Chamber and committees

Mr Torrance has produced a list of suggestions as to what we might do. Are colleagues content to proceed on that basis?

Members indicated agreement.

That brings to an end the public consideration of our business this morning. We look forward to seeing those of you who are avid followers of our detailed consideration of public petitions on 22 January 2025.

Mr Torrance, you have taken us by surprise with that list of recommendations.

We will keep the petition open and progress on that basis.

So you and I are the only two who are left from that time. If you are happy to support it, I am quite happy to propose that, in the first instance, we write to the Minister for Victims and Community Safety to ask what actions the Scottish Government will take following the summit on youth violence in January 2025; to seek an update on the development of a collaborative plan for harm reduction and violence prevention; and to ask how victims are made aware of the “Standards of Service for Victims and Witnesses” document when reporting a crime.

More particularly, having taken evidence, gone on site visits and heard from a number of people, we are at the point at which it is time to invite the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety and the Lord Advocate to give evidence. From experience, I know that, if we take one or the other, one will say that it is the other’s responsibility. Having them all here might facilitate the discussion. Anyway, we will ask them to come and give evidence on this and other petitions relating to serious crime committed by young people, although I think that we will want to get the update first, to inform that discussion.

PE2051, which was lodged by Dianne Youngson, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to establish a consistent and transparent reporting mechanism for incidents affecting the health of pupils in schools; review and improve on the existing guidelines for schools in dealing with at-risk pupils; place in law monitoring of reporting mechanisms, with ultimate responsibility being placed with Scottish ministers and local authorities; and reform the exclusions procedure to include consideration of whether exclusions may cause further harm.

We last considered the petition on 21 February and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. We were keen to receive a timeline for the development and publication of the joint action plan on relationships and behaviour in schools, and information about how the Scottish Government expects its call for accurate recording of incidents in schools to be achieved.

The joint action plan on relationships and behaviour in schools has now been published and covers the period from 2024 until 2027. The cabinet secretary highlighted the Government’s review of the national anti-bullying guidance. She noted in particular that a sub-group was established to identify and consider changes to the supplementary guidance on recording and monitoring.

The submission notes that Education Scotland plans to publish a toolkit of good practice on recording and responding to bullying incidents.

In the light of the cabinet secretary’s response following the publication of the plan for 2024 to 2027, do colleagues have any suggestions for action?

Thank you for that, Mr Ewing. Having heard that, are colleagues content, on this occasion, to close the petition?

Members indicated agreement.

PE2060, which was lodged by Daithi Broad, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to review and revise existing legislation to offer better protection against trespassers. This is another petition that we last considered on 7 February. We agreed to seek the Scottish Government’s views on whether it intends to carry out work relating to the issues raised in the petition and to ask whether it would carry out any relevant awareness-raising work.

The Minister for Victims and Community Safety states that the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865 effectively addresses the issue of persistent repeated trespassing. She also states that the Scottish Government does not consider that strengthening of the act is required and that no further work is planned in the area. She explains that the Government has received virtually no representations on the issue and will not take any direct action unless new and substantial evidence comes to light—so there we are.

Our next petition, PE2064, which was lodged by Julie Mitchell, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that under-16s charged with rape are treated as adults in the criminal justice system.

We last considered the petition at our meeting on 6 March, when we agreed to write to the Lord Advocate, seeking an update on her review of diversion from prosecution as it relates to sexual offences and requesting figures on cases of rape by under-16s. The committee also made reference to the petition in its letter to the Minister for Victims and Community Safety on PE1947, as the issue of serious crimes committed by young people cuts across both petitions. We considered PE1947 just a short while ago.

The Lord Advocate’s response states that the review is making good progress. At the time of her submission, a review of the existing prosecution policies and round-table discussion events had taken place. That included contributions from stakeholders who represent children in conflict with the law.

The response also states that a senior advocate depute has been appointed to conduct an examination of all cases of rape that were diverted or referred to the reporter in the past five years. That examination will inform the revised prosecution policies, which were due for publication by mid-summer.

On the number of cases, the response states that there were 266 cases reported of rape or attempted rape between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2023 for children aged 12 to 15. Those cases were reported jointly to the children’s reporter and the procurator fiscal. The Lord Advocate goes on to say that there were 462 cases reported of serious sexual assault between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2023—the same time period—by children aged between 12 and 15, which were reported jointly to the children’s reporter and the procurator fiscal.

I think that the issues here persist and are of concern. Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?

That is very much the petitioner’s concern, too.

Certainly, that particular visit was one of the most harrowing that I have made. We respected the anonymity of the victims of violence and their parents, but the way in which they had been targeted and their lives ruined with the perpetrators carrying on regardless was really very difficult to hear about.

It was a long response from the minister. I felt that I was almost being given a manual, against which I would like to test the actual life experience of people who have been subjected to such violence, because the minister’s response seems almost to be floating above practical experience in its otherworldliness. It could do with a little bit of worldliness.

I am quite happy to pursue some detail, but it would be good to test with the minister the experiences as we heard them, as they are very much still being represented by the petitioner. Are we agreed, colleagues?

Members indicated agreement.