Chamber and committees

We are establishing a veteran-led action plan implementation board, which will be led by Charles Winstanley. I am not sure whether that information was in the public domain. The first meeting of the board is scheduled for 19 May.

In the meantime, we continue to fund Combat Stress and Veterans First Point, which will allow existing services to continue over the next few years as a Scotland-wide implementation plan is developed. Support for the board is currently being reviewed by the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care.

In addition, we have commissioned See Me Scotland to run a veterans anti-stigma campaign this year. Veterans Scotland and other third sector partners will contribute to the work to ensure that the experience of veterans can help to shape and influence the campaign.

Given Sandesh Gulhane’s question, it would be useful if he were able to support the Scottish Government’s call for the United Kingdom Government to pay some money towards the establishment of the commissioner’s office. It has done so in Wales, so I do not know what the logic is for the Tory UK Government to say that it will not fund veterans’ activity or the commissioner in Scotland. If he is willing to say that he will support that, that would be most welcome.

The Government is committed to ensuring that veterans have access to the right support and help when they need it. The Government works with a wide range of organisations and provides funding for the provision of mental health services for veterans. I mentioned in my previous answer that we have continued to fund Combat Stress by providing £1.4 million to it this year. As the member knows, it provides a range of specialist and community-based services for veterans who are resident in Scotland.

We, along with six health boards, continue to provide joint funding for the Veterans First Point Network, which will offer a one-stop shop for veterans, no matter what their need is. The future funding of veterans mental health services will be determined by the implementation of the “Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan”, which was published late last year.

That is the direct responsibility of Police Scotland, although, as I am sure that Willie Rennie would say, it is the Government’s responsibility to help to fund such things.

Police Scotland works with a range of local and national service providers to provide care and assistance to those in distress. We fund a wide range of mental health services that can be accessed by first responders.

I mentioned the £2.1 million fund to expand the NHS 24 mental health hub, which will be available to the public 24/7, and the funding of £1 million to roll out the distress brief intervention programme on a national basis. It is also worth saying that there are additional supports for officers, which can take on further assistance—I mentioned EAP and the TRiM process.

Beyond that, it is always open to officers to speak to those who are designated within the force in their area about issues that they have. Those can include not just issues with mental and physical health and wellbeing, but all sorts of other issues that might cause stress, such as those related to money or traumatic incidents that officers have had to endure. We will continue to fund those services for police officers. At the same time, of course, we have more police officers than virtually anywhere else in the United Kingdom and those officers are paid substantially more than anywhere else in the UK.

For nearly 15 years, this Government has delivered bold and effective justice reforms with a firm focus on early intervention, prevention and rehabilitation. We are currently consulting publicly on a revised national strategy for community justice, which seeks to build on progress to date and encourage a further shift towards greater use of community-based disposals.

As Martin Whitfield would expect, there has been substantial discussion with the UK Government and very good collaboration.

We have invested an additional £1.5 million to set up the centre that I mentioned, and that is on top of the £1.16 million that we will invest in furthering the vision of the strategic framework for a cyber resilient Scotland. That investment is building on what is being done with the UK Government in collaboration. That work has to be done in collaboration, because many of the powers are reserved, so it makes sense to do that. There is a very effective relationship.

Martin Whitfield mentioned the attack on SEPA. There have also been attacks on public authorities in Ireland. That is a big concern for the Scottish Government, so we are ensuring that our public authorities are as secure as they can be. Much of the Government’s work in that regard is led by the Deputy First Minister. We take the matter extremely seriously, and I assure the member that there is a very effective relationship with the UK Government on the issue.

People in custody are subject to a range of assessments while in prison, including talk to me and general wellbeing. The national health service provides access to appropriate mental health support and assessment, including more specialist care when that is appropriate. The Scottish Prison Service works collaboratively on pre-release arrangements with community partners, which facilitates access to people in its care to support multidisciplinary assessments, for example to access throughcare services.

First, I extend my condolences to Mr Geddes’s family. Of course, I am willing to meet the member and the family.

Such assessments are extremely difficult to do, but we should always continue to improve the system over time because, as in this case, people’s lives can depend on it.

It does so by ensuring that we work with organisations, including those that I have mentioned already, as well as the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the national health service, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers, the National Crime Agency, HM Revenue and Customs and others that are represented on the serious organised crime task force.

We also benefit hugely—despite what was said in the previous set of questions—from having the crime campus, which is unique in the UK. It has been commended by most of the justice organisations, and by the UK Government on a regular basis, given the frequency of its visits to see how that work is carried out.

The attack on serious organised crime is carried out jointly, with fantastic co-ordination, at the national crime campus. We are determined that, despite the occasional brickbats that are thrown from elsewhere for party-political purposes, we will continue to work in that way with our agencies in Scotland and with those across the UK. Of course, we recognise that serious organised crime does not recognise borders and that our response to it must therefore be joined up.

I am sorry that Mr Findlay has so quickly adopted his usual attack-the-SNP mode. There is a very serious issue at the root of his question, which is the pervasive influence of organised crime. We and Police Scotland work very effectively with other agencies, including the National Crime Agency, to address not only organised crime but issues with drug gangs. I will continue to support Police Scotland in those efforts, and to support our joint work with the National Crime Agency and other partners in Scotland and the UK. That seems to be a constructive and effective way to go forward, rather than seeking to throw mud whenever possible.

I have already mentioned the extent to which we work with Police Scotland and other organisations, including the Scottish Football Association, on those issues. It is also worth saying that in taking action, whether against the gangs that Russell Findlay mentioned or against organised crime more generally, it is often not the best course of action to lay out exactly what you are doing as you are doing it.

As I am sure that the member will know, certainly in relation to sanctions and other actions that are taken against organised crime groups, the more you telegraph what you intend to do, the harder it is to find both the evidence and the proceeds of crime that derive from the activities of those gangs.

We will continue to work with our partners in sport and with the police to ensure that we take effective action and that people who are vulnerable, including young sportspeople, are best protected by taking the advice that they can get from Police Scotland and other justice partners.