Chamber and committees

I pay tribute to the police officers and firefighters who responded to incidents of antisocial behaviour around bonfire night this year, and I condemn the individuals who chose the occasion to launch attacks on them. The contribution of emergency services at this time—including their planning and preparation—alongside the work of local authorities and community safety partners, has helped to promote safety and wellbeing in our communities.

Initial data from Police Scotland suggests that the number of complaints this year is down on previous years. Over 4 and 5 November, the number of calls about fireworks was down by 20 per cent on last year, while calls about fires were down by nearly one third. Data from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service reflects a broadly similar experience. That is encouraging and is likely to be due to the preventative activity to which I alluded, as well as to several other factors, including the new legislation that deals with the sale and use of fireworks.

Nonetheless, the level of antisocial behaviour and disruption to our communities remains unacceptable around the time of bonfire night, so I am committed to making further progress with the bill that we promised in our programme for government, which we hope to introduce to Parliament shortly.

I share Neil Gray’s concerns about vulnerable groups, which were prominent in our publicity campaign around bonfire night this year. We are following up with our partner organisations to review the impact of the new restrictions. Initial indications are positive, but we understand that more is required. We have a commitment to introduce a bill to implement the fireworks review group’s remaining recommendations. That introduction will happen shortly.

As far as the UK Government is concerned, I have to say to Neil Gray that I am not very hopeful. When the issue was raised by Patricia Gibson MP, the leader of the House of Commons responded to her by quoting a nursery rhyme and telling everyone to stop being killjoys. I do not think that that demonstrates quite what we are looking for.

We will use all the powers that are available to us in our bid to change Scotland’s culture around fireworks.

The Scottish Government is appalled that anyone should make such despicable attacks on emergency service workers, and our thoughts are with those who were injured. I am pleased to have been informed that all are expected to make a full recovery.

Both Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have reported that numbers of calls were significantly down this year. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has specifically advised that the number of attacks on crews fell by a third. However, there is still an unacceptable level of antisocial behaviour in our communities related to fireworks.

I am engaging with our emergency services as they debrief and analyse the data to ensure that we maintain the downward trend in call-outs and maximise the protection that is given to those who are called out. I am committed to bringing forward the bill that was announced in our programme for government to implement the remaining recommendations from the independent fireworks review group.

The misuse of fireworks in our communities is not acceptable, and I believe that that message has been sent out very clearly both from this Parliament and from all our partners including the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland. To anyone who misuses fireworks, the line from our prosecutors and our courts is very clear that people who offend will be dealt with robustly.

We condemn any attack on our emergency services. It is a relief that, as I was able to report to the Parliament, the personnel who were injured will be able to make full recoveries, and it is hoped that on-going police inquiries will identify the perpetrators.

Where we have powers, we have acted. That applies to fireworks and it applies to sentences for attacks on police officers and firefighters. We have the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, which supplements the common law and contains specific offences that can be used, which carry sentences of up to 12 months in custody. We are always prepared to keep the law under review, as I am sure that the member is aware, but we have no real evidence that sentencing rules are encouraging criminality.

To help to bring the offenders to book, I encourage anyone who has any information about these senseless attacks on our emergency services or any wider disturbances that occurred to contact the police. They can do that either directly or anonymously through Crimestoppers.

As I have said to the member, we are always prepared to keep the law under review, and I do not have evidence that sentencing rules are encouraging such criminality. A range of tools can be used by the police and prosecutors for such offences; for serious offences, that includes sentences of up to life imprisonment. I therefore believe that the courts have at their disposal the tools to be able to prosecute such offences appropriately.

I am sure that the member is aware that the Government is committed to curtail the misuse of fireworks and bring it under control through a number of short and longer-term legislative and non-legislative actions. We set up the fireworks review group to look at how Scotland’s regime for the sale and use of fireworks could be improved, and I am committed to progressing its recommendations. This year, we have changed the law, and the early signs from the gold commanders to whom I spoke last year are that has had a positive effect. We have also funded a number of public awareness campaigns and have funded trading standards officers for education and enforcement.

The Government is committed to curtailing the misuse of fireworks and to creating a regime, in sentencing and in legislation, that will improve Scotland’s relationship with fireworks.

The Scottish Government set up the independent fireworks review group, chaired by former chief fire officer Alasdair Hay, to undertake a thorough review of the evidence on the sale and use of fireworks, including data on the impact of firework use in Scotland and international case studies.

