The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
The Official Report search offers lots of different ways to find the information you’re looking for. The search is used as a professional tool by researchers and third-party organisations. It is also used by members of the public who may have less parliamentary awareness. This means it needs to provide the ability to run complex searches, and the ability to browse reports or perform a simple keyword search.
The web version of the Official Report has three different views:
Depending on the kind of search you want to do, one of these views will be the best option. The default view is to show the report for each meeting of Parliament or a committee. For a simple keyword search, the results will be shown by item of business.
When you choose to search by a particular MSP, the results returned will show each spoken contribution in Parliament or a committee, ordered by date with the most recent contributions first. This will usually return a lot of results, but you can refine your search by keyword, date and/or by meeting (committee or Chamber business).
We’ve chosen to display the entirety of each MSP’s contribution in the search results. This is intended to reduce the number of times that users need to click into an actual report to get the information that they’re looking for, but in some cases it can lead to very short contributions (“Yes.”) or very long ones (Ministerial statements, for example.) We’ll keep this under review and get feedback from users on whether this approach best meets their needs.
There are two types of keyword search:
If you select an MSP’s name from the dropdown menu, and add a phrase in quotation marks to the keyword field, then the search will return only examples of when the MSP said those exact words. You can further refine this search by adding a date range or selecting a particular committee or Meeting of the Parliament.
It’s also possible to run basic Boolean searches. For example:
There are two ways of searching by date.
You can either use the Start date and End date options to run a search across a particular date range. For example, you may know that a particular subject was discussed at some point in the last few weeks and choose a date range to reflect that.
Alternatively, you can use one of the pre-defined date ranges under “Select a time period”. These are:
If you search by an individual session, the list of MSPs and committees will automatically update to show only the MSPs and committees which were current during that session. For example, if you select Session 1 you will be show a list of MSPs and committees from Session 1.
If you add a custom date range which crosses more than one session of Parliament, the lists of MSPs and committees will update to show the information that was current at that time.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 764 contributions
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 2 March 2022
Ash Regan
No, I do not.
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 2 March 2022
Ash Regan
Lots of lawyers are still doing legal aid work. This measure represents an attempt to listen to what the profession is saying, and it puts a significant amount of Government funding into legal aid. We take the matter very seriously.
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 2 March 2022
Ash Regan
Thank you for that question. One of the instruments that is before the committee today includes, as well as the 5 per cent uplift, a new payment—a supplementary fee for holiday custody courts. That is a direct attempt by the Government to address the matter, having listened to solicitors who told us that they wanted that. Solicitors who work in holiday custody courts have not been getting an additional payment, so if the committee agrees to recommend the instrument, they will get additional money. We listen constantly to the profession. As I have said, we will adjust fees where we think that doing so will have an impact.
You mentioned civil legal aid. I know that this is quite confusing, because we are talking about lots of different things. In the reforms package that we have developed and put in front of the profession on Monday, and on which the committee will have seen correspondence, there are proposals on solemn and summary courts. The proposals on solemn courts represent significant additional funding, which is a response to requests from the profession to change fee rates and so on. We have done that. In a minute, I will ask Denise Swanson to explain a little more about that.
In discussion, it was—I note for the committee’s information—agreed that the civil side would be left to a later date. That is not to say that we think that everything is fine on that front; we have made a commitment to go back to look at fee reforms for the civil side.
I would, therefore, like the committee to think of this more as a starting point; we are starting here and will continue to consult the profession about changes. We are putting money in: the reform package that we have put on the table this week represents several million pounds of additional funding. I ask Denise Swanson to add a little more on that.
10:15Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 2 March 2022
Ash Regan
I do not know whether you caught our earlier in-depth discussion about those points. I regularly meet representatives of the profession; I met the chief executive of the Law Society yesterday. Those are full and frank discussions; there are no holds barred. The profession talks to the Government and tells us what it perceives to be the issues. We then have to assess the evidence and make policy decisions based on that.
We have listened to the profession, which is why we have given the uplifts that we have given over the past few years. We know that the legal profession, among other businesses and industries, has been impacted by the pandemic, so we sought to give it additional resilience funding.
I accept that the profession feels very strongly about the matter. The Law Society is right to strongly represent its profession and to try to get the best deal. That is completely legitimate. We have talked about the spending review as one way for the Government to decide on priorities and on how to allocate spending across the board. My job is to try to find a way through the matter and to make fee reforms where they will be of benefit.
