Chamber and committees

I thank Clare Adamson for highlighting that important issue. I would emphasise the crucial role that everyone has to play in their own safety and in the safety of their families, and I strongly urge people to buy products only from reputable retailers whom they know and trust. It is vital that any electrical items are used, charged and stored carefully and safely.

I urge everyone to be aware of the risks. If anyone sees smoke or flames coming from a battery or device, they should, if in doubt, never tackle it themselves. They should get out, stay out and call 999. I also recommend that people make use of the range of fire safety information that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service hosts on its website.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, which has an annual fire safety campaign. This year, the focus is on devices powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which householders will be urged to buy, charge and dispose of safely to prevent accidental fires at home.

In addition, the SFRS will issue public safety advice over the festive period, with a particular focus on kitchen safety, as more fires start in the kitchen than in any other room in the house. Raising awareness of the risks associated with lithium-ion batteries is particularly important, as products containing them are becoming increasingly popular.

I thank Clare Adamson for highlighting that important issue. I would emphasise the crucial role that everyone has to play in their own safety and in the safety of their families, and I strongly urge people to buy products only from reputable retailers whom they know and trust. It is vital that any electrical items are used, charged and stored carefully and safely.

I urge everyone to be aware of the risks. If anyone sees smoke or flames coming from a battery or device, they should, if in doubt, never tackle it themselves. They should get out, stay out and call 999. I also recommend that people make use of the range of fire safety information that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service hosts on its website.

I thank David Torrance for proposing this subject for today’s members’ business debate, and I welcome the members of the Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club who are in the gallery.

We have had several important debates on antisocial behaviour recently, and I am pleased that we are able to have a debate in which we can celebrate a community that is leading on a project of its own that has had such positive outcomes. In his opening speech, David Torrance recounted individual experiences that are testament to all the positive work that the club has done.

The wider social impact of the Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club is considerable, and I welcome Foundation Scotland’s continued support. The provision of an additional £90,000 over three years will make a big difference to the club’s work in Fife.

As well as tackling inequality, the club aims to provide safe spaces for young people, where they can develop safety awareness and skills. I understand that Fife police and local businesses are supporting the club with small donations. That is positive and a great example of how to engage with communities.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering diversionary work with children and young people and the debate has given me an opportunity to highlight the on-going diversionary and intervention work that the Scottish Government supports through the cashback for communities programme, which reinvests the proceeds of crime in youth projects.

Since 2008, that flagship programme has invested £130 million in community-based activities the length and breadth of Scotland, supporting close to 1.3 million young people in that time. We continue to provide that support and we are currently in phase 6 of the cashback for communities programme, which runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026 and will invest £20 million. It will deliver a range of services and activities for young people between the ages of 10 and 25 across Scotland.

At its core, the programme provides safe spaces, trusted adults and the opportunity for young people to build positive relationships with their peers. In Fife alone, the cashback for communities programme invested more than £4,123,000 in projects between 2008 and 2023, reaching more 142,000 young people.

The evidence proves that the cashback for communities programme is working. Evaluation shows that 4,318 young people reported that their antisocial and criminal behaviour reduced, 6,292 young people felt that they were less likely to engage in antisocial or criminal behaviour, and 4,954 young people gained an accreditation in furthering their development. Those statistics are from last year’s impact report for the cashback for communities programme that was published yesterday. The numbers illustrate how our focus on early intervention and diversionary activity is making a difference in communities.

While helping to provide more opportunities for young people in their communities, we also want to keep them safe from harm. That is why we have invested more than £4 million in the past two years to implement the action set out in the Scottish violence prevention framework. That supports the work of a range of partners, including the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, YouthLink Scotland and Medics Against Violence, to prevent young people from engaging in violence.

I also highlight the work of the improving Levenmouth together partnership. Through the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, £30,000 has been awarded to the local trade hub partnership, so that a science, technology, engineering and mathematics bus can now visit all 18 primary schools that feed into Levenmouth academy. Plans are in place for roadshow events led by various partners, including the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and ScotRail, covering issues such as fire-raising and track safety. In addition, the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit is supporting the role of the think equal programme across nurseries in the area with the stop the violence message. Together, those are some great examples of early and effective interventions in Fife that complement the work of the Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club in supporting children and young people.

