Chamber and committees

I thank Stuart McMillan for securing this important debate to mark the extensive work of the Scottish Law Commission over the past 60 years. The Scottish Government supports the motion and associates itself with members’ warm and positive words. I am delighted that the chair of the SLC, Lady Paton, is here, along with a number of other commission members, to hear in person what has been said. I give a very warm welcome to them and to Michael Clancy from the Law Society of Scotland.

As we all know, on the 15 June, it will be 60 years since the Scottish Law Commission came into existence under the Law Commissions Act 1965. The act was introduced to Parliament on 20 January 1965, received its second reading on 8 February and gained royal assent on 15 June—a remarkably fast passage for a bill, which is something that I am sure that we all aspire to in respect of Scottish Law Commission bills, too.

The commission is now delivering its 11th programme of law reform, and, over the past 60 years, it has examined around 30 broad areas of Scots law. In addition, it has worked with its counterparts in England and Wales to examine a range of reserved areas of law, including insurance, surrogacy and automated vehicles. As part of its duties under the 1965 act, the commission also continues to examine the law for anomalies or defects that appear to it to call for changes to the law. It has also carried out extensive and detailed but essential work on statute law revision and on the consolidation of Scots law.

After only its first year, the commission concluded that one of the requirements should be that, as far as possible, it work should be

“intelligible and acceptable to the general public, in whose interests, fundamentally, all its work is done.”

It was as important then as it is now that the public are aware that recommendations of an apparently technical or even abstract nature will, if adopted, have the effect of improving and modernising the law in such a way as to directly affect them. That theme has been very much sustained, and it is no coincidence that the title of the conference that the commission is holding to mark its 60th anniversary is “Law Reform: Shaping Society?” Ensuring that Scots law effectively meets society’s needs has always been at the heart of the commission’s work.

Clearly, the Scottish Law commission does not operate in a vacuum or an ivory tower. There would be little point in expert commissioners taking the time to carry out detailed, thorough and thoughtful work that results in recommendations if those recommendations were not then given careful consideration and taken forward. Implementation of law reform is a challenge that many jurisdictions face, and I was interested to hear that, at this year’s Commonwealth Association of Law Reform Agencies conference, which was held in Malta in April, Lady Paton delivered, remotely, a reflection on the commission at 60 years in which she spoke about the collaboration and focus that are needed to ensure that recommended law reform happens.

As is noted in the motion, in May 2013, the Parliament agreed a change in standing orders to allow certain SLC-derived bills to be considered by the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. That change was intended to improve the implementation rate of SLC bills by ensuring that the workload of the Justice Committee, and its successor committees, within whose remit SLC bills invariably fall, would be less of a blockage to delivery.

The work to improve the implementation rate did not stop there. In May 2019, the DPLR Committee agreed to the remit of a working group to review the Presiding Officer’s criteria for designating bills as Scottish Law Commission bills that may be referred to the committee for scrutiny. The working group comprised officials from the Scottish Government, the Scottish Law Commission and the Scottish Parliament, and it was a great example of collaborative working with a clear goal. It made important recommendations on what further steps it might be appropriate to take to improve implementation.

On Rhoda Grant’s points about implementation, there are sometimes good reasons for not progressing something. For example, there has been a shift in societal expectations as a result of the removal of the time bar for victims of historical childhood sexual abuse. In other cases, a different policy approach might be developed—for example in relation to adults with incapacity. That speaks to the independent status of the Scottish Law Commission and its relationship with the Government. In addition, not all reports are for the Scottish Government to implement; some sit with the United Kingdom Government. The most recent examples of such reports related to surrogacy, electoral law and automated vehicles. Therefore, the implementation rate is good, but it is important to note that, over the past 10 years, we have been getting significantly better at implementation. In this parliamentary session, commission bills will account for around 9 per cent of the legislation that has gone through the Parliament.

I wish to place on record my thanks to the Scottish Law Commission for its sterling work over the past 60 years. Its work has transformed, through law reform, the lives of individuals and the operations of businesses across Scotland. I am sure that the commission will continue its excellent work for the next 60 years.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Unfortunately, my app did not work, but I would have voted yes.

