Chamber and committees

I, too, thank Rona Mackay for bringing this important issue to the chamber.

The impact of imprisonment on families is, as Families Outside’s report makes clear, significant and often unseen. That makes it all the more essential that the issues are openly discussed and debated. This is not someone else’s problem; we all have a responsibility to listen to those families and to take action.

I take the opportunity to acknowledge, as others have done, the vital work that Families Outside does. I know that it is a lifeline for many families who are affected by imprisonment.

Twenty years ago, when I worked to support young people at risk of homelessness—many of whom faced addiction issues and had experience of care and childhood trauma—it often felt like I was on my own trying to hold everything together when one of my young folk was in prison. It is extremely exhausting for everyone, not least their families.

The report covers a number of extremely important issues. I cannot do all of them justice in the time that I have, so I will focus on some key points.

The report emphasises the negative impact of imprisonment and calls for the use of prison to be truly a last resort. This Government has been clear that, although prison will always be necessary for those who pose a risk of serious harm, we need to look again at how custody is used in a modern and progressive Scotland. There is no reason why we should have the highest imprisonment rate in western Europe. We know that short periods of imprisonment, including on remand, do not address the underlying causes of offending or support rehabilitation.

It is important to take a second to understand that many people who are in prison are often victims of criminal acts so, although they may be offenders, they are indeed victims. We also know that many people who are in contact with the justice system have experienced multiple and severe disadvantage. We should not use imprisonment to address those wider societal harms.

As the report highlights, the impact on the children and families of people in custody can be devastating and wide ranging. That is why we are taking action to shift the balance towards greater use of community-based interventions, which we know are more effective than short-term imprisonment in reducing reoffending. That includes continued investment in community justice services.

In 2023-24, the Scottish Government will invest a total of £134 million in community justice services. That includes £123 million to local authorities to support the delivery of community-based sentences and interventions, such as alternatives to remand. That is not soft justice by any means. It can be transformative justice at the heart of our communities.

We have also introduced legislation. Members have referenced the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill, which will shortly be debated in the chamber at stage 1. That bill focuses on two of the key issues that are raised in the report: the impact of remand and improving support for people leaving prison.

Remand removes people from their families, homes, jobs and communities. We must remember that they are mostly people who have been accused of an offence and have not been convicted of any crime. The bill seeks to refocus how remand is used so that custody is reserved for those who pose a risk to public safety or to the delivery of justice.

The bill also seeks to improve the pre-release planning and support that is provided for people leaving prison to enable their successful reintegration. We know that holistic, well-planned support for people leaving prison can reduce their risk of reoffending and improve their outcomes. The bill’s provisions are intended to support that.

That is alongside on-going investment in national third sector throughcare services. We know that throughcare is hugely important—that has been referred to. We need to provide one-to-one support for people who are leaving prison.

That investment currently totals £3.7 million a year. I know first hand, from my work in homelessness services, how crucial support is at the time when someone is liberated. Our third sector partners provide that critical lifeline, and we must strive to ensure that supports are in place in advance of people leaving prison. That is why it is important to embed the sustainable housing on release for everyone—SHORE—standards across all areas, via local authorities’ rapid rehousing transition plans.

The report also highlights the importance of specific financial and emotional support for families of people in prison. That includes the critical role that prison visitor centres play. The Scottish Government has provided funding—which is currently up to £800,000 a year—since 2016-17 to support the development of PVCs across Scotland. I am delighted that there are now 12 of those centres. We remain committed to maintaining funding for prison visitor centres in 2023-24.

I take the opportunity to say a huge well done to Recovery Enterprises Scotland in East Ayrshire, which has provided the PVC service at HMP Kilmarnock since January. I know the team personally, and I know how committed it is to supporting folk and their families during difficult times.

As highlighted in the report, the Scottish welfare fund can be an essential source of support. The fund, which was established in 2013, is administered by local authorities. It provides two forms of discretionary awards: a crisis grant and a community care grant. The community care grants can be awarded to prisoners who are leaving prison, to help them to establish or maintain a settled home in the community. That is invaluable support, especially when someone’s previous tenancy has been lost and their belongings have been cleared. The grants can also be provided to family members, to assist in the care of an individual who is on temporary release from prison.

We must also recognise the gendered nature of supporting a family member in prison, especially during a cost of living crisis. Women bear the cost, and income maximisation is vital. Therefore, we must support those families to ensure that they receive all the support that they can get.

I highlight the work of the Scottish Prison Service in supporting family contact and mitigating the impact of the cost of living crisis for prisoners and their families. That includes trying to keep prices in the prison canteens at a minimum and reviewing the application of the prisoner wage policy. Although the vending machines in prisons are a matter for the SPS, I hope that it heard Emma Harper’s call to ensure that pricing is reasonable. The example that she gave was quite stark.