I made it clear earlier that I wanted to focus on commending the positives in the debate. However, that does not mean avoiding concerns about antisocial behaviour, which remains such a core focus of the work of the Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club. As I have said previously, we take seriously the impact of antisocial behaviour, including antisocial driving, in our communities, and we have debated that four times in recent months. We are committed to working with local partners to tackle those issues effectively.

Recently, Bob Doris and Alex Cole-Hamilton have highlighted concerns about the reckless and dangerous misuse of a range of vehicles, and nuisance, such as noise. We have had another two comprehensive debates on that specific issue and, understandably, the level of interest in the debate has been high. Mr Cole-Hamilton discussed his concerns about South Queensferry with the First Minister. Along with the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, I hope to meet Mr Cole-Hamilton and Bob Doris to discuss practical considerations of what could be done in the new year with Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government provides funding to a range of voluntary sector bodies that can provide support in relation to family disputes. Support might also be available through the legal aid system.

Delay in child contact proceedings is not in the child’s best interests, and I recognise the negative effect that non-compliance with contact orders can have on a child. If a person believes that an order has not been obeyed, they can go back to the court and ask for it to be varied, or they can ask for the person who did not obey the order to be held in contempt of court.

New case-management rules for family actions in the sheriff court came into effect in September last year, which are intended to help to prevent undue delay in proceedings relating to the welfare of children. I would be very happy to meet Ms Harper to discuss the matter further.

I am definitely happy to consider that, although I would have to speak to Mr Fairlie about it. We are going to have an initial meeting; it was meant to be in December, but after trying to co-ordinate the diaries of all the members involved, Police Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, it will now be in January. I should also say that we are aware, too, of developments in England, as they might have a wider impact on any reserved matters, and we are ensuring that we are kept involved.

I know that Ben Macpherson has a constituency interest with regard to antisocial behaviour involving off-road vehicles, and he has contributed to many of the debates to highlight the importance of diversion and intervention. Claire Baker also highlighted the dangers of off-road vehicles when she talked about her constituent Shelagh Cooper, who lost her dog, and I know that Bob Doris’s constituent lost his life. Such antisocial behaviour can result in some very tragic circumstances.

I want to conclude on the high note with which David Torrance proposed this debate. The Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club has successfully helped to reduce off-road-related antisocial behaviour in Levenmouth by a really impressive 90 per cent, as has been confirmed by local police. It is also really welcome that overall antisocial behaviour in the area has reduced by almost 80 per cent over the period.

The club has achieved that through a remarkably simple approach—by providing a safe space, using private land, and all the associated support required. It is clear that we need to learn from that approach and all that it has achieved. Indeed, I understand that the additional funding that the club has secured will help it to create safe spaces for another 70 young people from Cowdenbeath, Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy.

On that note, I join all members in commending the club’s efforts, and those of similar community groups, in helping to address inequalities and in providing real opportunities and hope in our communities.

We do not have a timescale for that at the moment, because we are still engaging with all the organisations that are involved. It is a work in progress.

Would you like me to set out what the recommendations on the victim contact team were and what it should ultimately look like, even though I do not have a timescale at the moment?

Thank you for inviting me to attend this meeting to discuss the Government’s commitment to reforming the victim notification scheme—the VNS. I am aware that the committee took evidence last week on our intention to use the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill to deliver the reforms to the VNS that require primary legislation, and I am also aware of the real interest and desire to ensure that victims’ needs are being met.

As the committee will be aware, through our engagement with the victims task force, the Government heard concerns from stakeholders that reflected the views of victims themselves that the VNS was not operating effectively, which is why we commissioned an independent review to ensure that the scheme was fit for purpose and that it could serve victims more effectively.

During the review, the chair, Alastair MacDonald, and the vice-chair, Fiona Young, undertook a considerable amount of engagement with justice partners, victim support organisations and victims. They also considered international examples of victim notification. The review report was published in May last year, and it contained 22 recommendations, some of which comprise several sub-parts, that were rooted in that substantial engagement.

The VNS is complex, and it covers three separate schemes. Two of those relate to the criminal justice system, both of which are effectively identified by the length of the offender’s sentence. The third scheme is for victims of mentally disordered offenders, which is the term that is used in the review. The review recommendations cover all three schemes.