The instruments that are in front of the committee represent a significant investment. Before Jamie Greene arrived, we had a discussion about the funding package, of which I hope he has been able to see some details. That funding is additional to what is in the instruments.
I am listening to the profession and I am doing my utmost to respond to the concerns that it raises. My officials work with the profession weekly to develop fee packages to respond to concerns that it has raised. I have been trying to work on that over the past year. For instance, holiday custody courts were raised with us; I wanted to resolve that issue so that practitioners who work in those courts get a supplementary payment. That is one of the measures that is in front of the committee.
I have said before and am happy to say again that my door is open. I am willing to talk with the profession and to work with it on fee reforms. That is what we will continue to do.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 10 February 2022
Ash Regan
Will Maggie Chapman take an intervention on that point?
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 10 February 2022
Ash Regan
Human trafficking is a horrific abuse of human rights and there is absolutely no place for it in Scotland or elsewhere.
Action to identify perpetrators of human trafficking and disrupt their activity is led by action area 2 of the trafficking and exploitation strategy. That group, which is chaired by Police Scotland’s dedicated national human trafficking unit, worked collaboratively to maintain the profile of human trafficking throughout the pandemic, including the development and circulation of monthly briefings to draw together intelligence and information.
Police Scotland continues to pursue and disrupt perpetrators of human trafficking and exploitation, including across national boundaries. Joint investigative teams have been developed with other European law enforcement agencies, including in Romania.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 10 February 2022
Ash Regan
Police Scotland actively investigates all reports of online sexual exploitation. Human trafficking legislation gives police and prosecutors powers to bring traffickers to justice. In addition, we have laws that make it an offence to procure for the purposes of prostitution, including in an online context. Work to design a model to challenge men’s demand for prostitution will consider whether the current laws need further modernisation or strengthening.
Recognising that the regulation of internet and online service providers is reserved, we are liaising with the United Kingdom Government on its draft online safety bill, which will form part of our consideration as more details become available.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 10 February 2022
Ash Regan
We are taking further action in that regard. It is an ambition of the Government to create an environment that makes Scotland a hostile place for human traffickers. Trafficking is an absolutely abhorrent crime. The member will know that the Scottish Government is undertaking a vast amount of work on the model for Scotland, which will seek to challenge men’s demand for prostitution.
Regarding the online part of it, we have the UK Government’s draft online safety bill, as I have said. The situation is a developing one, and it looks like there are some interesting developments there regarding what the member has raised. The Government takes the matter very seriously and there is on-going work in this area.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 10 February 2022
Ash Regan
I thank Ruth Maguire for the motion and commend the cross-party group on commercial sexual exploitation for its report, which highlights the cross-cutting issues related to online pimping, such as its role in facilitating human trafficking, and the underlying issue of how women are viewed in society, which is timely, given that the independent working group on misogyny is due to publish its report later this month.
Ms Maguire’s speech was an unflinching portrait of this grim issue and there were many excellent speeches across the chamber. I never thought that I would get to this point, but I am quite in agreement with Russell Findlay on many of the points that he raised in his speech.
However, I cannot agree with either Maggie Chapman or Mercedes Villalba on either their assessment of the issue or the approach that we should take to it. Of course I agree that listening to prostituted women is very important. The point of order that Rhoda Grant just made showed that that is considered to be an important element and we want to listen. For the members’ information, SCOT-PEP is also on the Government’s reference group, so we are listening carefully to what it has to say. I agree that that is really important. I have also spoken to a number of women who have been involved in prostitution, so I assure members that I take that seriously.
However, I urge members to look at the reality of prostitution in countries that have pursued decriminalisation. Members should consider the high level of trafficking that is involved and the conditions, which, I am sorry to say, are far from safe for the women who are involved. They should also consider the levels of commoditisation, which has come up a lot in the debate. I reflect that that inhumane commoditisation harms not only the women who are involved, but harms and impacts on society’s view of all women. My question to both Maggie Chapman and Mercedes Villalba is, is that appropriate and desirable? Is it what we want in Scotland? I would say that it is not.
The Scottish Government is clear that misogyny fuels violence against women and girls and erodes our efforts to make progress to address gender inequality. Women’s bodies being commodified in that way and purchased by men is a deeply misogynistic behaviour. An exchange for sex or sexual services is not about sex: it is about power, control and the persistence of structures that normalise such harmful behaviours in our society.
