Chamber and committees

As with the photocopying of prisoners’ mail, legal and other factors have to be taken into account before measures can be taken. Prisoners have rights—regardless of whether Mr Findlay likes it—and certain processes have to be gone through in relation to prisoners’ mail.

On the point that Mr Findlay raises, I do not believe that it is right to call prison officers drug dealers, even to make a political point. However, it is a serious issue. As I am sure that he knows, given that he has had correspondence with the interim chief executive, it is being taken very seriously and has been discussed with the police.

I think that I am right in saying that the interim chief executive has offered to meet Mr Findlay to discuss these matters so that he can get a better understanding of them. I encourage Mr Findlay to do that. As always, I am happy to meet him to discuss the issue further.

Once again, it is a very serious issue and we take it seriously, as does the Scottish Prison Service. However, it is worth pointing out that when Mr Findlay, like his colleagues, continually uses words such as “chaos” and “crisis” to make a political point, he is undermining the work of the SPS and the prisoner officers who are looking after large numbers of serious organised crime inmates, especially in the institution to which he refers. Those prison officers do a very difficult job.

Of course, we do not want to see drugs getting into the prison system. However, like any jurisdiction in the world, we struggle, because as soon as we close one loophole, some criminals will be able to find another one. We have to try to stay ahead of that. Unlike Mr Findlay, I commend the Scottish Prison Service and the prison officers who have committed to redoubling their efforts to ensure that we keep drugs out of prisons.

I agree very much with the sentiments that have been expressed by Pauline McNeill and I commend her for contacting Police Scotland. I agree that spiking is part of a wider problem in society, which is one reason why we are considering the potential for a stand-alone offence of misogyny to be considered by Baroness Kennedy in the working group that was established earlier this year. We are taking a number of other measures, but the working group will seek to get to the root of the problem. We are trying to deal with the issue partly through education—for example, by teaching pupils about consent and healthy relationships.

It is a societal problem and one that is, by and large, perpetrated by men on women, so men have to address the issue. I very much agree with Pauline McNeill’s points.

As Pauline McNeill will know from an answer that I gave earlier this week, I believe that the act of spiking is absolutely despicable and that such harmful behaviours cannot be tolerated in our society. Anyone who is found to have spiked a person can be arrested, under a range of existing criminal laws, and can be prosecuted.

Such decisions in individual cases are made independent of the Scottish Government by Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Police Scotland is pursuing every single report of spiking. A gold command on the issue, led by an assistant chief constable, has been established and is reaching out to universities, licensed premises, Public Health Scotland and victim support organisations. Police Scotland has also established connections with the Scottish Ambulance Service to ensure that spiking cases are brought to the police’s attention.

I will chair an urgent round table next week with partners and representatives from across the sector to discuss how we can achieve the right balance of targeted and universal intervention.

Gillian Martin has made some excellent points. We should be absolutely clear that women are not to blame, and that they should not have to change their behaviours to account for the wrongful attitudes and behaviour of men. I think that four fifths, or 80 per cent, of such cases involve action by men against women. One fifth are against men, although the perpetrator is usually a man. Any suggestion that women are in the wrong place at the wrong time is utterly wrongheaded. The onus and responsibility should be put squarely at the feet of men, who must take responsibility for their behaviour.

The whole-schools approach and the prevention interventions that I have mentioned are intended to challenge and change the attitudes that permit sexual violence, and to equip and empower young people, particularly young men, with the knowledge that they need in order to navigate consent and healthy relationships.

Gillian Martin is right to talk about the red herring—the recent announcement by the Lord Advocate—that has been brought up in relation to spiking. As I said, the police will take such cases seriously and will prosecute where they are able to do so. That commitment stands outwith comments that were made by the Lord Advocate about people being found in possession of drugs.

The gold command group that has been established and which is led by an assistant chief constable in Police Scotland is reaching out to universities and licensed premises. I hope that that gives some reassurance to Audrey Nicoll. In addition, members of the equally safe in colleges and universities core leadership group, which includes Universities Scotland, NUS Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council, have been asked to share important Police Scotland information on the issue through its networks.

A final point to make is that we cannot let the issue be the responsibility of those who are victims of spiking. We know that spiking is largely done by men and that four fifths of the victims are women. It is a big challenge for society, and one where men must take on responsibility for their actions. Telling victims what they should do to avoid spiking might be well intentioned, but it is our responsibility, along with the police, various institutions and the nightclub industry, to ensure that we do what we can to make premises safe for everyone concerned.

Willie Rennie makes a constructive suggestion. I undertake to have a look at the initiative that he mentioned. However, I should say that, along with the police and the nightclub industry, other partners are addressing the matter, not least our universities—Willie Rennie mentioned the University of St Andrews—and colleges, given that a number of spiking incidents have happened around student bars. I am more than happy to consider Willie Rennie’s suggestion and any others that come forward, but quite a number of actions are being looked at just now by Police Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Evelyn Tweed makes an important point about the time-sensitive nature of the evidence that is crucial for the police. It is the case that Police Scotland is taking every report of spiking seriously. I encourage anyone who has been spiked, or who has witnessed someone being spiked, to report it to the police as soon as possible. As Evelyn Tweed said, support is available from Rape Crisis Scotland for anyone who needs it, and there is no harm in repeating its helpline number, which is 08088 010302.

Anyone who is found to spike a person will be arrested and may be prosecuted. Police Scotland is pursuing every single report of spiking and is in daily contact with my officials so that we can better understand the prevalence of the activity. A gold command has been established and is being led by an assistant chief constable. That command is reaching out to universities and licensed premises.

I wish to make it absolutely clear that one case of spiking is one case too many, and the act of spiking is an absolutely despicable activity. Such harmful behaviours cannot be tolerated in our society.

We are working with our partners to ensure that we have the right balance of targeted and universal interventions, alongside our wider work to tackle misogynistic conduct and to ensure that men take responsibility for their behaviours.

I would be more than happy to meet Evelyn Tweed and key partners to understand what more could be done to address this concerning issue. As I said, spiking is an abhorrent act, and I am committed to working with partners to tackle that unacceptable behaviour.