Chamber and committees

The debate is about the fundamental relationship between the individual and the state and about whether Governments and public institutions have a duty of transparency and honesty to those who are affected when something goes wrong. It is also about whether the families of those who have died have a right to information and to know the truth, and it is about the equality of arms between the individual and the state in any legal proceedings that look at what has gone wrong. The debate is not about undermining front-line staff who provide public services but about the rights of families when there are state-linked deaths, whether that be in the NHS or any other sector.

I will refer to a few recent deaths in custody that are relevant to the debate. Katie Allan was a third-year student at the University of Glasgow from East Renfrewshire who died in Polmont in 2018, and we still await a fatal accident inquiry. She was sentenced for drink driving and died by suicide after a catalogue of failures. Warnings that she was vulnerable were not heeded.

Allan Marshall also died in custody. The sheriff said that his death was entirely preventable and that guards involved in his death were “mutually and consistently dishonest.”

We hope that the fatal accident inquiry in the case of Sheku Bayoh will go ahead later this year. Again, that involves the state and the actions of the police force.

The Parliament has discussed death in custody in the past, and it has made attempts to improve fatal accident inquiries. I was not involved in those discussions, but I know that the average time between death and a fatal accident inquiry was 509 days on average between 2005 and 2008 whereas, since the 2016 legislation, the length of time has actually increased. It is clear that the issues need to be considered again.

The proposal that is before us calls for a charter for families who have been bereaved through public tragedy, which would be binding on all public bodies. It asks for improved access to legal advice and assistance so that bereaved families can take part in public inquiries. It asks for evidence from public inquiries to be taken into account in criminal trials. It asks for an extension of the duty of candour to bodies such as the police.

The member raises an important point, which I do not have time to come back to in detail in this debate, but I hope that we will be able to explore it on another occasion.

The demands are not just being made in Scotland. Recently, Lord Rosser’s amendment to introduce a duty of candour into the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was passed in the House of Lords. Such demands are being campaigned for throughout the UK, partly spearheaded by the Hillsborough campaigners, who have been campaigning for rights because of their treatment. The demands are also being backed by those who have campaigned for nuclear test veterans and victims of the Grenfell fire and of the Manchester arena bombing, and by those involved in many other campaigns.

In 2017, the Angiolini review of serious incidents and deaths in custody called for non-means-tested funding for families immediately after a state-related—

I very much hope that the Parliament will look sympathetically on the motion.

It is a pleasure to make this closing speech on behalf of the Scottish Labour Party and associate myself with the solidarity with women and girls around the world that the First Minister and other members have expressed.

This is a day to celebrate the achievements of women against the backdrop of centuries of oppression. It is a day for sisterhood. I welcome the speeches from women MSPs who have spoken of the systematic discrimination against women in Scotland and throughout the world. I also welcome the speeches from men who spoke of the actions that men must take.

My colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy highlighted the specific challenges for disabled women. Kaukab Stewart, Foysol Choudhury and Pam Gosal spoke of the challenges that women from black and ethnic minority backgrounds face. Ruth Maguire and Gillian Martin spoke eloquently of the horrific situation of women in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen and many other countries. Rona Mackay and Christine Grahame spoke of the struggles and strength of women in working-class communities over many generations and confirmed again that education will be the liberation for women.

International women’s day was created by working-class women fighting for their rights. In 1908, women in the needle trades demonstrated in New York to form their own trade union for better pay, shorter working hours and the right to vote. The fights of women in the United States reached Europe and inspired socialist women, such as Clara Zetkin, who suggested the creation of an international day for women. In 1975, the United Nations made that an official day, and this year’s theme, #BreakTheBias, asks us to imagine a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.

This Parliament has a good record when it comes to improving women’s representation in Scotland, although, as we all know, there is still a long way to go. More women have been elected to this Parliament since 1999 than have been elected to Westminster since 1918. Forty five per cent of members of the Scottish Parliament are women, which of course means that women are still underrepresented in this chamber. Even more needs to be done at council level, for example.

We have heard from members of all political parties, who talked about many aspects of women’s lives. We heard about women’s health and women’s achievements in sport and many other fields.

There were many expressions of solidarity with women in Ukraine. Of course, it is women who bear the brunt of violence, including sexual violence, in war. It is right that we also express solidarity with the people in Russia who are protesting against the war, many thousands of whom have been arrested—even children have been arrested.

The challenges for women are challenges for humanity. We have to recognise that the position of women in the UK has worsened, due to the pandemic. The World Economic Forum says that the time that is needed to close the global gender gap has increased from 99.5 years to 135.6 years, due to the pandemic. It is not necessarily the case that the position of women and girls in society continues to get better. What we heard about Afghanistan reinforces that.

Austerity, too, has had a disproportionate impact on women. I ask politicians in all political parties to think about that when they make the political decisions that have an impact on communities.

We know that there is a growing rape culture in schools and that new technology has created a new range of pressures on girls and young women. In Scotland, 40 per cent of the sexual crimes that are recorded by the police relate to a victim who is under 18 years old. The Labour Party has strongly welcomed the report from Helena Kennedy and the proposal that misogyny be made an aggravating factor in criminal cases.

I am a member of the Criminal Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament, which has heard repeatedly from victims about the retraumatising effect on women of going through the criminal justice system in cases of rape, attempted rape and other forms of sexual violence. We look forward to the recommendations in Lady Dorrian’s report being implemented during this parliamentary session.

