Chamber and committees

I suppose that it depends on the definition of “prosperity”.

Do you agree that there is a need for the Scottish ministers to take powers to amend environmental impact assessments and the habitats regulations through secondary legislation? Whether you agree or not, what are your reasons?

Is it a case of change for the sake of change? What was being stopped or impacted by the aims being set out as they were?

I, too, thank Jamie Halcro Johnston for securing the debate. I also thank him and the islands cross-party group for organising the islands showcase event in Parliament today. I pay tribute to all those who attended that, many of whom are in the gallery. It was a pleasure to meet them and to be part of the day.

Our islands are special places and island living is unique. People have to be resilient to be able to live their lives buffeted by weather and transport restrictions. They need to take those inconveniences in their stride—which I had to learn when I was first elected to represent most of Scotland’s populated islands. I remember that I spent more time flying over Shetland before I ever landed there. Thereafter, I experienced countless flight and ferry cancellations, which are a common occurrence for our islanders.

In the early days, that was stressful. I had arranged meetings, and the people who I was due to meet were being inconvenienced, because I had not shown up. However, I soon realised that I did not need to worry, as islanders are used to that. They are flexible and resilient, and they live in strong interdependent communities. Every day involves collaborating and co-operating with others to get things done.

In recent years, the ageing Clyde and Hebrides ferry fleet has left communities abandoned. I had a case recently of a mother who was unable to get her children on a ferry when the youngest needed to attend a hospital appointment. CalMac’s response was that there was no question of mother and child missing the appointment, as they were both booked on the ferry. However, that begged the question of what was going to happen to the other three children, in their mother’s absence for a number of days. That is simply not good enough. The community in Barra is now looking for legal advice on lifeline services and whether the inability to travel is, indeed, illegal.

Many of our islands suffer depopulation, which is little wonder, if the Government does not provide lifeline services that are fit for purpose. Connectivity, in every sense, is essential. Although the roll-out of broadband continues, smaller communities—many on islands—are being left behind. I previously asked the Scottish Government to allow such communities to use the voucher scheme collectively, along with support from local authorities, but that was rejected. We simply cannot leave people to depend on satellite broadband because, although quality and speed are improving, it is much more expensive, and there is no choice in providers.

In addition to those issues, islands suffer the highest rates of fuel poverty because they are off the gas grid. Draughty old croft houses are hard to heat and need to be upgraded. That would cut fuel bills, as well as making them compatible with more renewable heating alternatives. Sadly, however, approved contractors are few and far between locally, as accreditation takes place in urban areas. The cost of sending staff on courses for that purpose is prohibitive, and hence small local companies cannot carry out the work even if it is grant aided. That cuts out local companies, but it also substantially increases the cost of insulation, as people have to use a travelling workforce to the islands.

Those issues are not difficult to address, but it will take a shift in mindset, from that of a simple tick-box exercise and thinking that the market will provide, to one that understands island communities and works with them to find solutions. I hope that those who represented island communities here today found the event helpful, and that it opens up channels of communication that allow policy makers to have a greater understanding of island life, and islanders to have more influence on policy.

Will the cabinet secretary consider intervening and asking the Clan Donald Lands Trust to pause the sale to enable the community to look at what is happening and perhaps come up with a bid or, in some way, influence the sale of the land?

As others have said, the bill has two distinct parts. The first deals with the modernisation of courts and the justice system, which is welcome, and the second deals with reviewing deaths that relate to abusive behaviour within relationships. Both aspects of the bill are important, but they are quite separate and distinct.

Part 2 looks at reviewing deaths that relate to abusive behaviours within relationships. Too often, we hear about abusers killing their partners, which is murder and leads to a criminal investigation. Learning from those brutal murders should help us to better protect those who are subject to domestic abuse.

One all-too-common issue is the murder of children within a family. Despite that risk being well understood, family courts and social workers appear to ignore it when looking at contact with and access to children. I hope that the reviews of deaths will shine a light on that issue and will change practices to protect victims and their children from abusers.

