster, in just over a week’s time, all our thoughts are with the victims and their families. Despite three decades passing, the families have all shown tremendous courage, hope and conviction that justice will finally be fully served, which is why this development is of such profound importance to them.

I understand that the Lord Advocate may be travelling to the United States next week to meet US authorities and to attend remembrance events for the anniversary of the tragedy. In that light, can she tell me what discussions took place between US authorities and the Crown in advance of, or around, the arrest of Mr Abu Masud; what the Crown hopes to achieve from any discussions that it has in the US with authorities there; and, more important, what discussions the Crown has had or is having with families of those affected by the tragedy to ensure that they are kept fully informed of any important developments?

I have met the US Deputy Attorney General on three occasions this year, and Scottish prosecutors and police officers have worked on the investigations with their US colleagues since the conclusion of the trial against Megrahi and Fhima in 2001. For more than 20 years, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has maintained a case team working on the investigation, which has brought together a range of prosecutorial expertise in counterterrorism, major crime investigations, forensic analysis, international co-operation and mutual legal assistance. I thank the team for their unfailing dedication to bringing suspects in this case to justice.

In meeting again with the US Deputy Attorney General next week, I shall begin to discuss further how we can assist the US in the work that it is now doing in relation to this particular suspect. The families who are involved in this terrible case have been kept up to date all along the way by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and by the US justice authorities. They have worked closely together throughout the years, and have consistently provided, as a joint endeavour, support to all the families as well as keeping them up to date on all the recent developments in the case.

The US authorities have confirmed that Mr Masud was transferred to US custody on a lawful basis, following upon US authorities making a formal extradition request for him from Libya to stand trial in the US in March 2021. I simply repeat that Scottish prosecutors and law enforcement stand ready to afford all possible co-operation to our US partners in accordance with the rule of law.

I thank the Lord Advocate for that further update.

The eyes of the world are on us now as the situation develops, and regarding what might happen next, but the big question on the lips of many will be where, and how, Mr Masud may face trial. Historically, the trial of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convened at the Scottish High Court of Justiciary at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in the year 2000. He was tried under Scots law, after extensive negotiations at the time. What is the Crown’s position, or preferred position, on where any trial of Mr Masud should or could take place? Does the Crown believe that any future trial should also be governed under Scots law? If so, what preparations has the Crown Office made for any potential trial, wherever and however it occurs?

A joint investigation is being carried out, with American and Scottish prosecutors and law enforcement officers working together, as they have done for the past 34 years. There are no current criminal proceedings in Scotland against Mr Masud.

I acknowledge that there are mixed views among the families about this development. The United States and Scotland share criminal jurisdiction for the terrorist attack, but it was clearly an attack against the United States. The bomb’s target was a US plane en route to New York, with 190 US citizens on board. Until the events of September 11, it was the deadliest terrorist attack on the United States.

The run-up to 21 December is already an incredibly difficult time for families who lost loved ones in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and for the community of Lockerbie. Everyone wants to see justice, and there are many unanswered questions, but there will be some trepidation about the timing of this development and what it will mean in relation to the focus on a community that is trying to go about its business at what is already a very difficult time of year.

I ask that, in the Lord Advocate’s discussions with American authorities, she urges them to be absolutely conscious at all times about the impact that such developments have on the community in Lockerbie. Does she agree that, at this time of year more than ever, our thoughts are not with those who perpetrated this appalling crime but with those who lost loved ones and the communities in Lockerbie and around the world who have given so much support to everyone affected by the bombing more than 34 years ago?

I completely agree with that. We should bear it in mind that, in March 2021, the US authorities made a formal extradition request for the suspect from Libya to stand trial in the US, and it was only in the past few days that they confirmed publicly that his transfer to US custody was, indeed, lawful. Scottish prosecutors and law enforcement officers stand ready to afford all possible co-operation to our US partners, in accordance with the rule of law.

We will always be mindful of the deep tragedy that those events inflicted on the people of Lockerbie.