Chamber and committees

Absolutely. I recognise everything that Alex Cole-Hamilton outlined. We invested in our rapid action drug alert system because we needed to know what was happening in real terms on the ground. The most recent rapid action drug alerts and response—RADAR—report talks about the fact that we are seeing synthetic stronger opioids making their presence felt in the UK and in Scotland. That gives me huge cause for concern.

Just this week, I was on a call with some of our international experts from Canada and the States to talk about what they would do differently now if they were able to do it again, and to ask about what we are doing in Scotland and what we could do that would help us to address what could potentially be coming down the line.

Thinking back to Russell Findlay’s question about serious and organised crime, it is far easier to get hold of and transport synthetics than it is to cultivate a crop that is dependent on so many other factors—never mind geopolitical ones. I am really worried about what we could potentially see, and that is why we need to ensure that we have the ability for drug testing and checking to be done.

People need to know what is in substances, and the Government also needs to know what is happening. The ASSIST—a surveillance study in illicit substance toxicity—project pilot, which is on-going at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in Glasgow, does routine testing of individuals when they come in to find out what substances are at play. That information and surveillance will help us, but we need to ensure that we speak to the global leaders that are already dealing with the issue.

Shortly, I will convene a round table with other international experts on the issue, and the hope is that once that work progresses it can be opened up to allow other parliamentarians to be part of it, so that the whole Parliament can ensure that we understand what the threat is that is coming down the line and how quickly it could take hold.

That is a really good point, because we need challenge and scrutiny of, and independent eyes on, some of these things. I will probably pass over to Susanne Millar to help us with understanding the evaluation process from a Glasgow perspective. Obviously, things will look slightly different from a Government perspective, as my scrutiny will be of the evaluation that Glasgow will take forward.

I am happy to hand over to Susanne at this point.

Good morning, convener and members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the committee about the Legal Aid and Advice and Assistance (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) (No 2) Regulations 2023.

The instrument has been laid to deliver changes to legal aid regulations, primarily to ensure continuing access to justice in Scotland. It provides for an overall 10.25 per cent uplift in legal aid fees, distributed via a combination of targeted fee reforms and uplifts and overall increases.

The solemn and summary criminal fee reforms have been revised to ensure that, augmented by increases in specific fees, they deliver an overall increase of 10.3 per cent in fees payable for such cases. All other criminal fees not affected by fee reforms will be uplifted by 10.2 per cent. All civil and children’s fees will be uplifted by 10.2 per cent.

Restoring the criminal justice system in light of the impact of the Covid pandemic is critical to all involved in the justice system. The instrument implements a long-standing commitment to reform solemn and summary fees to deliver simplification and to better recognise preparatory work that is undertaken before a trial. The changes are a vital part of the Scottish Government’s wider strategic reform objectives.

The amendments to legal aid fees will also support the recover, renew, transform programme through enhanced remuneration where it is appropriate for there to be early resolution in cases. By supporting early resolution, the reforms will reduce the number of cases for which trial diets are fixed. That will assist with the courts recovery programme in tackling a backlog of cases due to the Covid lockdown and providing a more timely conclusion for victims and witnesses of crime.

That gives a brief overview of the draft regulations and their context. I am happy to answer any questions.

I have thought about the thresholds and what they mean for people who do not have access to legal aid. I am definitely keen to understand the figures, but I do not know whether those are available—

It is very helpful to set that out. In relation to the thresholds and people’s expenditure, the picture during a cost of living crisis is very different from the one a couple of years ago. We absolutely need to be cognisant of that.

Yes—I am very happy to look at the impact of the regulations as we go forward. As Shona Urquhart has set out, the 2026 date is not set in stone. We are now in a position where we are able to work as fast as possible to implement what we can. It is also helpful to understand that, as Shona Urquhart has already said, the profession is now on board with the process, which is really important. After Martyn Evans’s report came out, we also had the pandemic. Although some issues have held us back a bit, we will now, collectively, work as quickly as we can on that measure.

Since I came into post, I have had many conversations with the Law Society and the Faculty of Advocates, and we are setting up a working group, which will be co-chaired by all of us, to look at the future of the legal profession. That will include issues not just about reform but about diversity and how we retain people who are entering the profession; it is a jigsaw of things that all have to come together.

Although I understand some of the issues that have been raised in the Law Society’s letter, the letter itself does not actually represent the full state of play at the moment and the good will being shown by everybody around the table as we try to get a sustainable legal aid system for the whole of Scotland.

Last December, my predecessor as minister sent a letter to the Criminal Justice Committee with some annexes that it might be helpful for us to share with this committee in relation to its consideration of how we reform legal aid in the future.

In his report on the independent strategic review of legal aid in 2018, Martyn Evans stated that he was unable to recommend any concrete legal aid fee reforms because of the complexity of the system. Given the necessity of benchmarking the use of public money, I am clear that we need to gather in all the data. That will be important for enabling us to set out from the beginning what those reforms will look like.

As I said, it is a complex state of affairs and it would be helpful if we can provide that information to the committee to help members to understand the situation as we go forward in reform. We need to ensure that we take the time to get that right. There is no rushing that.

If the regulations today are agreed, once implemented, that will give an £11 million increase from April, which is going to be of benefit. In order to understand how we need to increase the fees going forward, we have to have that benchmarking information and that data. It might be helpful if I bring in Shona Urquhart at this point to speak a bit more directly to the question that Rachael Hamilton has asked.

The purpose of the instrument is to carry out some of the reform of the section 76 fees, which will help by resolving cases before they get to trial, where that is appropriate. I should also mention the across-the-board uplift in fees for the different sectors in the justice system.

However, I think that we need to take a wider look and think about the diversity issues; indeed, a group has been set up to look at those issues in detail. The figures quoted in the letter are of concern to me, too, but I should point out that, in some of the areas that we are talking about, there are really fantastic law centres that are being supported by the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Scottish Government. They are going to see a 10 per cent increase in their funding, too.

I announced yesterday that a lot of the organisations that are funded through the Scottish Government and the Scottish Legal Aid Board for access to justice projects have had their funding agreed for the year ahead, and some of those projects are in some of our most deprived areas, too. Therefore, although I understand the concern that has been raised, I draw some level of comfort from knowing that there are law centres doing a fantastic job in those areas and that we are going to support them.

It might be helpful if I bring in Denise Swanson at this point.

Thank you for that further probing question, which requires a good answer.

Several existing members will be transferring to the local taxation chamber and they will carry their really good working knowledge with them. There is a thorough training package in place for any new members of a chamber, regardless of which chamber it might be.

We will ensure that people who are appointed to the chamber understand the very issue that you have raised in relation to dealing with the complexities of such cases, in which an element of discretion and understanding might be needed to ensure that people can access the justice that they are looking for.