What is much less recognised and understood is the suicide of those who have experienced domestic abuse. The person facing the abuse is unable to escape, even when they have left their abuser. They see no end to the abuse, which often continues to be perpetrated through access to children or via family, friends and every other means at the abuser’s disposal. The victim sees no way out and takes their own life. When a death is accepted as being a suicide, evidence is not gathered as if it were a crime, so I hope that the reviews will ensure that detailed evidence is gathered, because that lack of evidence often leaves a lasting doubt as to whether the person actually took their own life or was killed by their abuser. The reviews should also ensure that there is more knowledge of on-going abuse, how it is perpetrated and the impact that it has on victims. I hope that that will lead to a deeper understanding of, and therefore more protection against, continuing abuse long before the victim feels so hopeless as to consider suicide.

The bill itself will not do any of those things, but reviewing those deaths should lead to more intervention that will prevent murders and suicides from happening in the future. I hope that it will also mean that evidence of those crimes is gathered, giving families some confidence in the process. Knowledge of what has happened also helps families to process their loss and, although it does not make the loss any easier to bear, gives a degree of closure.

I will turn to part 1 of the bill. There is a need to modernise the court service. A huge amount of time is wasted in the justice system, with people sitting around, waiting for documents and the like. A more streamlined approach must be formalised and put in place, but it must have the confidence of the public.

One aspect of that really resonates with rural and island communities. Solemn procedures were taken away from island courts during the Covid pandemic, meaning that victims needed to travel further. Attending court is worrying enough, but being away from family and friends adds to the stress.

It is not unheard of in rural or island communities for a victim, when travelling to attend court, to take the same ferry, flight or bus as the perpetrator or, if not the perpetrator, almost certainly their family, friends or other witnesses. That risks putting the victim under further stress and can lead to them withdrawing their co-operation. The opportunity to give evidence virtually would provide greater protection for victims and witnesses, especially in domestic abuse cases and other cases of violence against women.

I cannot mention that without raising the issue of the gathering of forensic evidence in sexual abuse cases, which was highlighted again by the Scottish Human Rights Commission in its recent report on the Highlands and Islands. The commission highlighted a sexual abuse case in which the victim had to travel a long distance in the clothes that she was assaulted in so that forensic evidence could be recovered. Such cases happened on our islands until very recently. Victims of sexual abuse had to travel to have evidence recovered, and that often involved taking a flight, alongside their friends and neighbours, in the clothes that they were wearing when they were assaulted. That is unimaginable, but I understand that it is still the case for children who report sexual abuse crimes on the islands and the rural mainland.

The bill is a step in the right direction, but there is still much to do to address crimes that disproportionately impact women. We need to change the societal issues that are increasing violence against women, and we need to ensure that the justice system does not add to the harm that has already been caused. Those who provide public services—social workers, teachers and others—must understand domestic abuse and violence against women so that they can act with compassion and not cause further distress to those who have already suffered at the hand of their abuser.

The minister will be aware that the level of fuel poverty is highest in rural and island communities, where most of the housing stock is old croft houses. To address that fuel poverty, those houses need to be insulated. It is more expensive to do that in rural and island communities, because materials are more expensive and labour costs are higher, due to a lot of that not being locally available. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that rural and island homes are upgraded to cut carbon and tackle fuel poverty?

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to upgrade older housing stock to make it suitable for modern-day heating systems. (S6O-04504)

Chief Inspector Michael Booker talked about the reasons why reporting data might not reflect the true nature of the crime. We see that in England and Wales, where the rate of reported crime is estimated to be below 5 per cent of the true figure. I wonder whether the same reason for underreporting—how it is recorded—exists in England and Wales. I also wonder whether the bill will make a difference not only to the reporting of incidents. Due to the impact of the bill, might the number of reported incidents go up while the actual number falls? Should we add something to the bill to make it more impactful?

There would be a change in perception.