Chamber and committees

The issue that the member raises is a deeply concerning one. We are raising awareness of how to stay safe online and are providing support to help young people to navigate online spaces and use screen time in a safe way and to help parents and carers to ensure that they have the information that they need to guide young people and recognise risks.

The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise and I have formed a new online safety task force to operate alongside the strategic group, which will identify actions to address online harm. As part of that work, last month we wrote to the United Kingdom Government to urge it take more action to protect children. We also supported the establishment of the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group to increase cross-sectoral working to address the risk of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

I recognise the concerns that have been raised about the increase in crimes related to indecent images of children. It may be helpful for me to highlight some of the things that Police Scotland is doing in relation to the recommendations from a strategic review of its response to online child sexual abuse, which was published in February 2020.

Progress has been made; the key achievements include the introduction of a single corporate name for online child sexual abuse and its use as a standard flag on common computer applications and databases, alongside the introduction of a national crime recording system. Dedicated analytical capacity has also been provided to examine online child sexual abuse. Clearer internal strategic governance has been put in place, and strategic threat assessments of online sexual abuse have been produced, increasing responses to investigation.

We have not yet received a response to our letter to the UK Government ministers. I hope that we will receive one soon and that we can meet to discuss the issues outlined in our letter.

Keeping our children safe online is an issue that both Governments have concerns about. We want to work constructively with the UK Government to tackle this growing threat to our children’s wellbeing. One issue raised in our letter was the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which provides increased protection—more than is provided by the UK-wide Online Safety Act 2023.

In the meantime, Scottish Government and UK Government officials have met to discuss the issues raised in the letter.

That is part of it. As I said in my opening remarks, there has been a delay in issuing the voluntary code of practice because of pressures on the team. We are looking at doing that within the next six months. The draft has gone to key stakeholders to try to simplify the process. That will be in addition to what will be online on the Scottish Government’s website.

Does anyone else have any views on how the voluntary code of practice will help?

I would like to give it some further thought, but we are always open to new suggestions as to how we can simplify the process. I am probably putting my colleagues on the spot, but I do not know whether they have any initial thoughts about the legal implications of Mr Ewing’s suggestion, or whether it is simply a case of our going away and thinking about it.

Legal aid is available for people who apply and are eligible for it. There should be no problem with anyone accessing justice if they would like to.

Yes, that is my understanding. Do my officials want to say anything other than that?

Yes, I think that it is. However, we do not have the exact number of how many dismissals there have been in the past 10 years; it has not been specifically on my radar in my ministerial role for the past two years per se. However, if there are ways in which we can improve the system, the Scottish Government is always willing to look at them.

I would like them to do it.

If I could, convener, I would like to start with a few opening remarks to provide a bit of clarity, as there is a bit of crossover between my portfolio and that of the Minister for Housing on the issue.

Thanks very much, everybody, for the opportunity to talk about the dismissal and the appointment of property factors, and to provide an update on the progress of the voluntary code of practice for the dismissal and the replacement of land-owning land maintenance companies.

My property law portfolio responsibility covers the dismissal and the appointment of property factors—sometimes referred to as switching—which includes the land-owning land maintenance companies. The Minister for Housing has portfolio responsibilities for the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, which includes the register of properties factors and the code of conduct. My comments will focus specifically on my portfolio.

I know that the petitioner has called for legislation to cover the dismissal of property factors. Legislation is already in place that deals with that matter. If the title deeds of a property do not set out how the property factors are to be dismissed, provisions under the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 will apply.

As I have indicated in my previous responses to the committee, I consider that the existing remedies by which home owners might dismiss a factor are adequate and that a legislative change at this time is not necessary. I note that, in its response to the petition, Under One Roof said that the process to dismiss a property factor is not clear—I will come on to that—while the Property Managers Association Scotland considered that the current legislation on the matter is sufficient.

I recognise, however, that some home owners find the procedure to switch property factors complicated. A guidance note on manager burdens will be published shortly on the Scottish Government website, which will help home owners to navigate the various options with regard to establishing voting procedures.

I have spoken to my officials this morning and the website says that the guidance will be published shortly. I am told that the timescale is within the next few weeks, but there are a few technical issues with the graphics that are being added to the website.