Chamber and committees

Education is vital. This is the crux of the problem. If we are going to change societal behaviour, it must start with education.

I recognise the issue and understand the concerns that have been raised by the member and her constituents, which have also been raised with us in the working group.

My officials are working closely with Police Scotland, the Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators, Transport Scotland and wider stakeholders to review the statutory charges for vehicle recovery. Although the levies to which the member referred are a separate issue, I will ensure that officials take them into account as part of that work and engage with Police Scotland on how the system is working, to ensure that our communities can be kept safe from the harm that vehicle misuse causes.

The cross-party meeting provided an opportunity to hear views on what could be done to address young people being affected by violence and, critically, how to prevent violence from happening in the first place. We heard from those who attended that early intervention, through youth work, safe spaces and whole-family support, is key to tackling and preventing youth violence. Building on that, and on what we know is working, we are considering what more we can do to strengthen support for young people and communities.

We are working towards implementation of part 2, and that work is well progressed. As I said earlier, the target is for the provisions to come into force in 2025. Court rules might affect the timetable, but we are aiming for the provisions to come into force in December 2025. I do not know whether Matt Elsby wants to add anything.

Okay. Thank you very much for the opportunity to provide an update on part 1 of the Domestic Abuse Protection (Scotland) Act 2021 and the work that has been progressed to ensure that a domestic abuse protection order scheme can be successfully introduced.

As I outlined in my letter to the committee last week, and as promised following the committee’s earlier evidence session on unimplemented legislation, my officials held a workshop with stakeholders and justice partners in March. The focus of the workshop was to consider a range of options and to seek some level of consensus on the next steps that are required to commence part 1 of the 2021 act.

That workshop was convened in response to repeated efforts to look at how to operationalise the existing legislation into a sustainable, deliverable and affordable framework. There were no preconceived conclusions as to what it might deliver. It is important to reiterate the continued commitment of all our stakeholders to make the legislation work for the protection of those who are at risk.

The feedback from that process was stark but clear. The overwhelming consensus from those who participated was that fundamental changes are needed to the legislation in order to ensure that the aims of the domestic abuse protection order can be realised.

There were serious concerns about implementing the legislation without those changes being made. Many of those concerns also extended to any attempt to pilot the legislation as it currently stands, which is an option that was discussed.

I note at this point that the Scottish Government has not been alone in its efforts to introduce such measures, which were first conceived during the Covid-19 period. Although the United Kingdom Government has piloted similar proposals, that has not been without its challenges, and those proposals do not include provisions around the taking of evidence from children.

Colleagues in Northern Ireland have also followed our approach and held a detailed workshop, and they await the outcome of our considerations with interest.

In response to the workshop conclusions, we have been considering how best to make progress towards reaching a workable solution on the introduction of such orders and how to ensure that stakeholders are central to that process so that it works for people.

Our first step is to establish a short-life working group, which we hope will meet for the first time in September. Membership will comprise representatives from the organisations that attended the workshop, in order to deliver a collaborative approach. The group will be tasked with navigating possible legislative changes to deliver a workable and sustainable model. That will also provide an opportunity to explore further the relationship between civil and criminal law in relation to domestic abuse incidents.

We will use the group’s findings to inform a consultation on possible changes to the legislation in early 2026, and it will be for a new Government and members in the new parliamentary session to take forward any legislation that might be required, including providing the ability to pilot the legislation, if that is thought to be necessary.

Although the further delay is regrettable, it is important that we listen to the feedback of those who supported and campaigned for the policy and those who would be asked to bring it into practice, so that the law works for people as intended.

I hope that that is helpful on the domestic abuse aspects, and I am happy to answer any questions.

I do not know whether you want me to go on to the housing aspects at this stage, convener.

The Scottish Government recognises that establishing the register of child welfare reporters is a key provision in the legislation. As I said in my opening remarks, we have established the working group and we are looking what changes can be made and how we will establish a register.

The register will not come into effect in this parliamentary session. There is no time for the legislation for that in this session, so we have to be 100 per cent honest that we are aiming to move forward with it and that I envisage it being implemented in the next parliamentary session. I do not know whether Simon Stockwell will be in a position to comment, because it will be up to whoever is in the Administration to decide the priority of that work.

That is where we are at the moment. We are working on the regulation and we recognise its importance, but we will not be in a position to do it in this parliamentary session.

The workshop included representatives from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Police Scotland, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Scottish Legal Aid Board, Scottish Women’s Aid, Abused Men in Scotland, the Scottish Law Commission and Advocacy Support Safety Information Services Together—ASSIST—Scotland.

In relation to part 1 of the 2001 act, a key point that was identified in the workshop was that the current timescale between a domestic abuse protection notice being issued and a court application being made for a domestic abuse protection order was too short. The duration period of three months for a DAPO was not considered to be long enough and presents resource challenges. It is a very short timescale for victims to engage with other support services while the DAPO is in place.

There are issues with operational capability, practicalities around timescales and reporting, and the need to give individuals sufficient time to obtain legal representation. Cross-border powers relating to how DAPOs will operate in practice will require further liaison with other jurisdictions, given that this is an area that will be new to all. There is a need for children’s views to be obtained. Consideration needs to be given to who will gather those views and what specific training they will need, as well as to what the geographical constraints and timescales might be. A duty of care to victims, perpetrators and families was also identified as an area of concern.

Those were the key issues that were raised in March’s workshop.

At the time, the legislation was intended as an exceptional tool to be used in situations in which no other protections were available. However, it became clear from speaking to operational agencies and stakeholders during implementation planning that the expected volume of new notices and orders that would arise under the 2021 act would lead to significant operational challenges.

I will perhaps ask Jeff Gibbons to speak on that, because he has been involved historically—I appreciate that that was probably before our time. The main aim of the act was to get the protections in place, but the challenge was going to be how it would work operationally.

Absolutely. We support ADR, including mediation, in child contact centres. The Scottish Government already provides funding for Relationships Scotland and its network to provide family mediation services.

We have not yet implemented the two ADR provisions in the 2020 act. Section 23, which is on funding ADR in child contact and residence cases, will require a good deal of thought. Given other pressures, section 23 has not been a priority, but we will implement that in time. Section 24 provides for a pilot scheme for information meetings on alternative dispute resolution. That is more of a priority, and lessons from the pilot scheme will inform how we do the work on section 23. However, there is still a fair bit of work to be done in relation to section 24.

I will move on to your question on child advocacy. I think that an amendment on that was introduced before we were all in our current roles. That provision represents a major investment, and it will provide significant support for children who are at the centre of child contact and residence cases. We are discussing with key bodies what they would like to see, and there are a number of points to consider. For example, what exactly should the role be? We assume that it should involve explaining to the child what the process involves and helping them to give their views as required.

Another point to consider is how to ensure that the role does not cut across the role of any trusted adult or other support services that the child has. We also need to consider how to ensure that the advocate is fully trained, how to provide children with information on the service and how many cases an advocate can realistically take on. We need to work with other adults who might be involved in a case, such as the parents; support workers; people from third sector bodies that provide legal or practical support; any curator appointed by the court; and any child welfare reporter appointed by the court. Work is on-going, and we will consider those matters as we make progress on that area. It is quite complex and there is a lot of work to do.

Absolutely. That is vital. I do not know whether you are aware of the work that the Scottish Law Commission is currently doing, too.