International women’s day was created as a day on which to fight for women’s rights. It has changed over the years, with a far greater range of organisations involved and a far greater range of events taking place. The fact that a whole afternoon is dedicated to this debate, with speeches from members of all political parties, demonstrates that change.

Fundamentally, this is a day on which to celebrate the struggles of women and the fight of women and girls against the challenges and discrimination that we face. It is a day on which we can refocus ourselves, not just on the massive challenges that women and girls face but, more important, on what we all need to do as we fight collectively to ensure that historical oppressions become a matter for history, so that we go forward, united as sisters, with the rights that mean that such oppression is discussed in history classes but does not need to be discussed weekly in chambers such as this one.

Has the cabinet secretary been provided with a breakdown of the kind of offences that those who are involved have been convicted of? For example, does he know how many sexual offenders are involved in the cases, and has he been advised of the potential implications of the errors in those cases?

It sounds as though the work will be resource intensive at a time when the legal system is already under massive pressure. What information has the cabinet secretary been provided with by the various agencies about the work that will likely be involved?

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent reports of the third successful civil damages case for rape, whether it will review the reasons why these cases were not prosecuted in the criminal courts. (S6O-00760)

The standard of proof is obviously different in civil cases, but does the Solicitor General agree that, as a matter of policy, there should be a review of all case papers where a civil case is successful? Could she outline the policy on allowing private prosecutions? According to media reports, one of the women who is concerned is considering that course of action.

I, too, welcome the Scottish Government’s announcement that it will consult women on their safety on public transport. Last week, the Scottish Women’s Convention and Inclusion Scotland wrote to the First Minister expressing “grave concerns” about the proposals to close three station booking offices completely and cut hours in 117 further stations.

In a recent survey, 45 per cent of women transport workers said that they had prevented the sexual harassment of passengers in the past five years. Does the minister agree that cutting staff in train stations will deter women from using the railways? Will she agree to a full debate in the Parliament on women’s safety on public transport?

Will the member take an intervention?

I welcome the debate and the strong contributions from all sides. I also warmly welcome the Government’s motion. Like others, I suspect, I have not had the chance to read in detail all the documents that were published today, but I welcome the direction of travel that is outlined in the new vision for justice. It shows how far we have come that there is a consensus that services should be person centred and trauma informed, with a focus on prevention, early intervention and making communities safer.

However, it is important to debate the gap between the policy and aspirations set out by the Government and the reality on the ground, which a number of members referred to. It would be interesting to hear from the Government why it has not always been possible to deliver the types of changes that were outlined in previous policy documents, what the pressures are and what resistance to change there is. That is helpful for the Parliament in ensuring the delivery of what we discuss in the chamber.

It is clearly a matter of consensus not only that the pandemic has exacerbated long-standing problems but that the justice system needs significant reform. Some of the practices that have been developed during the pandemic, such as the use of virtual courts, might help to bring about some of the changes that are needed. No doubt we will debate that in great detail over the coming months.

Many of the challenges in the legal system are clearly a result of underfunding, but they are also a result of changes in society, an increase in the reporting of certain crimes—such as sexual offences, which include large numbers of historical cases—and, sometimes, a failure to deliver on Government policy.

Currently, 27 per cent of the prison population in Scotland is on remand. That is one of the highest figures in Europe. Scotland’s use of remand is historically high and compares unfavourably with other countries. For example, in England, it is 15 per cent; in Spain, it is 16 per cent; and in Germany, it is 20 per cent.

Liam McArthur spoke in some detail about the high level of prison use overall in Scotland. That is a significant challenge and a cultural issue that we need to address. We need to consider why we have so many people in jail in Scotland who, in other countries, would be dealt with in another way. It is difficult to justify such large numbers of people being in custody for offences of which they have not been convicted and might never be convicted. In many cases, they will either be acquitted or get a non-custodial sentence at the end of their period on remand.

Those are long-term challenges. We have a crisis in the number of people who are on remand, but we must understand that judges feel that they have little option but to use remand in certain situations, given the pressures on them and the fear that the accused will not attend court. However, the fact that remand is used to such an extent is causing massive problems for an ageing, overcrowded and ill-equipped prison service.

The huge number of people in prison in Scotland need to be addressed. It is not a simple issue and I do not suggest that it is an easy challenge to tackle, but the Scottish Government and all of us need to grapple with it. There are situations in which prison is the only option but, as the cabinet secretary said, community-based disposals are often highly effective—more effective than prison sentences—and better at preventing reoffending.

Another significant concern is the number of women who are in prison in Scotland. That number has also risen in recent decades, again despite a political consensus that prison is often the wrong disposal for women offenders.

Scotland has one of the largest female prison populations in northern Europe, with usually about 400 women in prison—about 315 are sentenced prisoners and 85 are on remand. It is estimated that about 65 per cent of those women are mothers.

New community justice legislation was enacted in 2016. I was not an MSP at that time, so I was not involved in the debates about that legislation, which is one of the actions that the Parliament has taken to shift sentences from prison to community service and other community-based disposals. However, the proportion who received a community sentence fell from 59 per cent in 2016-17 to 55 per cent in 2018-19, before rising back to the original 59 per cent in 2019-20. It would be interesting to look at previous initiatives that the Government has taken to deal with the challenges that we face from the large prison population and at why those initiatives have not been as effective as the Parliament would have hoped.

The debate raises serious challenges for all of us. I look forward to hearing the Government’s response to members. Labour will support the Government motion and the Liberal Democrat amendment at decision time.