Chamber and committees

I thank Rona Mackay for her question. I know that she is very passionate about this issue. People with lived or living experience are greatly valued in our fight against drug deaths. They are often best placed to help people who currently have problematic drug use, and they can be trusted by people who want help, especially in an assertive outreach situation.

Around the world, harm prevention models have often been driven from the grass roots by people with lived and living experience, so we must harness that experience, too. We are building on our previous work of involving people with lived and living experience, for example with the Drug Deaths Taskforce, the residential rehabilitation development working group and the national mission oversight group.

Local services must involve people with lived and living experience in local decision making. I am heartened to see, across the country, people in that situation being involved in the local commissioning of services. That is when we have people creating services in their local area that best reflect their needs, and we must harness those people who have that unique input to give.

Ministers have directed the chief officers of health and social care partnerships to work with chief executives of their national health service boards and local authorities to implement the MAT standards. For each local authority area, a senior figure has been identified to lead on the implementation of MAT, which includes the publication of, and reporting on, MAT implementation plans. Reports are provided quarterly for most areas, although areas of specific concern are required to report monthly on their progress and have lots of meetings with me. Ministers and senior Government officials will continue to meet regularly to try to ensure that there is local accountability.

I have also recently met Councillor Kelly, the health and social care spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. We both agreed that we need to harness the drive and commitment of locally elected leaders to help to drive our national mission forward. I will attend an upcoming COSLA board meeting to hear directly from local elected leaders about their concerns and to work in collaboration with them.

I recognise that, across the chamber, we have an agreed position on the pilot for a safer consumption facility to be rolled out once we get the go-ahead from the Lord Advocate, if that is the decision that she reaches. Once the Lord Advocate reaches that decision, there absolutely has to be consultation with the local community around the area that has been identified for such a facility. It is correct that we consult the local community.

I would say to Dr Gulhane, however, that there is no doubt in my mind that a safer consumption facility—indeed, multiple safer consumption facilities, if we get to that point—are a key part of harm reduction and saving lives. They are not the only part of that but, around the world, they have been shown to save lives. Nearly 50 of them are now in operation across in Canada.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

My app is saying “Vote failed. Could not connect.” I would have voted yes.

I think that whoever is in this post—whether or not that is me—and whoever is the incoming cabinet secretary for justice will have to keep a keen eye on that matter and bring it back to the chamber for discussion. We obviously want to see the backlog numbers reduce dramatically. We have already seen the number of summary cases reduce by over a third, and I want to see the number of cases in solemn trials and High Court trials reduce significantly as well.

We are also investing £2 million in the development of dedicated suites for hearing evidence on commission and associated infrastructure, to increase the use of pre-recorded evidence. That funding has delivered three suites, located in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness, which collectively have the capacity to deliver almost 1,500 hearings a year. A fourth suite is in development in Aberdeen, which, once open, will enable an additional 480 hearings to take place each year.

We have also reached a pivotal phase in our journey towards introducing the bairns’ hoose in Scotland, with the publication of national bairns’ hoose standards expected in May. They will then be tested in pathfinder areas during our first phase of development.

The Government is committed to delivering our vision for justice. In spite of a decade of austerity imposed by the UK Government, I am confident that, with the current level of funding provided by the Scottish Government—the additional borrowing powers that Katy Clark mentioned would be very welcome as well—the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service will continue to use its resources in the most focused and effective way to deliver justice services that meet the needs of modern Scottish society.

I apologise to everyone if I end up in a coughing fit—I have a chesty cough at the moment.

I am grateful that we are having this debate, as it is an opportunity to advise Parliament about an emerging, positive report of recovery and transformation in our justice system.

Let me be clear about some of the points that Liam Kerr and other members have raised. Mr Kerr sought to characterise the maintenance backlog in the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service’s estate as an investment failure. He also raised the prospect of court closures. Both of those points are inaccurate. There are no plans to initiate further court closures. The SCTS is of the view—which I agree with—that the current court model provides appropriate access to justice for Scotland’s communities. However, there is always more work to be done.

On the maintenance backlog, a professional industry standard approach is adopted, which is to look forward to assess future investment requirements to keep buildings safe and operational. To ensure that the court estate remains in good condition, the SCTS sets a minimum target of investing 1 per cent of the value of the estate on the maintenance backlog each year. That is about £5.3 million, based on the current evaluation.

Through additional in-year funding that was provided by this Government, the SCTS has been able to invest more than 1 per cent in recent years and to schedule works such as the replacement of the Glasgow sheriff court roof. I will put that funding into a bit of context. This year, the total investment in the maintenance backlog will be about £8 million, which, again, is above that 1 per cent figure.

Over the past years, the cost of the maintenance backlog has come down significantly from £39 million to the current figure of £29.5 million. It is important to provide some context to that amount. The SCTS manages a vast and complex estate, as has been mentioned. More than half of the court buildings are listed, and a number of those are significant landmarks that are based in world heritage sites. The SCTS has assessed that the level of investment and maintenance is sufficient to maintain the estate in a safe and operational condition, and I have no reason to doubt that assessment. Its record of success in managing the court estate speaks for itself.

The SCTS has led a number of important innovations, including the establishment of the Inverness justice centre, which was opened in 2020; the establishment of vulnerable witness suites, which are to avoid children and vulnerable witnesses having to attend court physically; and the use of cinemas as remote jury centres to allow the most serious cases to continue during the Covid pandemic.

Over the past decade, although facilities have sometimes been taken out of commission to allow planned improvement works to take place, there have been no instances in which a maintenance issue has resulted in an unscheduled court closure or impacted on any trials.

However, the modern justice system is made up of more than its physical estate. Having digital capabilities that support modern, person-centred services is a critical part of our transformation agenda. Building on innovation and new ways of working that were introduced as part of the justice response to the coronavirus pandemic, we are continuing to focus on deploying technology and new approaches to make the system more joined up and work better for everyone who experiences it.

Recently, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice visited Dundee to see in action the new digital evidence sharing capability—DESC—service that is being piloted there. DESC is a world-leading major programme of digital transformation through which the Scottish Government and its criminal justice partners have come together to radically overhaul the way in which evidence is shared in the criminal justice system in Scotland.

DESC will make it easier to share evidence, allowing swifter access and helping cases to be resolved more quickly, which will reduce inconvenience and the risk of trauma to victims, witnesses and other users of the justice system. None of us here wants victims to be traumatised, and we need to move on that issue.

At £33 million, DESC represents a significant investment by the Scottish Government. However, as well as being transformative in its own right, it creates a foundation for future transformation, both as a technology platform and through its pathfinder role in establishing a successful model of collaborative delivery of system reform.

We are also continuing to invest substantially in increased court capacity. That has contributed to the strong progress that we have seen in clearing the backlog of summary criminal cases. Since January 2022, the number of outstanding summary trials has reduced by over a third and is continuing to fall. That means that more than 15,500 cases have been cleared from the backlog so far.

However, we want to see similar progress in High Court and sheriff and jury cases, which, as Pauline McNeill outlined, are sometimes the most traumatic cases for victims. Therefore, from April, the extra summary courts will be replaced by new, additional solemn courts, which will create more capacity to deal with the more serious cases. That has been made possible because, despite the challenges of the national context, our 2023-24 budget protects recovery funding of over £26 million for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.

In addition to increasing court capacity, we will work with our different partners to address the impact of the backlog on vulnerable witnesses through facilitating the expansion of pre-recorded evidence.

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.

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—