Chamber and committees

Our on-going investment in our prison estate will ensure that it is fit for the future. Our current priorities are the new female custodial estate, in which construction is well under way, and the much-needed replacements for HMP Barlinnie and HMP Inverness. The investment also includes on-going maintenance work across the estate, including at HMP Dumfries, which remains an integral part of the prison estate. Current improvement priorities for HMP Dumfries include the upgrading of flat roofing, increasing the number of accessible cells in the prison, the refurbishment of the gym facility and the replacement of cell furniture.

Bairns’ hooses will be available to all children in Scotland who have been victims of, or witnesses to, abuse or violence—including sexual abuse, to which Fulton MacGregor referred.

An interagency referral discussion is the start of the formal process of information sharing, assessment, analysis and decision-making, following reported concern about abuse or neglect of a child or young person up to the age of 18 years. It will be the role of the designated police, social work and health staff who are involved in those discussions to consider what action will be necessary and in the child’s best interests.

A referral to the bairns’ hoose will be one of the options that could be considered at an IRD. The professionals who will be involved in IRD discussions will decide whether that is appropriate and will prioritise the services that are provided by a bairns’ hoose, based on their judgment of the individual needs of the child and the concern that is under investigation.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I was unable to access the app, and I would have voted no.

That work is done mainly through a number of partners, especially in relation to public awareness. One of the groups that has been doing that for many years is the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, which was based in my constituency. We use all the agencies in Scotland—and, where appropriate, in the UK—to get that message out. In the past, we have helped to fund courses for people on how to protect their online presence and software from potential fraud—for example, sometimes, people take over terminals and use them for nefarious purposes. Addressing a lot of that is down to awareness raising and—as I just said to Pauline McNeill—making sure that our agencies are fully equipped to deal with the challenge.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to pass on my best wishes to the remaining veterans of the Korean war and to pay tribute to all those who served in the conflict. I would wish to say more, but we do not seem to have the time. The member might not be aware that I intend in the coming weeks to visit the memorial, which she knows so well. I will get in touch with her about that.

Last week, I announced a £2 million funding initiative to support the roll-out of the new Scottish child interview model, which protects children and reduces the stress associated with recounting their experiences. That is an important step towards creating the foundations of our bairns’ hoose vision in Scotland, which we are committed to delivering by the end of the parliamentary session.

On 14 September, we published “Bairns’ Hoose – Scottish Barnahaus: vision, values and approach”, setting out in broad terms our vision of how the bairns’ hoose should be implemented in Scotland, the values that should underpin the model and the approach to its practical implementation. The vision has been welcomed by Children 1st and others, and our next steps will be to establish a national governance group to oversee the delivery of the bairns’ hoose in Scotland and to bring forward standards for it. Further plans will be published by the end of 2021.

We believe that the figure likely reflects the growing adoption of digital technologies in Scottish society, which has been accelerated by the pandemic. It is not unique to Scotland, and similar trends have emerged in England and Wales, where an increase in fraud has been linked to pandemic-related behavioural changes such as working from home and increased online shopping.

The Scottish Government is responding to the increased cyber threat through “The Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland”. Work is under way to share threat intelligence and mitigation measures, raise cyber-risk awareness and deliver education and training. Earlier this year, the Government founded the CyberScotland Partnership, which includes Police Scotland and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre as founding partners.

It has to be recognised that efforts to raise awareness might in themselves be a factor in the increased reporting of cybercrime, although that is difficult to quantify. Within and outwith the partnership, the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre will work together to protect people and organisations from cybercriminals.

Pauline McNeill is right to point to the concerns in that area, and I have mentioned some of the things that we are doing. In relation to young people, through our cyber strategy, we have been working with Police Scotland on the keeping people safe in a digital world initiative, which seeks to allocate resources where they can best meet the demands of the public, communities and business, but with a focus on vulnerable people.

We are committed to investing in Police Scotland’s officers and staff to ensure that the right skills are in the right place in the organisation. Pauline McNeill is right to say that we are not at that place yet, so there is more work to be done on that—not just in Police Scotland but in the other agencies throughout the UK. People attack their victims with vigour and ingenuity, and we must use the same level of commitment to defend people’s interests—not least the vulnerable people Pauline McNeill mentioned.

The Scottish Government works closely with Police Scotland and the Crown Office to tackle all forms of gender-based violence. Our equally safe strategy maintains a decisive focus on prevention and addressing systemic gender inequalities. We have dedicated £19 million per year to the new delivering equally safe fund to implement the strategy, and in the programme for government we committed to invest more than £100 million to support front-line services and focus on prevention of violence against women and girls.

We have strengthened our laws to tackle sexual violence, threatening or abusive behaviour, non-consensual sharing of images and domestic abuse. However, recent tragic cases and the experience of far too many women show that more needs to be done. We will therefore consider carefully the recommendations from Baroness Kennedy’s independent working group on misogyny and act swiftly on the working group’s advice.

I welcome Police Scotland’s message that the onus is on police to provide reassurance to women, and its new lone police officer verification process is very welcome in that regard.

As things stand, we believe that the courts have the ability to hand down extended sentences in cases in which they think that that is appropriate. We are, of course, continuing to have a dialogue, and other members of Meghan Gallacher’s party have put their case in debates. We will, of course, listen to those views, but, as things stand, we believe that the courts in Scotland have the ability to hand down appropriate sentences, especially in cases as grave as that which has been mentioned.

It is also true—and quite right to say—that the sentence that was handed down by the court in England reflected the fact that a police officer was involved. I think that we share the view across the chamber that we should protect police officers, because they hold a position of particular vulnerability as a result of the job that they do. However, we should also recognise the fact that they hold a position of trust and authority, so that, when they breach that trust, they should get a sentence that is commensurate with that breach as well as the substantive crime.

We will, of course, continue to keep things under review, but we currently believe that the courts in Scotland have the powers that are required.