Chamber and committees

I cannot bring to mind any point at which anyone on the Conservative seats has said, “Well done,” to the police for getting crime down to the level it is at, or to the Scottish Government for ensuring that a police officer here is paid £5,000 more per year or that we have higher numbers of police in Scotland. I have never heard that.

I have heard constant denigration of the police service from the Tories. I can tell them, because I talk regularly to police officers, that the police know that. Even though the Tories tag on the phrase “SNP Government”, the police know what the target is and they know how the Tories denigrate the police force; they understand that point.

Russell Findlay is also aware that our proposed police complaints bill will address some of the historical issues of how complaints, including those from whistleblowers, have been dealt with. That will be in addition to the means of redress currently available through the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner. We take those issue seriously. We understand the need for reform and that reform is coming.

I am happy to provide a full breakdown of those of Elish Angiolini’s recommendations that do not require legislation and have been implemented. The member will be aware that, in addition to that, we will shortly be bringing forward legislative changes. Members will have a full account of all the changes that we propose.

Regarding the member’s particular point about diversity, I meet regularly with Robin Iffla—who is someone I have known for a very long time and who is conducting the review—and with others from within the force whose job it is to ensure that the force becomes more diverse.

We have a challenge, not only in recruiting people from ethnic minorities but in keeping them. That suggests that there is more to be done in ensuring that, as the member said, the culture of the police force must change so that those people feel welcomed and valued.

A lot of work is going on behind the scenes. Regarding our explicit response to Elish Angiolini’s recommendations, which we accepted, I am happy to provide a full account of everything that has been taken forward and of what is still to come because of the need for legislation.

I know what underlies the very real concern that Maggie Chapman has expressed: some of the high profile cases that we have seen, and not just in the Met—there have been challenges here in Scotland as well.

There are a number of ways in which that can be tackled. As the member knows, some of those are in the bills that we are bringing forward in the area, and we have mentioned Elish Angiolini’s recommendations. I am happy to provide the same information to Maggie Chapman that I said that I would provide to Rhoda Grant.

I talk regularly to senior officers, especially in the senior officer team, and I think that they are extremely committed to that. I mentioned in my statement that, along with cybercrime, violence against women and girls is growing. I mentioned that, this week, we have had another indication of a reduction in crimes, but that contains a small increase in violence against women and girls. The police are well seized of that and, given the comments of the chief constable and what I have said in my statement, violence against women and girls will be a huge priority for the police as we go forward.

On that issue and a number of issues raised in previous questions, such decisions are often for the police to take. Quite rightly, the Government has no operational control over the police—that is written into the legislation. It is for the police, in concert with the SPA, to take that forward.

However, as the member will know, “The Vision for Justice in Scotland” requires every part, agency and body within the justice system—if it can be called a system—to undertake trauma-informed training, because the response that people get has to be more than criminals being captured and the right verdict being delivered in a courtroom. It has to mean that the victims, witnesses and other people who are affected by crime or who interact with the justice system experience a trauma-informed approach. It is the case that, whatever we think of the issue, most people in prison have a trauma-related background—usually, adverse childhood experiences.

The commitment exists, but it is for the police to ensure that it is implemented throughout the force to the extent that it is not already being done in many parts of it.

Kenny Gibson has raised a very important point, not least because it has been shown that smaller companies are now being attacked through cybercrimes—particularly ransomware and so on—whereas, in the past, it tended to be larger companies that were affected.

The Scottish Government has funded Cyber Scotland to partner ScotlandIS to engage with and support the information technology managed services sector, as many small businesses rely on it for their security. We also support another partner, the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland—which was previously the Scottish Business Resilience Centre—in hosting a cyberincident response helpline, which aims to offer first-line incident support to small businesses.

The allocation of other resources is a matter for Police Scotland. However, despite UK Government austerity, the Scottish Government has increased police funding year on year since 2016-17. In 2023-24, the service will receive additional resource funding of £80 million, which represents a 6.3 per cent increase.

Prioritisation of maintenance work in Scotland’s courts and tribunals is an operational matter for the SCTS. Essential capital works are carried out on a priority basis, informed by an on-going programme of condition surveys. The capital position is particularly challenging across a number of portfolios, including justice. Despite that, we have been able to increase the capital allocation to the SCTS in 2023-24 by £4.7 million towards known capital pressures, on top of the baseline £8 million annual capital allocation. Current levels of Scottish Government capital funding should ensure that the programme of maintenance will continue.

It is important to provide some context for what the member mentions with regard to the 10 sheriff courts that were closed in 2015. It is worth pointing out that that context necessarily includes what we receive from the United Kingdom Government and what it spends on justice. The two are inextricably linked, as I am sure that the member will acknowledge. In England and Wales, for example, there were 239 court—

There have been 239 court closures in England and Wales since 2010. With reference to the courts, the following is a quotation from the Bar Council:

“Crumbling court buildings that are not fit-for-purpose, including leaks, infestations, and a lack of basic facilities”.

The obvious link is that what they spend on justice in England and Wales has a direct consequence for what is spent in Scotland. Despite that, and in response to Mr Kerr’s point, we have no current plans to initiate further court closures in Scotland—that is also despite the appalling funding from England and Wales and the UK Government.

I mentioned in my original substantive answer that we expect a further update from the chair of the review later this year, but a lot of the actions are already being implemented. For example, simply making sure that the family are told immediately was not done routinely previously, but is now being done by governors and their associates. Such actions are being implemented now, but, as I said, a further update will take place this year to give more information to Willie Rennie and the chamber.

The Scottish Government works closely with national and United Kingdom partners—including Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland—to tackle fraud and cybercrime and to reduce the harm that they inflict on communities in Scotland.

A range of advice to help people to improve their online safety can be found at cyberscotland.com, as well as on the National Cyber Security Centre, Cyber Aware, Take Five and Get Safe Online websites. Victims of any crime should phone Police Scotland.

I highlight that it is currently cyber Scotland week, which I opened at the FutureScot cybersecurity conference on Monday. More than 100 events are taking place across the country to raise awareness of being safe and secure online, and to promote cybersecurity careers.