Delay in child contact proceedings is not in the child’s best interests. We plan to make further commencement regulations later this year in relation to the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, including section 32, which requires the court to consider how delays in contact cases can have a negative impact on the child’s welfare.

Case management rules for family actions in the sheriff court came into effect in September 2023 and are intended to help prevent undue delay in proceedings relating to the welfare of children. If a party to a case considers that another party is causing unnecessary delay, they can raise that with the sheriff.

I recognise the negative effect that non-compliance with contact orders can have on a child. Where somebody believes that another person has not obeyed a court order, they can ask the court to vary the order to hold the person in contempt of court. There is a provision on penalties for contempt of court in section 15 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, including a fine or imprisonment.

Conducting proceedings in such a manner amounts to an abuse of process and may also involve contempt of court and result in penalty. In addition, it is open to the court to use its power to regulate the expenses arising from the court action to penalise a party for their conduct in the course of proceedings.

The Police Scotland budget has been increased this year by £90 million, and we have committed £26 million to the cashback for communities scheme to be reinvested into our youth programmes across all 32 local authorities in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is taking a variety of steps to modernise family law and ensure the efficient functioning of the civil court system. For example, we recently laid commencement regulations to commence some further provisions of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020.

We plan to make further commencement regulations later this year and intend to lay Scottish statutory instruments on the regulation of child contact services. We have also convened a working group on child welfare reporters to consider how the current system is working in practice and what is needed for the new register of child welfare reporters.

The commitment to a further three-year phase of the cashback for communities programme was included in the programme for government for 2025-26. To support programme delivery, up to £26 million will be made available, which is an increase of £6 million from the current phase. The programme is funded by money that is recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and it supports young people who are at risk of becoming involved in antisocial behaviour, offending or reoffending.

Information relating to the programme is available on the cashback for communities website, and the programme is open to applications from Thursday 12 June.

Since 2023, we have invested more than £6 million for the delivery of a range of activities through the violence prevention framework. That includes the work of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, Medics Against Violence and YouthLink Scotland’s No Knives, Better Lives programme, and the delivery of the mentors in violence prevention in schools throughout Scotland.

Some of that work is being delivered in Ayrshire, including the delivery of the hospital navigators service at Crosshouse hospital emergency department and the extension of that approach into the police custody suite as well. That investment seeks to help to prevent violence, reduce its harm and, ultimately, improve outcomes for young people and communities throughout Scotland.

The cashback for communities programme is also having an impact on young people in the area. The latest report, which covers 2023-24, shows that 197 young people in East Ayrshire were supported through seven local cashback projects.

As Mr Kerr might know, the Scottish Government recognises that reform is needed in the legal aid system. I published a paper in February that goes into the exact details of what we are trying to achieve before the Holyrood elections next year, which I can send to Mr Kerr if he has not read it.

In the short term, we have identified priority changes that we believe will impact positively on users and providers, and bridge the gap between the current system and the future one in line with our reform objectives and expected benefits. This is the first stage in a long journey towards a more strategic, focused and managed legal aid system, including a framework for decision making. We are keen to hear views from all those across the justice system, including Mr Kerr, on areas of reform and matters of prioritisation.

I said that I would get to that at the end—I will come on to that.

That is why we are providing funding to support Police Scotland’s work to tackle the online aspects of commercial sexual exploitation, which is increasing its capability in that area and helping to inform our approach on how to better reach victims. Rhoda Grant came to a meeting on that with Police Scotland recently.

The Scottish Government’s focus will remain on providing a sustainable pathway to enable those who are involved in prostitution both to exit and fulfil their potential in a sustainable manner.

It remains imperative that we change the culture that drives the acceptability of violence against women and girls and commercial sexual exploitation. Therefore, we will continue to look for opportunities to support that change through educational and public awareness initiatives.

As I said to Mr Kerr and Ms Regan, the Scottish Government is not opposed to the intent behind the bill. As with all members’ bills, we will give it full and careful consideration and take into account Parliament’s scrutiny of it. However, I must raise a few concerns that I have about the bill at the moment. How will it work in practice? What support is intended for those who are involved in prostitution, and what is the cost of that? I note that we cannot support quashing previous convictions.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer.

I have concluded.