Chamber and committees

The disorder in Dundee last night was appalling and wholly unacceptable, and the impact on the community and, indeed, on emergency services will, of course, have been extremely distressing. I know that Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and local authorities have been making great efforts to prevent and respond effectively to any disorder in the run-up to bonfire night, including through the police’s operation moonbeam. We will engage further with those bodies and others to learn lessons and provide what further support we can.

On the member’s reference to how frightening the incident was, I would mention that there was one injury last night. It was an injury to a police officer from shards of glass as a result of a brick being put through a police vehicle. That shows how serious the situation was, and the member is right to say how terrifying that can be for local residents.

I very much welcome the news that Asda has agreed to withdraw fireworks from sale in local stores and I commend Joe FitzPatrick for the activity that he has undertaken. Of course, the decision whether to withdraw legally available products is one for the supermarkets that are involved, but I say to the member that the police are pleased to see the action that Asda has taken.

A programme of work is under way to ensure that the rest of the 2022 act is implemented. We have engaged with the Scottish Retail Consortium—which is important, given the request that the member just made—as well as the Scottish Grocers Federation. The other aspects of the act—the licensing system, the restricted days of supply and use provisions and the firework control zones—are all being implemented by the Parliament.

The people who are most responsible—it is the ones who carried out the acts who are responsible—will now have to face the consequences before the courts. In doing so, they will face the fact that the courts will be obliged to take the aggravating factor into account. I hope that the courts will make the full force of the law come down on those who subjected local people to the experience that they had to go through last night.

I thank Michael Marra for the action that he has taken. It might develop into a pattern, as we have Asda and now Tesco ceasing sales. Perhaps we can go further. It is different for different retailers. Mr Marra will be aware that firework sales can be a large part of the income of some small retailers.

I welcome the action that Mr Marra and Joe FitzPatrick, as the local constituency member, have taken. I also point out the extent to which the police are pleased to see that action has been taken.

Michael Marra asks me for further information about the police plans for the weekend. I understand why he is interested and I am happy to speak to him with more information offline, but I do not want to arm others by putting that information into the public domain. That might not be useful. However, the resources that are available in Dundee this weekend are being augmented in the light of what happened last night. Beyond that, I am happy to have a further conversation with the member.

The Parliament passed the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, and I support its provisions.

I am not saying that he did this deliberately, but the member might have jumped over the fact that two vital provisions of that act are in force now: the ban on proxy buying for young children and, crucially, the aggravating factor, which means that, as of the passing of the act, if somebody is found guilty of a relevant offence, the court is required to take the aggravation into account in any disposal.

The member is right to say that other parts of the act have yet to come into force. As was said when the act was passed, they will be brought into force according to the timescales that we have. The important point is that, as the member did, we should support the police in their activities, support them in what they intend to do over the weekend and encourage others—I mentioned the SFRS, but I refer also to the local council—to do what they can to help the police so that Dundee does not have to experience again what we saw last night.

I agree with much of what Maurice Golden has said. He will know that the operational matters, the investigations and what further action is taken are matters for the police, but I can provide the assurance that the investigations by the police are on-going. The police said to me in a meeting that I had with them earlier today that they find the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, which was recently passed by the Parliament, to be hugely helpful. They are bolstered by that legislative backstop.

The police have also given me assurances around proposed plans for the coming weekend. I should say that those with first-hand experience of what happened last night were very grateful for the rapid deployment of additional police officers from elsewhere to bolster the efforts of local police officers. That will, of course, be factored into the police’s response over next weekend—in particular, 4 and 5 November. As Maurice Golden will be aware, that can traditionally be a time when there is additional activity, especially around fireworks.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak briefly about the draft Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Act 2020 (Code of Practice) (Appointed Day) Regulations 2022. The Parliament passed the 2020 act in March of that year. The legislation speaks to some of the key societal issues of our time, touching on data protection, privacy, human rights and ethics as they relate to the police’s use of very personal information. The Scottish Government therefore welcomed the Parliament’s appointment of Dr Brian Plastow as Scotland’s first Biometrics Commissioner in April last year.

