Chamber and committees

I congratulate Mr Findlay on securing the debate during Victim Support Scotland’s victims awareness week and I congratulate Victim Support Scotland on the success of the week so far. As members have noted, yesterday was European day for the victims of crime, which makes this debate even more apt. I associate myself with the words of Mr Findlay when he congratulated those who are recognised today by Victim Support Scotland’s excellence awards.

I am pleased to be closing the debate for the Scottish Government. We support Mr Findlay’s motion whole-heartedly. Reflecting on the people who are at the heart of victims awareness week, I will begin with a few words for those who have been affected by crime as all too clearly set out by Mr Kerr.

Victim” and “survivor” are short words, but they carry a weight of meaning for those to whom they are attached. It is easy to feel far removed from the possibility of being affected by crime. However, the victim of crime can be anyone, as we have heard: a friend, a parent, a carer, a sibling, a child, a colleague or even oneself. Many colleagues have their own direct experiences, as we have heard. In other words, there is no “them”, only “us”.

With that in mind, I say to all people who are affected by crime: the Government is with you. We are committed to upholding your rights and to making sure that the justice system recognises your experiences as well as the impact that crime can have on you. More simply: we see you, we hear you and we believe you.

It is important that we set out that victims of crime need to be at the centre of a justice system. Russell Findlay recognised the movement in that direction not just here but across the UK and across the world.

I absolutely agree with that. Any time that people spend in waiting to access justice will exacerbate their feelings of helplessness in the system. The money that the Scottish Government has put into that system, to aid it to recover, is absolutely vital. It is important that we keep an eye on that as things progress.

We are joined by countless others in our support for victims. Victim Support Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland, the ASSIST—advocacy, support, safety, information and services together—project, Scottish Women’s Aid and countless others provide crucial assistance to people who are affected by crime. As a former Women’s Aid worker for more than a decade, and as someone who has previously been supported by Victim Support Scotland, I whole-heartedly commend those organisations for all that they do to support victims of crime, and all the leaders at the heart of them, such as Kate Wallace, Sandy Brindley, and Marsha Scott from Scottish Women’s Aid. I thank them for their dedication and compassion. From comments that have been made in the chamber this evening, I know that other members share my views of the vital need to raise awareness of what those organisations do.

The Government is pleased to support those bodies in that work, and, in turn, the people who are affected by crime. I am therefore delighted to be able to announce that we will award more than £500,000 to victim support organisations through the victim surcharge fund. Those funds will be used to provide direct support to victims and survivors. The new awards will bring to £900,000 the total that has been granted through the fund since it was established in 2019. Further information about that will be published tomorrow morning on the Scottish Government’s website.

That builds on our announcement in March last year, which was mentioned by Rona Mackay, that, from 2022 to 2025, we are awarding £48 million to more than 20 victims organisations through the victim-centred approach fund. Recipients include Victim Support Scotland, Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance and Migrant Help.

We also provide around £15.6 million each year to victims of violent crime through the criminal injuries compensation fund. In addition, we are investing £38 million over two years through the delivering equally safe fund, which tackles violence against women and girls—an issue that is close to the hearts of many people, including myself and Pauline McNeill, as we heard from her.

However, it is not just about money. As has been mentioned, our victims task force is driving action to improve the experiences of people who are affected by crime, within the criminal justice system. It is jointly chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans and the Lord Advocate, and includes representatives from victim support organisations such as VSS, as well as criminal justice agencies, the legal profession and academia. The task force has welcomed the newly established victims advisory board, which is comprised of people who are directly affected by crime and will ensure that their voices are heard as part of the task force’s work and beyond. That is really important.

We have listened to people who are affected by crime and acknowledged that further work is absolutely necessary to ensure that their needs are better incorporated into Scotland’s justice system. That acknowledgement is reflected in the Scottish Government’s vision for justice, which envisages a system in which people who are affected by crime

“will be treated as a person first and foremost, our voices will be heard and be supported to recover from the trauma we have experienced.”

As Pam Gosal and Foysol Choudhury have said, we must ensure that we take an intersectional approach to domestic and sexual abuse cases and support organisations such as Amina, Hemat Gryffe Women’s Aid and Shakti Women’s Aid. We need to ensure that people from all backgrounds are heard in that space.

Yes—very briefly.

