Chamber and committees

I start by paying tribute to all the firefighters who work hard and play a vital role in keeping our communities safe. It is clear from the comments in tonight’s debate that we are all aware of the important role that the service plays, through working in partnership with others to prevent and respond to emergencies, in improving the safety and wellbeing of people throughout Scotland.

The bravery and passion of our firefighters have never been in question, and I do not recognise the negative picture of the service that has been painted by others this evening. I am confident that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has delivered and will continue to deliver the highest standard of service in order to keep our communities safe.

Thank you.

I want to respond to Katy Clark on the capital backlog. As I have mentioned, even though we had a flat cash settlement, we protected the capital investment this year at £32.5 million. Five fire stations are being refurbished this year. We will continue to work with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to identify the capital funding that it needs for its buildings, fleet and equipment.

In response to Richard Leonard, as I have said, it would be inappropriate for me to get involved in operational matters, but the Scottish Government is responsible for the budget.

Maggie Chapman asked about the FBU’s “Firestorm” report. The majority of the points that are raised in it, including on the allocation of resources and the recruitment, retention and training of firefighters, are matters for the SFRS to consider and address. However, having read the report, I can say that the Scottish Government agrees with a lot of the issues that it raises—such as keeping the community safe—and believes that bullying and harassment are always unacceptable. We want our firefighters to receive fair pay. The Scottish Government believes in a lot that is in the report.

I met MSPs during the recess and have met the SFRS for the past few months. Mercedes Villalba did not accept my invitation to meet, but I extend it again. I am more than happy to meet her.

I will address Pam Gosal’s point of getting around the table with the FBU.

That is an operational matter for the SFRS. It would not be for the Scottish Government. The SFRS is reviewing the situation. In September, after one year, it will go to a public consultation if—[Interruption.]

Yes—I agree. The UK Government’s hostile environment policies and no recourse to public funds restrictions limit the support that people, including migrant women experiencing domestic abuse, can access at a time of crisis. The Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities developed the ending destitution together strategy to prevent and mitigate the effect of destitution that arises from the no recourse to public funds policy. The strategy also presses the UK Government to extend the destitution domestic violence concession to make it available to anyone who is in the UK as a dependant as a result of someone else’s visa or protection status.

Domestic abuse is abhorrent. It is a blight on our society and has no place in the Scotland that we all want to live in.

Through the delivering equally safe fund, we will provide approximately £12.5 million in 2023-24 to domestic abuse support services, including women’s aid organisations, that provide specialist support and access to temporary accommodation. We have been clear that anyone experiencing domestic abuse who has no recourse to public funds should be offered the same level of support as anyone else in Scotland and should not face disadvantage or discrimination because of their immigration status.

The Scottish Government recognises the disruption and the harm that retail crime causes to businesses and the individuals who work in them. As the First Minister made clear in the chamber on 5 October, the Scottish Government supports the innovative Scottish partnership against acquisitive crime strategy. The partnership is led by Police Scotland and includes other organisations such as retailers. It outlines a partnership approach to prevention, deterrence and enforcement in relation to a range of crimes, including shoplifting. I urge anyone who is affected by such incidents to report them to the police.

It is correct to mention that a significant rise in recorded shoplifting is being seen throughout the whole United Kingdom. Our figures and those that were released recently by the Office for National Statistics confirm the existence of a similar trend across England, Wales and Scotland for the year ending in June.

We know that cost of living pressures can influence shoplifting, although they might not be the driver in all cases. The Scottish Government is finalising two pieces of research that consider the relationship between economic performance and crime and the number of crimes that have been recorded under the 2021 act. Those pieces of research are due for publication in the coming months.

We all want everyone to have a safe bonfire night this year. As part of the preparations, I met our emergency services gold commanders for operation moonbeam on 5 October. Operation moonbeam is the multi-agency response to the potential challenges of the bonfire night period and has been activated to ensure a swift and co-ordinated response to any serious incidents.

Through our partnerships, we are delivering public awareness campaigns that focus on firework safety and preventing bonfire night attacks on the emergency services. A significant amount of multi-agency partnership work by our community safety partners is continuing at local level, including awareness raising in schools, targeted work to prevent antisocial behaviour, trading standards activity with retailers and a range of measures to reduce the risk of bonfires and wilful fire raising.

It is for local authorities to utilise the discretionary firework control zone powers on the basis of their assessment of their areas’ needs and communities. However, it is untrue that local authorities are not interested in using the discretionary powers; my officials continue to engage with local authorities on using them. I can confirm that we have received a number of early expressions of interest from local authorities that are exploring designating a zone in their area.

It is important to highlight that firework control zones have been developed to support a long-term cultural change in relation to fireworks, not a quick fix. Although such zones will not be in place this year, local authorities across Scotland have a wealth of knowledge about and experience of preventing, planning for and responding to issues that involve fireworks, through a multi-agency response and approach.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role of retail workers in our society and wants to ensure that they are protected, just like everyone else. Retail workers should be safe at work and should never have to experience abuse or violence when simply doing their job. The Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021, which came into force in August 2021, created a statutory offence of threatening, abusing or assaulting a retail worker. That specific offence highlights the seriousness of such behaviour.

There is already access to advice, guidance and financial support through a wide range of organisations across the public sector. That is available to private businesses anywhere in Scotland and to social enterprises, the third sector and community-based organisations.