Last year, I welcomed the group’s recommendations and committed to progressing them as soon as possible. We have already legislated to implement a number of them, which means that, this year, the times of day at which fireworks can be supplied to the general public are restricted, as are their volume and the times of day at which they can be set off. Following a consultation this summer, we will shortly be introducing primary legislation to implement the group’s remaining recommendations. Taking that together with the non-legislative actions that we are progressing with our partners, we aim to deliver a fundamental change in the culture of Scotland’s relationship with fireworks, to better protect our communities and our emergency services.

There is a need to resolve the situation, which we do not want to have going forward. As I said in my response to the member’s colleague, I have spent some considerable time trying to engage with the profession. There are some quite disparate asks from different parts of the profession, so it is time to cut through that and work with the profession in order to address the issue.

There are other packages of reform on the table that may be of interest to the member and the profession. We have criminal fee reforms legislation that has been ready to be laid since January. That legislation did not proceed due to concerns from the profession about cost neutrality.

I take this opportunity to say that the reforms are not cost neutral. A detailed paper has been shared with representatives of the legal profession to clarify that the original proposals have been updated. They include the 3 per cent increase for all legal aid fees and the 5 per cent increase, and provision has been made to reinstate waiting time, which I know was an issue of interest. The total increase delivered in that package is 16.6 per cent, so it would be financially beneficial for the profession to look at the reforms and for us to progress them.

I am willing to listen to and consider any proposal that the profession makes to me. I make that offer in good faith.

The member will have heard me say in my exchange with Pauline McNeill that we have amended the criminal fee reform package that we were discussing and are reinstating waiting times. I commit to look at travel times and will be happy to meet the member to discuss the matter in more detail, if he wants a meeting.

I thank Elena Whitham for lodging the motion. It is fitting that we discuss this important issue ahead of the annual United Nations 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, which take place later this month. Elena Whitham gave an excellent speech. One sentence from it stood out particularly—when she mentioned sanctioning and criminalising women for their own exploitation. That is an important point.

I was pleased to attend the alliance’s launch in September and am grateful to it for providing a platform to discuss what model is right for Scotland to challenge men’s demand for prostitution, keep safe those who sell and ensure that support remains an integral part of the design.

I thank all members who have contributed to the debate. Rhoda Grant made some powerful points and Gillian Martin gave an excellent speech.

I am committed to working with members across the chamber and with stakeholders on tackling prostitution in the context of how women and girls should be viewed in an equal society. Our current programme for government commits to that action. We have now begun work to develop our own model for Scotland to effectively tackle and challenge men’s demand for prostitution.

The Scottish model will be underpinned by principles that are in line with our aspirations to embed equality and human rights in Scotland, and support our efforts to tackle men’s violence against women. It will meet our international obligations, including our commitments to incorporate into Scots law the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women.

Our key aim is to reduce the stigma and criminalisation that are experienced by women and encourage better access to integrated and specialised services. In the consultation that the Government ran recently, a number of respondents noted the need for support for the women involved to be holistic, person centred and capable of addressing the multiple underlying needs that many women have. As such, we have committed to engaging with those who have direct or lived experience in order to shape services and design measures that will protect them from harm and provide them with the support that they need, including help to exit prostitution, if they so wish. Jamie Greene and Jackie Dunbar raised that point.

By the end of this month, we will be seeking to procure experts to better understand current support service provision and the needs of service users who are engaged in, or have lived experience of, prostitution in Scotland, to better inform future service design.

We will also convene a short-life working group with key stakeholders on the development of the fundamental principles of our model for Scotland. Arrangements to begin that engagement are already in hand, and we hope to hold the first meeting of the group in the next few weeks.

I understand the desire for more information on the shape of the criminal aspects of our model, but I think that everyone will understand that we must take time to get it right. The model must operate effectively not only to hold those who buy sex to account, but to deter them from purchasing sex, because such behaviour has no place in a modern Scotland.

Officials have been in close contact with our justice partners. All steps are being taken to provide advice to people who require it. A combination of things such as early identification of those who are likely to need representation but do not currently have it, the use of technology for online representation and flexible court scheduling will play parts in ensuring that vulnerable defendants are supported as much as possible. My officials are working hard with all those partners to ensure that anyone who needs legal advice will receive it, and that disruption to the courts is minimal.