Scottish Government officials engaged with justice partners and victim support organisations to discuss in detail the recommendations to inform and develop our response to the review, which was published in October. The Government agreed either fully or in principle with the majority of the recommendations, including the central proposal for creating a victim contact team.

Some of the review’s recommendations are aimed specifically at justice partners, some are for the Government and others are for the Government to lead in collaboration with partners. Taken together, we anticipate that the recommendations will require a mix of legislative and administrative changes.

At the time of publishing our response to the review, I made it clear that progressing the reforms is a priority for the Government, and that we would use the opportunity of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill to ensure that the reforms that are needed to be taken forward through primary legislation could be done at pace. However, I acknowledge that that will be a new part of the bill, so I intend to limit the number of amendments to those that we consider to be essential for the legal underpinning of VNS reform.

I need to be clear that we are at the very early stages of reforming the system, building on the extensive consultation that took place with justice partners and victim support organisations after the review’s report was published, which informed our response.

Reforming the scheme is about ensuring that it works well for victims, and I am aware that the victim notification scheme can support victims only to a certain extent. It is not an absolute remedy for traumatic experiences. The concluding sentence of the independent review reflects that. It says:

“a human, trauma-informed and personalised process ... can go some way to help victims”.

Improving the VNS is part of our wider commitment to transforming how justice services are delivered, which includes putting at the heart of the system the voices of victims and a trauma-informed approach. The reforms will put the needs of the victims firmly at the heart of the notification scheme. By increasing the information that is available to victims, improving communication across justice agencies and making the system more accountable, we can ensure that the scheme continues to be as effective and trusted as possible.

Reform is about ensuring that the scheme works well for victims, which is, I think, what we all want to achieve. We share the vision in the conclusion of the review report, which, as I have already mentioned, is to have

“a human, trauma-informed and personalised process, which can go some way to help victims in their difficult situation”,

and we are committed to creating that with our partners.

Convener, I am pleased to be able to work on the bill with the committee and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs. The bill will improve victims’ and witnesses’ experiences and strengthen their rights. I look forward to taking your questions.

At the moment, the VNS is formed of three schemes.

The victims of offenders who have been sentenced to more than 18 months of imprisonment have the right to receive information about the release of the offender, and some of those victims have the right to make recommendations when decisions are being made about release. That is referred to as the criminal justice VNS. As of 2 December, there are 3,057 victims on that VNS.

The second scheme involves victims of patients in the forensic mental health system who are subject to a compulsion order and restriction order. Those victims are similarly entitled to rights of information and the making of recommendations. That scheme is referred to as the CORO VNS. As of 2 December, 34 victims are registered on that.

Victims of offenders who are sentenced to fewer than 18 months are entitled, on request, to more limited information about the offender’s release. That is known as the victim information scheme—the VIS. Currently, 58 people are registered on that scheme.

A lot of organisations are involved in the VNS. It is complex, so I will give you some background: the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service plays a role at the start of the process by distributing registration packs to victims; the Scottish Prison Service sends written information to victims; the Parole Board for Scotland and the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland facilitate victim representations; and the Scottish Government sends written information to victims of mentally disordered offenders and also provides release information to the registered victims of offenders detained in secure accommodation. In addition, victim support organisations provide support and assistance to victims registered on the VNS and to victims who can request information under the VIS. Some victim support organisations also now have proxy rights to information.

I hope that that gives you some background in relation to all the organisations that are involved and with which the victim contact team will need to engage.

To go back to your original question, as we move to stage 2, we are not only considering underpinning the victim contact team. We are looking at including the CORO VNS in the standards of service, as set out in recommendation 2 of the review. We are looking at applying discretion to the list of relatives eligible to register for the scheme, as set out in recommendation 11, with that discretion applying across the three schemes. We are looking at children over the age of 12 being able to authorise an adult to receive information on their behalf, which would be done on a case-by-case basis, according to the child’s capacity and choice, as set out in recommendation 14, and that would also apply to all three schemes. We are looking at taking a power to expand the information available under the victim information scheme, as set out in recommendation 15. The power to amend the VIS would bring that scheme more generally into line with what is happening with the VNS. We are also looking at data sharing and a duty to co-operate in order to establish the victim contact team, which covers recommendations 17, 20 and 21 and would apply across all schemes.