I absolutely recognise the case that Pam Gosal puts to me. The women’s justice leadership panel, which I currently chair and which will report soon, put that intersectionality approach right at the heart of what we were looking at. Through what we heard from groups such as Amina, we understood that we have to make adjustments within the system so that people feel that they are heard and that their needs are met. I absolutely recognise that.

The criminal justice reform (Scotland) bill, which is to be introduced this year, will support the delivery of vision for justice through provisions that will remove the not proven verdict and grant automatic anonymity to complainers in sexual offence cases, while working towards access to independent legal advice, which Pauline McNeill mentioned. We are also funding trauma specialists to develop a training framework for staff to create a more trauma-informed and trauma-responsive justice system. That is vital.

However, we are not stopping there. The Scottish Government is committed to preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls, and we are implementing equally safe, Scotland’s strategy for achieving that. We are working with justice partners to promote a system that encourages women’s active participation across the criminal justice system. That speaks to what Pam Gosal said.

As was mentioned by Rona Mackay, the introduction of our bairns’ hoose model will put children and young people’s needs front and centre.

I conclude by reaffirming the Government’s commitment to stand by people who are affected by crime, to uphold their rights and to embed their lived experience in a justice system that is trauma-informed and sensitive to their needs. That will include looking at how we can improve access to the ability to give victim impact statements, by moving forward with pilots to expand the scheme to include more types of offence. That is really important.

We will continue to work with victim support organisations as part of that. Again, I whole-heartedly commend the work of those organisations and I welcome the debate as an opportunity to shine a light on the crucial work that they do.

Like Maggie Chapman, I place on the record my thanks to the firefighters who are in Turkey and Syria at the moment on behalf of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

On 2 February, I met Scottish Fire Brigades Union officials and Professor Anna Stec of the University of Central Lancashire to hear directly about their important campaign and the emerging evidence. I have also arranged a dedicated meeting with the SFRS later this month so that I can be briefed on the steps that it is taking to minimise firefighters’ exposure to harmful contaminants and can more clearly understand the proposals for enhanced health screening. I will carefully consider those proposals when I receive them to ensure that the Scottish Government is playing its part in keeping our firefighters safe.

Like Annabelle Ewing, I very much welcome the fact that progress has been made through established collective bargaining arrangements and that strike action has been averted. I emphasise that the Scottish Government is not part of any negotiations on firefighter pay, which is rightly a matter for the SFRS, as the employer, but I am sure that the SFRS, along with the other fire and rescue employers and the FBU, will look carefully at the process to ensure that lessons are learned for the future.

I thank Russell Findlay for bringing that matter to the chamber and will look at the letter that he has sent me. Staff conduct is a matter for the SFRS board, but I am happy to discuss the issue with Mr Findlay.

I met the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service board chair and acting chief officer on 1 February. A range of matters was discussed, including the tragic loss of firefighter Barry Martin; firefighter pay and industrial action; the Fire Brigades Union’s decontamination campaign; finance and SFRS budgets; and fire safety and enforcement.

I understand that representatives of the profession have spoken a lot in recent years about the increase in fees. The Scottish Government is clear that that is not the only way that we should look at the problem. I have indicated to the Faculty of Advocates that I have a keen interest in working with the entire sector to address those issues. We plan to meet with the Law Society and the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association to begin that process this week. We also have to think about widening diversity in the sector, and the Government is actively participating in and pursuing that.

I join Fulton MacGregor in paying my respects to those who have lost their lives, and I extend my condolences to their families and friends.

Regarding the incident at Monkland canal, I can only express my gratitude and relief that Mr MacGregor was able to report a positive outcome. I also commend Emily and Lauren for their swift actions.

Tragically, as reported by Water Safety Scotland, many past incidents have involved attempted rescues of another person or a dog that is in trouble on or in frozen water. Water Safety Scotland and partner organisations such as the SFRS publicise expert advice and I urge people to take it on board. It centres on the warning not to venture on to frozen water. The ice might appear to be thick, but it can quickly become thin and crack. If anyone sees someone else in trouble, the recommendation is to contact emergency services quickly and try to reach the person from a stable position with something like a rope, pole or buoyancy aid.

The Scottish Government has included an additional £60,000 in this year’s grant to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to reinforce its contribution to water safety in Scotland and the support that is given to partner organisations to get that message out and promote the work of our drowning prevention strategy. On 1 March, I will chair the next meeting of the water safety stakeholder group, at which this issue will be discussed.