Chamber and committees

Violence against women and girls is abhorrent and still far too common. That is why we remain focused on delivering Scotland’s equally safe strategy to prevent such violence, which includes seeking to change the attitudes and behaviours that underpin it. The delivering equally safe fund supports 107 organisations, which deliver 115 projects. Between October 2021 and March 2024, those projects supported more than 67,000 adults, children and young people. Next year, the fund will increase by 5 per cent, so over the period from 2026 to 2028 we will make a total investment of more than £46 million to ensure that recipients can continue their vital work to prevent violence and support survivors.

I do not have the exact figures with me, but I know that, through the children, young people and families early intervention, 11 youth work organisations in the sector are being supported with more than £860,000. I do not have the figures for the budget with me, but I will write to Katy Clark on that point.

Early intervention with young people, supported by a strong focus on understanding and improving their wellbeing, is a core element of the cashback for communities programme. Through universal provision, partners support young people on their individual journeys by offering the safe spaces and the trusted adults and guidance that build confidence and skills while addressing conditions that may lead to harm before they arise. All 51 phase 7 partners will work collaboratively with children, young people and their families to ensure that young people feel safe, nurtured, active, respected and included.

The Scottish Government accepts the Supreme Court’s judgment. We are ensuring—as any responsible Government must—that our policies comply with all our legal obligations, including those set out in the Scotland Act 1998 and the European convention on human rights. The prison guidance has not been changed and, based on the work that the Scottish Government has conducted, it will not need to be changed in the light of the Supreme Court’s judgment. There is a live court case at the moment, so I will not comment on the issue any further.

While acknowledging that one knife crime is one too many, I note that knife crime has fallen considerably over the past 20 years. In North Ayrshire, the number of recorded crimes of weapons possession that specifically reference the presence of a knife or a bladed or pointed article decreased by 33 per cent from 123 in 2007-08 to 83 in 2024-25. Significantly, emergency hospital admissions in NHS Ayrshire and Arran due to assault by a sharp object decreased by 78 per cent from 81 in 2007-08 to just 18 in 2024-25, although 18 is still too many. That is a welcome contribution to the 70 per cent fall in admissions due to sharp-object assault that has been seen across the whole of Scotland since 2007.

I recognise the courage and fortitude that survivors of sexual and domestic abuse show when they share their personal experiences, whether they do so with ministers, in court or with other people in their lives. I absolutely endorse the sentiment that we need to listen to them in order to learn from their lived experience. That has been very much central to the work that we have done, such as the landmark Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025, to which the cabinet secretary referred and which will transform our justice system and ensure that victims and witnesses are treated with compassion and are supported throughout the legal process. The importance of learning from lived experience is also one reason for our establishing the victims task force, which is supported by the victim/survivor advisory board to ensure that the task force’s work to improve the experiences of victims and witnesses is underpinned by lived experience.

The cashback for communities programme delivers early intervention work with young people to reduce the risk of their engagement with police and the justice system.

The forthcoming phase will operate from April 2026 to March 2029. I am pleased to say that 51 projects will be funded and that there will be project delivery in all 32 local authorities. The programme will be supported by a record allocation of up to £26 million, which will continue to enable initiatives that provide safe spaces, trusted adults and positive diversionary and support activities for young people aged 10 to 25, addressing underlying factors that are linked to antisocial behaviour and criminality.

I am not sure whether Michael Marra is aware that, given that the relevant responsibilities cut across our portfolios, Mr Fairlie and I have been engaging with MSPs on the matter for about the past 18 months. We had a meeting just last week, and we are also engaging with the UK Government. The issue is complex. For example, the challenges presented in Edinburgh city centre are quite different from those presented in rural areas.

I believe that Police Scotland has the necessary tools at the moment, but more can be done. As we said at our meeting last week, Mr Fairlie and I are keen for that work to be progressed in the next parliamentary session. We heard members’ suggestions about what should be done, and we will leave those on the desk of the minister in the next parliamentary session so that they can proceed with that work.

I cannot speak for the next Scottish Government, but I assure the member that, if the Scottish National Party is back in Government in the next session, we will engage on the issue on a cross-party basis. As I said to Michael Marra, legislation on this matter is quite complex, because it falls between reserved and devolved areas. However, we can do some work on it, and I hope that that work will progress in the next parliamentary session.

I agree with the member on that point. Although one homicide would still be too many, homicides in Scotland are at a record low. The number of sharp object-related homicide victims fell by 49 per cent from 55 in 2007-08 to just 28 in 2024-25. Over the past 20 years, the number of homicide victims aged between 13 and 19 decreased by 75 per cent from 44 during the five-year period of 2005 to 2010 to 11 during the five-year period of 2020 to 2025.