Chamber and committees

I agree with Karen Adam’s points. One of the aims of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 that we took through Parliament in the last session was recognition that we need to do more to protect victims of domestic violence on the civil side. A number of representations were made to me by groups of people who were going through criminal proceedings for domestic abuse, sometimes very serious, and when they went into the civil court that would not be taken account of in the way that we might expect. One of the aims of the act and of changing the law was to try to protect victims of domestic abuse more.

We have not commenced all the sections of the 2020 act—that is why we are having this conversation—so not all of its provisions are in force. I am very hopeful that, once all sections of the act come into force, both the perception of what happens and what actually happens to victims of domestic abuse and children when they go through the family courts system are much better. That is what we set out to do.

I set out to ensure that the welfare of the child is paramount and to bring the child’s voice into proceedings, so a sheriff will be able speak to the child, ask them what they want and get feedback. Having the child welfare reporters and the register—which we are discussing now—gives us the ability to ensure that the people who do those jobs, which involves going to families to speak to children and other family members, are able to spot domestic abuse. People have to be trained to see things—it is not always obvious—and to act in a trauma-informed way, as you have just described, so that children have a better experience. We hope that that will be the case.

I am sorry—I cannot remember whether there was a second part to your question. Have I covered it?

We value the SLC’s important work in continually trying to update and modernise Scots law and in the reports that it publishes.

I do not know whether the committee is aware of this, but there was a working group involving the commission and parliamentary officials that looked at a more strategic way of progressing SLC bills through the Parliament. Traditionally the Minister for Community Safety would have done that, but there are, I think, some longer-term capacity issues with the committees. That said, we took forward five SLC bills in the previous five-year session, but we are looking at what more can be done in that respect. That work is on-going, but as there might be an announcement on the matter in the programme for government later today, I will not say anything more about it.

The referral of bills is not really a decision for a minister, but I know that the moveable transactions bill is certainly very important to stakeholders, who are keen for Scots law in that area to be modernised. We are very alive to the issue.

Yes. It does not feel like that long ago; I think that it was in September last year.

We are still working on analysis of the consultation responses, so I will have to get back to the committee once that work has been completed, if that is okay.

The responses point to broad issues that one would expect to come up, around how the child welfare reporters would operate and how they would be appointed. There is broad consensus that child contact centres need to be safe and welcoming. Disabled access to centres was one of the themes that came up.

With regard to timings, we hope to introduce secondary legislation in the autumn—probably around October—which will allow us to commence provisions.

We need to work through quite a lot with those issues. The matter of child welfare reporters was clearly a big part of the bill, so we spent quite a bit of time discussing it. We have a real opportunity to set training and standards for child welfare reporters and curators ad litem, and to ensure that the people who do those jobs are sufficiently trained to work with children in a trauma-informed way. Those are things that members of the committee would, I am sure, want the legislation to have. We still have quite a bit of work to do on getting feedback from the consultation into the regulations that we will introduce. Denise might be able to say more about what came through in the consultation.

I am grateful to Clare Adamson for highlighting the relevance of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is because we attach such fundamental importance to the rights and wellbeing of our children that we legislated to incorporate the convention, as far as possible, into Scots law.

When the Parliament voted unanimously to approve the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill in March, it was a milestone, not an end point. Work needs to be ramped up to ensure that the convention’s provisions bring real-life benefit to our children. That applies to the provisions of article 24, on health and wellbeing, which include ensuring that

“all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in ... the prevention of accidents”.

Of course, we are not setting off from a standing start. A lot of good work on education around risk assessment and accident prevention is already being undertaken. There is also the underlying contribution of the getting it right for every child programme. We have a very good platform on which to build.

On the prevention of accidental drowning specifically, we will strengthen our work with key organisations, including Water Safety Scotland and RoSPA, to identify and deliver the most effective ways of facilitating access to appropriate education and support.

As I said in my initial answer, a range of stakeholders were present at the meeting that I convened on 11 August. As you would imagine, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was at the meeting. I specifically asked it to review the location of its assets for exactly the reason that Jackie Baillie mentioned and to look at future arrangements. She was right to raise the situation at Loch Lomond.

However, there is no simple single answer to the challenge of drowning prevention. There is obviously a role for education, signage and life-saving equipment. All water can be dangerous, but Jackie Baillie is right to point out that there are locations where the dangers are more significant, where it is especially important that there is clear warning signage and appropriate life-saving equipment.

I will again speak to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service about the particular incident that Jackie Baillie mentioned and will come back to her.

I would be happy to meet the member to discuss that. On 13 March 2020, I asked my officials to write to all local authorities in Scotland to ascertain the extent to which the antisocial use of motorcycles and quad bikes was a problem in their areas and how they were addressing that. All 32 local authorities replied to that request. The antisocial use of motorcycles and quad bikes is not a widespread problem across Scotland, though six local authorities reported on-going problems with antisocial use of motorcycles or quad bikes in their areas and four said that that was a seasonal occurrence. I would be happy to meet the member to discuss that.

The Scottish Government takes the issue of water safety very seriously and welcomed the drowning prevention strategy when it was published by Water Safety Scotland in 2018. I thank Clare Adamson for her contribution to the strategy and her continued support for Water Safety Scotland, which has a lynchpin role in this area.

As Clare Adamson will know, the Scottish Government continues to provide funding, via the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, to support the operation of Water Safety Scotland. In addition, this year, the Scottish Government has worked with partners to support a number of water safety activities and campaigns.

We also work closely with Water Safety Scotland and other partners to support the recommendations in its drowning prevention strategy and initiatives that can help to raise awareness of the hazards around water and reduce deaths from accidental drowning. On 11 August, I convened a meeting with a range of key stakeholders to drive further action around delivery of the drowning prevention strategy, and I will convene a follow-up meeting later this month.

I am well aware of the risk to public safety that is caused by careless, inconsiderate and antisocial driving. That is why I fully support Police Scotland and its partners in dealing with the misuse of vehicles in an appropriate and proportionate way. Local policing teams are ideally placed to engage with members of the local community to identify where the misuse of vehicles is causing distress to the public. That ensures that those areas can be prioritised for proactive action to prevent future instances and identify and deal with those who are engaged in the misuse of vehicles.

I am afraid that I do not have any information on that. One of our officials might be able to give you an update.