The SPS is also committed to making visits as family friendly as possible. The approach might look different in each establishment, but that includes reviewing visiting timetables in light of family feedback, having family days, and supporting virtual visits where appropriate. The SPS is currently revising its family strategy, informed by active consultation with prisoners and their families. That strategy aims to support and encourage people in the SPS’s care to play an active role in building strong and stable families.

I will take a second to talk about the stark statistic that Collette Stevenson told us about earlier. The number of children who are experiencing the trauma of having a family member in prison is actually higher than the number of children who are in families in which there is divorce. I reassure Collette Stevenson that the Scottish Government and the SPS are actively working with Timpson and other employers to figure out how we can best support them to give people the opportunity to thrive.

I assure Michael Marra that we have established a cross-portfolio ministerial working group to explore the urgent issues that he brought to the chamber. However, I would be really happy to meet him on a one-to-one basis to discuss those issues, because his points were really important.

In response to Richard Leonard, I take the opportunity to recognise Allan Marshall’s family and their stoic and steadfast seeking of justice for him. However, as members will understand, I cannot comment any further at the moment, due to the on-going issues at hand.

I say to everybody out there who has a family member in prison that we have heard your voices loud and clear through the report.

We are strengthening how justice services and wider public services support victims through our budget. That includes continuation of support to more than 20 organisations through the victim-centred approach fund and support to victims of violent crime in Scotland through the criminal injuries compensation scheme.

As part of our vision for justice and the commitment to support victims on their journey to healing and recovery, we must offer approaches in justice that place victims at their heart. A victims advisory board has been established by the victims task force to ensure that victims’ experiences are directly informing our action and the actions of our justice partners. I know that Jackie Dunbar will welcome the establishment of the women’s justice leadership panel, which I chair, and which is looking at how we address gender inequality and improve women’s experiences in the justice system.

The victim surcharge fund will open to more applications once sufficient money has been collected, which we anticipate will be towards the end of this year. So far, all organisations that offer support to domestic abuse survivors which have applied have received funding. In the meantime, organisations that support victims of domestic abuse which have not applied to the victim surcharge fund can approach Victim Support Scotland for help on behalf of those whom they are supporting, as Victim Support Scotland manages an emergency assistance fund, which is partly funded through the victim support surcharge fund. I encourage Natalie Don—and, indeed, all MSPs—to ensure that that is well known.

We must treat domestic abuse survivors with compassion and make available services that acknowledge the significant trauma that they have experienced. Our victim-centred approach fund has awarded £48 million to provide support to victims, including £18.5 million for specialist advocacy support for survivors of gender-based violence. Research on the operation of our groundbreaking domestic abuse legislation found that it better reflects victims’ experiences. However, I am acutely aware that more needs to be done, and I am committed to working with our partners across the justice system to do that, including through legislative reform and rolling out trauma-informed practice.

In 2021, in consultation with the victims task force, we commissioned NHS Education for Scotland to create a knowledge and skills framework specifically to support the development of a trauma-informed workforce in the justice sector. The framework was endorsed by the victims task force at a meeting on 7 December 2022. We are acutely aware of that issue.

That is something that the Scottish Government is actively looking at.

I fully appreciate the need to ensure that abuse is recognised across the justice system, in both criminal and civil cases. In relation to child contact cases, the legislation requires the court to have regard to abuse and the risk of abuse. The Scottish Government is committed to preparing a discussion paper on the interaction between criminal and civil cases. A key part of that will involve considering how all forms of abuse can be tackled in order to prevent the situations that were clearly narrated by Fiona Hyslop.

The victim surcharge fund has opened three times to applications from organisations that provide support to victims of crime. So far, 11 organisations—including Victim Support Scotland, Dumbarton District Women’s Aid, Edinburgh Women’s Aid and Angus Women’s Aid—have shared more than £917,000 of grant funding to provide practical help directly to victims, including victims of domestic abuse.

Examples of support that has been provided by the fund include the meeting of clothing and other essential expenses for those escaping domestic abuse and the installation of alarm and video systems to help victims to feel safe.

I know that, like me, Maggie Chapman has a keen interest in that area.

The Scottish Government is clear that women with no recourse to public funds should be offered the same level of support that other women in Scotland are and that they should not face disadvantage. We continue to urge the United Kingdom Government to ensure that all victims of domestic abuse are afforded the same protections and support. Our ending destitution together strategy presses the UK Government to extend the destitution domestic violence concession to make it available to anyone who is in the UK as a dependant on someone else’s visa or protection status, regardless of the timescales of that status. We will continue to make the case in the strongest of terms.

Absolutely. I can give Beatrice Wishart the assurance that we will seek to ensure that it is communicated effectively.