The equally safe strategy’s definition includes the full spectrum of violence against women. It does not prioritise tackling one behaviour over another to achieve equality—Elena Whitham mentioned that in her speech—but recognises that forms of gendered violence frequently overlap. A recent snapshot survey by the Encompass Network demonstrates that point. Of the women in that survey, 36 per cent disclosed experiences of childhood sexual abuse, 83 per cent disclosed experiences of domestic abuse and 20 per cent disclosed that they were under 18 when they were first involved in selling sex or sexual images.
Our commitment to tackling prostitution is in line with our intention to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women into Scots law. Article 6 of the convention compels Scotland to take all appropriate measures, including legislating to suppress all forms of trafficking and exploitation of women through prostitution. That is a global call to action and one to which we must respond. This year’s programme for government does that by committing the Scottish Government to develop a model for Scotland to challenge men’s demand for prostitution. In doing so, it adds to a series of policy actions that are being taken to root out misogynistic behaviours in society.
The cross-party group’s report calls for a number of legislative solutions to address certain activities that are associated with prostitution and to restrict pimps’ and traffickers’ room to operate and exploit. There are a number of laws in Scotland that make certain activities that are associated with prostitution illegal. Those activities are: running a brothel; public solicitation to sell or purchase sex; loitering to sell or purchase sex; procuring someone into becoming a prostitute; and trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
I fully recognise that those laws are piecemeal and were not consistently developed against a wider understanding of socioeconomic deprivation or, in some cases, even when the internet was available. However, we are clear that the development of a new model to challenge men’s demand must be informed by such factors and make things better, not worse, for women. We must shift the burden and focus on the men who buy sex, and have been able to do so for generations, without being held to account for their actions.
To support the design of the model, we have tasked a short-life working group of experts to consider what the fundamental principles to underpin the model could be. The group has met on two occasions and is making excellent progress. Its membership includes justice and health representatives, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Scottish Women’s Aid, representatives from violence against women partnerships and Public Health Scotland.
The development of principles will create a solid foundation that will uphold the values that we want to be reflected in the model and will ensure that women’s safety is at its heart. Our ambition is to make very clear what the model stands for and draw on possible areas of consensus, such as the need to further recognise and address the structural and systemic disadvantages that women experience. The draft principles are expected in the early part of this year and we will consult further to feed further voices into the process.
A national contract has been awarded to an independent research team to undertake lived experience research in order to better understand current support, service provision and the needs of service users. That will help to inform the aspects of the model that deal with support.
An independent Scottish Government analysis is under way to look at lessons that have been learned internationally about implementing laws to challenge men’s demand. That will be vital as we learn from the global stage how best to approach the issue.
It may be helpful if I set out that the regulation of internet and online service providers is a reserved matter. We are continuing to liaise closely with the UK Government on the forthcoming online safety bill. On 4 February this year, the UK Government announced that extra priority offences will be included in the bill. We understand that that will include offences that involve sexual exploitation. In principle, the move is welcome, as it aims to make the internet hostile to pimps and human traffickers. We will consider the bill very carefully once we have more detail on it, especially with regard to the scope of the domestic model that we are developing.
Now is the time for progressive and ambitious policies that support women, address the underlying causes of misogyny and drive gender equality forward. I am heartened by the debate and am fully committed to continuing to work with members across the chamber and stakeholders as we further progress with the model’s development.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 8 February 2022
Ash Regan
I do not disagree with that at all. We absolutely want to have victims at the heart of our justice system, and we are making an immense contribution to making that so in all the work that we do. If the member read “The Vision for Justice”, he would see that that comes through in the whole document—it is an integral part of it.
I do not accept the Conservatives’ suggestion that the Government’s focus on rehabilitation and shifting the balance towards greater use of community-based justice poses a risk to safety, because victims’ safety and public protection have always been, and will always be, at the heart of any policy that the Government implements.
If we take a step back and think about it, if we want to make transformational change—and there is support for that, from what I am hearing—we must move towards a smart justice approach that is compassionate and includes evidence-based approaches that we know work to reduce reoffending. That is the way in which we will address those issues.
With a few exceptions, the debate was useful and there were some good speeches. I note Collette Stevenson’s contribution about the police. Audrey Nicoll’s metaphor about falling off the cliff and finding the ambulance has stayed with me, and I note Rona Mackay’s emphasis on women’s justice. In the time that I have, I will address as much as possible of what was raised in the debate. Pauline McNeill raised the issue of access to justice and rape convictions, which was also a focus of some other contributions. She mentioned the testimony of many survivors and campaigners, such as Miss M. I have also met Miss M and I listened carefully to what she had to say. I thought that she was very compelling in pursuing her goal.
I reiterate that the Government is committed to driving progress in that area.