Chamber and committees

It is important to acknowledge that there was wide consultation when the legislation was proposed and was going through Parliament. In my opening remarks, I mentioned the support that has been given by Who Cares? Scotland. There were other supporting voices, including Recruit With Conviction. We had a joint response from the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice and the improving life chances implementation group, who also expressed their support for increasing the age threshold to the highest age that was offered. There is widespread support from stakeholders for the change in regulation.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that children, young people and vulnerable adults are safeguarded. As I said in my opening remarks, the process of barring someone is robust and the process that someone would have to go through to have that barring lifted will be just as robust.

We want to ensure that we protect children, young people and vulnerable people. The changes in the regulations for people who were placed on the barred list when they were under the age of 25 is about recognising that young people move on from lifestyle choices and behaviours that have been harmful in the past. Denise McKay or Lynne McMinn might want to comment on the legalities around the process.

The proposed threshold is consistent with that in the rest of the UK, where the ability for individuals to ask for such a change applies up to the age of 25. It is also in line with corporate parenting responsibilities as they apply under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, because we in Scotland acknowledge that parenting does not stop at the age of 18. That is why the age of 25 was chosen.

I have listened carefully to the debate and am grateful to have had the opportunity to explain the Scottish Government’s position on the SSI.

On James Dornan’s point, I am absolutely clear that the regulations do not automatically lead to individuals being removed from the barred list. They simply amend the circumstances in which an application for removal is competent in that they change the timescales.

As I said in my opening statement, I invite Ms Gallagher not to press Mr Mundell’s motion. However, if it is pressed to a vote, I will ask members to vote in favour of the regulations.

Yes, I can confirm that.

No, convener, but I think that it gives some context.

It just gives us some context for the changes and shows that we are not just doing something—

We recognise the need for victims of crime to be respected and to feel that they have received appropriate support, regardless of how the person who perpetrated the crime is punished.

It is worth recognising that the change in regulation will affect young people and that there is a robust process to look at whether they should be removed from the barred list. Lynne McMinn has explained the process that people would go through. We can be assured that anyone who is removed from the barred list is suitable to work with groups that they had previously been barred from working with. None of us would want to remove from the lists anyone whom we felt was not suitable for work with children and young people or with vulnerable adults.

Thank you for inviting me to speak to the regulations. I will not go into the technical detail of what they do, because that has already been explained in the accompanying documents that have been produced by Scottish Government officials, which are complemented by the Scottish Parliament information centre paper.

I point out that the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 has always included provision to allow barred individuals to make an application to be removed from the barred lists. Removal is contingent on ministers being satisfied that the applicant is no longer unsuitable to work with vulnerable groups.

To be absolutely clear, I point out that the policy proposal allows people aged 18 to 25 to apply to be removed from the barred lists sooner, but such an application does not lead to automatic removal. A thorough and well-established process for considering removal applications, which replicates the process for inclusion in the barred lists, is carried out by Disclosure Scotland’s protection services. The proposal in the regulations is also consistent with the situation in the rest of the United Kingdom, where individuals are able to ask for a review of a barring decision by the disclosure and barring service.

The system of state disclosure that we have today is in direct response to the tragic Soham murders of August 2002. This Government will never forget why the service is so important. Indeed, my predecessor introduced the bill that became the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020. Once fully implemented, the 2020 act will deliver a range of reforms to the protecting vulnerable groups scheme to strengthen the national barring service.

The Scottish Government is committed to giving everyone a better chance of overcoming early adversities, including youth offending, in order to allow people to become productive and valued citizens in adulthood. Our policy proposal in the regulations is in keeping with the wider reforms that have been achieved by the 2020 act, and it strikes a balance between safeguarding and proportionality by enabling people with offending in their past to move on—where safeguarding considerations allow it—into work, employment or volunteering.

Disclosure Scotland has been engaging with relevant academics and experts in the formulation of policy supporting the measure. There is a clear association between age and desistance from crime, and the evidence supports recognition in policy of that association. However, in every case it is right that the individual circumstances be considered in order that a safe decision can be made about whether it is right to remove a person from the barred list.

We know from the responses to the 2018 consultation on protection of vulnerable groups and disclosure of criminal information that there is stakeholder support for the changes that the amendment regulations will make—particularly for how they will benefit care-experienced individuals, who are more likely than their peers to have experiences with the criminal justice system. Who Cares? Scotland said in its consultation response, which can be viewed on the citizen space website, that it welcomes the change, which is

“motivated by an understanding that those who commit crimes at a younger age are often trying to move on when coming into contact with PVG processes.”

I invite Ms Gallacher, on Mr Mundell’s behalf, not to move his motion to annul. If the motion is pressed, I ask members not to vote in favour of it.

Pauline McNeill raises an important point, which would concern anyone. We all want children and young people to be able to develop mutually respectful, responsible and confident relationships.

We will continue to fund a range of school-based programmes, which I heard that the member welcomes, and organisations including Rape Crisis Scotland, whose national sexual violence prevention programme in local authority secondary schools across the country has reached 48,000 pupils.

We all realise that the conduct and behaviour of perpetrators need to change if we are to end harassment and abuse across society, including among our young people. We must tackle the underlying attitudes and inequalities that perpetuate that behaviour, and I welcome Pauline McNeill’s support in that endeavour.