Given the rapid increase in the use of biometric data and technologies, it is important that we have an independent commissioner who will raise public awareness about rights, responsibilities and standards, as well as monitor compliance with such standards. It is vital that a clearer understanding of those issues is promoted in our communities, especially for young people and for vulnerable people.

An integral part of the legislation was for the commissioner to prepare a code of practice. That code has been prepared by the commissioner, and it symbolises what I believe is Scotland’s progressive approach to biometrics in a policing context. It is worth mentioning that the code is the first of its kind in the world. It is designed to promote good practice, transparency and accountability by setting out an agreed framework of standards for professional decision making. It is intended to strike the right balance between the needs and responsibilities of policing and the criminal justice system and the fundamental obligation to guarantee the basic human rights, privacy and freedoms of individual members of the public.

The commissioner has developed the draft code in consultation with key interests, including the bodies that will be subject to the code, statutory consultees and other bodies that are represented on the commissioner’s advisory group. Earlier this year, the committee had the opportunity to consider a draft of the code, alongside evidence from the commissioner, and I know that the contents of the draft code were viewed positively by committee members.

The purpose of the instrument is to bring the code into force on the appointed day. As agreed with the commissioner, the day that is proposed is 16 November 2022. From that day, Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority and the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner will be required to comply with the code. The commencement of the code will therefore represent a major milestone in the implementation of the 2020 act.

The Scottish Government is happy to work with the commissioner and other partners to ensure that an ethical, proportionate and lawful approach continues to be taken in the collection, use, retention and disposal of biometric data in Scotland for policing and criminal justice purposes.

Work has been done on the matter over a number of years, including with, I think, two Lord Advocates, to make sure that as much protection as possible can be provided to the victims.

We are clear that commercial sexual exploitation, of which prostitution is one aspect, is a form of gendered violence, and we support our law enforcement agencies and third sector support agencies in working together to address it. The victim-centred approach fund includes significantly increased funding to support organisations. The Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance and Migrant Help will share more than £6.35 million over the next three years to provide support and assistance to adult victims of trafficking and exploitation, and they are also providing over £900,000 to other organisations that provide support to those who are recovering from this horrific crime.

The Minister for Community Safety met key partners in Aberdeen yesterday to learn more about their approach to supporting individuals who are involved in prostitution, who often have complex underlying issues, in order to reduce their vulnerability.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service are committed to ensuring that women who leave custody receive the support that they need to integrate successfully. The new female estate, which includes two innovative community custody units, supports that commitment and is underpinned by a revised strategy for women in custody, which is gender specific and trauma informed. The CCUs support a change to rehabilitation of women in custody by linking them to local services and preparing them for their eventual return to the community. We also provide £1.4 million per year to fund Shine, which is the national third sector partnership that provides support to women leaving custody and remand.

The Scottish Government is undertaking an emergency budget review to assess all opportunities to redirect additional resources to those people who are most in need, to reduce the burdens on business and to stimulate the Scottish economy.

Further support is available to the armed forces community—I know that the member will be aware of that, given how instrumental he was in ensuring that it happened—including the £500,000 provided annually through the Scottish veterans fund, which launched earlier this month. This year, the fund prioritises projects that offer support to those veterans who are affected by the cost of living crisis.

We will continue to engage with stakeholders across the community more widely to develop our response.

The Scottish Government recognises that everyone has the right to be, and to feel, safe in their own community, which is why we are committed to tackling all forms of antisocial behaviour. Police Scotland and the local authorities lead on interventions and have a range of options available to them in tackling antisocial behaviour.

We recognise that no single approach will tackle all antisocial behaviour. That is why we support a suite of activities, which includes antisocial behaviour orders and fixed-penalty notices alongside diversionary and early intervention activities. I was heavily involved in that area when I was a council leader, and I know that different approaches can be taken in different local authority areas.

For our part, we are committed to ensuring that all agencies have the powers and resources that they need. We are always willing—as, I am sure, are the police—to discuss any changes that could improve prevention and to respond to antisocial behaviour with all relevant bodies.