Chamber and committees

I beg your pardon—I have so much information in front of me that it is like sitting an exam.

It is, of course, essential to have a trauma-informed approach. We know that financial abuse in the context of domestic abuse can mean that abusive partners claim social security benefits, which further traps victims and survivors.

Our charter commits Social Security Scotland to adopting trauma-informed practice as standard, and the agency is actively working to embed that practice across the organisation. All Social Security Scotland’s health and social care staff undergo training on trauma-informed practice, in conjunction with NHS Education for Scotland. Social Security Scotland’s induction programme includes trauma awareness, and those in the workforce, including local delivery advisers, complete annual training that covers the principles of safeguarding, recognising abuse and public protection.

As part of its commitment to being a learning service, Social Security Scotland welcomes feedback from clients, which is really important in ensuring that the client experience is as good as it can be. It takes feedback from clients, colleagues and stakeholders, which helps to inform any changes that we need to make. Social Security Scotland continually revises its guidance to ensure that women are supported in the best possible way. I hope that that is helpful.

Yes, absolutely—we are very keen to understand why. The fact that 30 out of 32 councils have applied for the fund demonstrates that there has been a massive uptake, but we can address anything that is missing.

As I said, as a Government and through our agencies such as Social Security Scotland, I have reiterated that it is a learning situation. I am very interested in considering that suggestion. Once the committee comes up with its recommendations, I would absolutely be happy to consider what is brought forward. I thank the member for raising that point.

You will be aware that the Scottish Government invested £0.5 million in the fund to leave over a five-month period in five local authority areas. At this moment, no decision has been made on the Scottish Government’s roll-out, and as yet, we have not investigated the cost of a national or permanent scheme.

That is not a no. Let me be clear that the issue is with the appropriate ministers—not me—but no decision has been made on that. As with any pilot, it has been undertaken in the spirit of experimentation, so that we could test the impact of the fund, particularly with a view to improving outcomes. Initial evaluation of the impact found that it helped more than 500 women experiencing domestic abuse while facing financial hardship.

We are in that evaluation phase, and like in any evaluation or pilot project, we have to stand back and reflect on what other supports are already available in other areas of investment. For instance, the Scottish Government invests quite significantly—£97 million in 2025-26—in discretionary housing payments. That enables local authorities to assist eligible households who are struggling with housing costs. There is also the £41 million in the Scottish welfare fund.

As I said, no decision has been made but an evaluation is going on.

Absolutely.

Simon, are you able to come in on that?

Support with rent in advance, including rent deposits, is provided through the discretionary housing payments. An individual may be awarded a discretionary housing payment for a rent deposit or rent in advance, or other lump sums for housing payments such as deposits or removal costs. For a property that an individual is yet to move into, if they are already entitled to housing benefit or universal credit—including an amount for rent in their present home—some local authorities will provide such support through schemes other than discretionary housing payments; for instance, as a budget loan.

Following an extensive period of review by the multistakeholder statutory guidance review committee, the Scottish Government has provided updated statutory guidance for the Scottish welfare fund. That revised guidance was published in April and states that decision makers can prioritise applications according to need.

Staff who deliver the fund should be able to recognise and appropriately respond to people who are escaping domestic abuse, and they must have an understanding of what constitutes domestic abuse, including coercive control and financial abuse. Staff should also establish good relations with specialist domestic abuse services. As I mentioned earlier, we are also working with organisations such as Scottish Women’s Aid via forums such as the Scottish welfare fund practitioners forum.

I certainly have. Yesterday, I took part in a four-nations discussion, during which I met my equivalents across the four nations. I specifically raised the issue of the housing pressures in Glasgow.

I am aware that the Westminster Government has put out tenders for asylum accommodation. The current contract, as you will be aware, is with Mears. That expires in 2029, I believe—although I am happy to have that fact checked. The UK Government has basically given options to manage accommodation and invest in housing in different ways, through central funding from the UK Government.

I know that Glasgow City Council has put in a bid, and I pressed the UK Government as strongly as I could yesterday to be cognisant of the pressure. We are seeing trends that, once people are given leave to remain, they choose to come to the central belt. We offer that provision under our new Scots refugee strategy, ensuring that people are welcome from day 1—although people want to be with people who are like them; they want to be in communities. Although we are very proud of the offering that we provide, additional resource pressures inevitably come with it.

I can assure you that I was doing that just yesterday—that is hot off the press, Mr Doris.

Absolutely. As I think I mentioned in my opening remarks, those matters lie in Ms Brown’s portfolio. I will absolutely do my best to give a good account, and I can certainly follow up on anything that I cannot explain today.

The civil legal aid system is, in general, effective in delivering help to those in need. However, we recognise that there are some challenges in relation to certain types of cases or locations. To go into the detail a little bit, the issue of solicitor availability, for instance, is being explored by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Since 2014 or 2015, there has been a large variation in the number of grants of civil legal aid at council level. The local authorities with the largest increase include Shetland Islands Council, Perth and Kinross Council and West Lothian Council.

There is an increase in the number of applicants instructing solicitors outside their own council area. It is important to remember, however, that we cannot compel private solicitors to undertake work. Nevertheless, the Government has continued its investment in the legal aid system.

There were many elements to your question, so I am happy to be reminded of anything.

Absolutely. On the principle of equalities, I recognise that reform to the legal aid system is needed. We want to ensure that the system is responsive and user centred, and that it works effectively towards the delivery of the outcomes that we want in a way that we would expect of our public services. That has to be done transparently, and accountability has to be embedded across the system.

We have published “The Vision for Justice in Scotland”, which is a three-year delivery plan. It contains an action to engage with key stakeholders to inform and shape future legislative proposals in relation to the reform of legal aid. I am aware that, in February this year, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety published a legal aid reform discussion paper, which sets out the areas of work that will be undertaken to improve legal aid in the short, medium and long term. In the programme for government, we reiterated the commitment to take that forward.