Chamber and committees

I will quickly cover a couple of points. We have had a meeting to discuss the deaths in custody report with stakeholders, and a governance group will be established shortly.

The Government will support Labour’s amendment. On the request to meet the SPS, I will ensure that that happens as quickly as possible. The SPS is going through a recruitment exercise for a new chief executive.

On bail and release reform, I hope that the Labour Party and the member will support the proposed bail reform bill, because that is the only way in which we, as a Government, can tackle the issue. We cannot tell the courts to do those things; we have to do it through legislation. There may be a difference of opinion on elements of the legislation, but we hope that it will get broad support.

Will the member take an intervention?

Sharon Dowey has not yet mentioned whether the police deserved a pay rise. The police in Scotland got that, but elsewhere they did not. In the budget that the Tories will propose, how much more should go to policing? Where will that money come from?

I have a great deal of sympathy with the member’s amendment and the proposals that he makes in it. However, we cannot support it today because it would jump ahead of what we are doing with the forthcoming bill on the reform of bail and release from prison arrangements. I am sure that things such as the route map and the milestones that he talks about in relation to throughcare will be covered at that time. That is the only reason why we cannot support the amendment; we are supportive of the sentiments behind it.

The Scottish Government “Good Practice Guide on 20 mph Speed Restrictions” suggests that

“Any changes should be monitored, and where compliance levels are not at an acceptable level, consideration should be given to the addition of traffic calming measures or”,

in some cases,

“reverting to a 30 mph limit, if necessary.”

Such measures are the result of a dialogue between a number of partners, primarily the council—in the case that Christine Grahame mentions, councils—involved and Police Scotland.

The 20mph roads in Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale are a mix of local roads, which are under the responsibility of councils, and trunk roads. I know that that is a concern of Christine Grahame’s. Scottish Borders Council has undertaken some speed surveys, including on the trunk roads that are of concern to Ms Grahame. If she wants to have further discussion with the local authorities and the police, I will be happy to pass that message on and add my support to the further dialogue that she seeks.

Craig Hoy neglects to mention that we have around 50 per cent more police officers per capita in Scotland than there are in England and Wales. His Government cut the funding for the police and cut 20,000 police officers in England and Wales, so we will take no lessons from the Tories on proper police funding.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. Police Scotland is responsible for the enforcement of speed limits.

The member should address the Scottish Sentencing Council, which proposed the guideline, if she has an objection to it, as I have said that I would support it. The council is independent. It might be that the Conservatives, who supported it, now want to have a go at it because they do not like one of its recommendations—they are entitled to do that. However, the guideline is not, as Conservatives elsewhere have said, soft justice; it allows other factors to be taken into account when the courts, which are independent from the Government, consider what they intend to do in relation to a young person who is before them. Iain Smith, of Keegan Smith Defence Lawyers, has described the guideline as “huge progress” and “smart” justice, which will lead to there being fewer victims.

This is the Sentencing Council’s decision to make. It has made it and the guideline has been approved by the High Court. I will certainly support it and support efforts to make sure that it is adopted when the Government has a role in that. However, the Sentencing Council is independent, as are the courts. This is not really just another facet of the Tories’ facile attack on soft justice; it is proper smart justice being administered, not least with the benefit of the scientific and expert evidence of the Sentencing Council and the people on whom it relies. The continuing attempts to label this smart justice as soft justice means that the Tories are content to have the darkness of sub-standard justice that does not take into account other factors. We will oppose that.

The member makes an important point. We are all trying to achieve a reduction in the number of victims and the presence of crime and society. If rehabilitation helps to achieve that, surely we should all support it.

As I have said, however, sentencing is on individual cases and is a matter for the courts. All that the guideline says is that the court should be able to take into account all the facts and circumstances of the case. The court will consider the guideline on the sentencing of young people, which places rehabilitation at their heart. However, as the Sentencing Council has made clear, the guidance also allows for other considerations, including, of course, punishment, and, more generally, rehabilitation must be a key factor in the operation of justice. Although there is more to do, I am pleased that the reconviction rate is 11 per cent lower for the most recent cohort, people who committed offences in 2018-19, when compared with 2009-10.

The Scottish Government works closely with Police Scotland to tackle cybercrime in a number of ways, including by working with other CyberScotland partners and the serious organised crime task force, which seeks to identify threats, share intelligence and oversee work that is carried out to reduce the threat of cybercrime in Scotland.

The CyberScotland Partnership will celebrate its first anniversary during CyberScotland week 2022, which will take place in the week commencing 28 February. This year’s theme is learning for life online, and the week will include dozens of events that are aimed at all audiences and organisations, and everyone from school age to pension age. Of course, older people are a particular target for scammers. We encourage everyone to get involved in the week and take advantage of the learning resources that are available.