Chamber and committees

I thank Daniel Johnson for raising his personal experience with Police Scotland in reporting an incident such as this. I would expect the chief constable to reflect carefully on what Daniel Johnson has said in the chamber today.

On the substance of the question, in the days after the judgment was issued, the chief constable made the commitment to commission an external police service to carry out an independent review of this particular employment tribunal decision and to make recommendations on performance, culture or conduct that will require action by Police Scotland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is finalising that work.

Police Scotland has recognised that improvements are needed, and it has established a strategic oversight board to push forward the progress that is needed on equality and diversity in policing.

Many of the things that Daniel Johnson has just mentioned are under consideration by the Government. I will ask the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans to respond in detail to the points that Daniel Johnson has raised.

The Angiolini review was an action that the Scottish Government took—in 2018, admittedly—to review police complaints handling, investigations and misconduct in Scotland, recognising that there was a potential issue in that regard. The Scottish Government accepted the majority of the recommendations, and we will shortly consult on legislative proposals with a view to delivering new laws to improve transparency and further strengthen public confidence in the police. We will consult on areas such as the duty of candour and co-operation, gross misconduct proceedings and adopting barred and advisory lists to strengthen Police Scotland’s vetting processes. Those measures would aim to ensure that anyone who did not meet the required high standards would not be able to continue working in policing.

I note Daniel Johnson’s comments about the implementation of the Angiolini review recommendations, although I gently note that it has been less than six months since the latest thematic report. A significant amount of work has been under way on implementation, with 34 of the recommendations having been implemented to date.

In 2018, we commissioned Dame Elish Angiolini to review police complaints handling investigations and misconduct in Scotland. Her recommendations provide a strong platform from which to drive forward meaningful improvement in collaboration with our partners across the policing sector in Scotland.

We will soon consult on further legislative proposals, with a view to delivering new laws that will improve transparency and further strengthen confidence in the police. Those measures will aim to ensure that anyone who does not meet the high standards that are required will not be able to continue working in policing.

Section 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which criminalises coercive and controlling behaviour, has been in operation for more than three years. Last year, section 1 cases accounted for 5 per cent of all domestic abuse cases. The latest data from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service shows that accused in recent DASA cases have been represented using current capacity of the Public Defence Solicitors Office and private providers who continue to work on such cases. As has been the situation throughout, we still aim to seek an appropriate and affordable resolution to the issue in the interests of vulnerable victims and those accused of such crimes, who are barred from defending themselves.

One of the main things that we have done to address the issues that the member has raised is provide £9 million of grant funding during Covid. Some of that money was specifically for business resilience and to help businesses adapt to the situation in which they found themselves, so that they could invest to find solutions to any issues that they might have.

The profession has approached us on capacity. To help to resolve that situation, we set up and invested £1 million in a fund for trainees that is co-run with the Law Society of Scotland. More than 40 trainees are in that system, and 75 per cent of them are women, because we recognise that gender was a potential issue. That is another way in which we have attempted to resolve the issues that the profession has raised.

Not much time has elapsed since the start of the action that some solicitors are taking on DASA cases. I am therefore sure that members will accept that, at this point in time, it is quite difficult to predict what impacts, if any, it will have.

The Scottish Government has taken a large number of actions. Most recently, we set up a fee package that was targeted specifically at areas of concern that the profession had raised with us. We also made an additional offer of an across-the-board fee rate rise to legal aid rates of 5 per cent, but that has not been accepted so far.

We are working at pace to put in place measures to address any shortfall and, as I outlined to the member, there does not seem to be a shortfall at the moment, but we will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that we address any shortfall that occurs in the availability of solicitors.

We are committed to continuing engagement to seek a resolution with the profession. However, I remind members that the profession’s demand is for an increase of 50 per cent in addition to the increases that the Scottish Government has already made, which amount to a significant investment of more than £20 million in the past few years. That would add an increase of about £60 million per year to the legal aid budget and, unfortunately, that is not affordable.

I agree with that, and I am keen to hear members’ views on that particular point this afternoon.

Part 5 makes it an offence to be in possession of a pyrotechnic article, including all types of fireworks, without reasonable excuse, while at, in the immediate vicinity of or travelling to designated sporting and music venues and events, public processions and public assemblies. A person who is convicted of that offence is liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.

The bill also extends police powers of stop and search, including of a vehicle, to the ability to stop and search anyone reasonably suspected of committing an offence under the bill. That will, in particular, enable the proactive and preventative enforcement of the part 5 provisions on possession of pyrotechnics at certain places and events, ensuring that police officers can act early to address that potentially dangerous behaviour.

In drafting the pyrotechnic possession offence, we were conscious of our obligation to consider the least intrusive method of achieving our policy objective and the need to demonstrate that new criminal offences and related search powers are proportionate and necessary.

We have modelled fee levels. That information has been published and is available for the member to look at if he wants to do so. The modelling has been done around fee levels of £20, £30 and £50. I am keen that the process is not prohibitively expensive, because we want to allow people to do the right thing. I had quite a debate with one of the member’s colleagues who is on the committee about the proportionate level of fees. For my part, I am keen that they are proportionate.

In response to the stage 1 report, I have also agreed to provide the committee with a mock user journey to set out the licensing system in more practical terms and how it is planned to work, should the bill be passed by Parliament. Of course, that will be subject to further consultation and the agreement of subsequent regulations by the relevant committee at a later date. I hope that that reassures the committee on the practical operation of the system and on the processes that are in place to ensure that it is developed in a robust and transparent way.

Part 3 of the bill includes a proxy purchase and supply offence in relation to fireworks and other pyrotechnic articles. During our consultations, we heard accounts of adults giving children fireworks in our communities. I am sure that we all agree that that is very worrying; therefore, we need to make it clear that such behaviour is unacceptable.

Although it is illegal under existing legislation to supply fireworks to a person under the age of 18 in a commercial transaction, that does not cover wider settings. In its report, the committee recognised that the loophole must be closed. The scrutiny timetable for the bill will enable that important provision to be in place for the upcoming bonfire season. I will cover the benefits of the timetable in more detail shortly.

Part 3 also includes proposed restrictions on the permitted periods for the supply and use of fireworks. That includes restricting the days on which fireworks can be sold to and used by the general public. The dates that are set out in the bill broadly align with existing firework periods, when fireworks form an important part of celebrating cultural and religious festivals.

I understand completely. We are alive to the potential problem of a black market. Does the member accept that the Republic of Ireland is quite different? It has gone down the route of a complete ban. The risk of unintended consequences was one reason for not pursuing such a ban in Scotland.

Will the member take an intervention?