Chamber and committees

Oh, right—we are on to media. Okay. First, on the point about committee cohesion, I will just give a shout out for the Criminal Justice Committee. We are currently putting through two huge pieces of legislation—the Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Bill and the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill—and I would say that we are acting as a team. Those bills are hugely important and we want to make good legislation. We are putting party politics aside and are all working together. I wish that more committees did that. I just wanted to make that point, and I agree with you about committee cohesion, too.

As you are a former journalist, Brian, I am dying to ask you questions. We know how things have changed in the media. How has social media changed the landscape with regard to how and what you report?

Before we move on, I want to wind back a wee bit to what we first started talking about, which is committee structure and the suitability of members. As the chief whip of the party of Government, it is my responsibility to place members on to committees. In general, where possible, I take into account the member’s background, interest and suitability, but that approach has its problems.

I totally agree with Sir David that there are some committees that people do not want to be on, but they must be populated. Our system works on the d’Hondt system, which means that the committee structure is based on how many members the largest party has.

We have a finite number of back benchers, and in our party that is around 34. Most of those members are on two or three committees a week, and we sit for only three days. We also have a packed legislative schedule, which does not leave much time for some of the things that you have suggested.

Professor Russell talked about the justice committee. We have two justice committees, and I sit on one of them. We have a Criminal Justice Committee and an Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, which is working well. However, on the logistics, it is difficult to get the perfect mix of committee structure and members.

I always try to get a gender balance on a committee where possible, because I think that that is important, but sometimes it is simply not possible. I just wanted to point out those things. I know that colleagues will agree with me; it relates not just to my party, but to all parties.

We have a much smaller pool than we would like of people who can populate committees and do the work that we want to do. We would much prefer to do a lot more post-legislative scrutiny and pre-scrutiny, but time and numbers of people do not allow us.

I am pleased to speak in this important debate, and I thank my colleague Michael Matheson for bringing it to the chamber.

We all agree that only the lowest of the low exploit children, but, sadly, it is happening across Scotland, as the excellent but shocking report from Professor Alexis Jay and Action for Children reveals. Criminal exploitation of children is a complex, insidious form of child abuse that involves manipulation and coercion to make children participate in criminal activities and creates lifelong trauma for victims. As a result of its UK-wide polling last year, Action for Children has said that

“over 130,000 parents say their child has experienced three or more signs of criminal exploitation in the last 12 months”.

That could be the tip of the iceberg, given the lack of data.

I have been a member of the Criminal Justice Committee since my election in 2016, and my overriding interest has been the welfare of children and young people. Despite that, I have to admit that the facts contained in the report shocked me. How can this be happening in our beautiful country? After all, this is the country that introduced the vision of the Promise to ensure that Scotland is the

“best place in the world”

for children and young people to grow up in and where they feel loved, safe, respected and able to realise their full potential.

I thank Action for Children for its helpful briefing. I have to say that it is not an easy read; it highlights how criminal exploitation can include the retrieval of illicit drugs and money, the possession of weapons, the use of violence and firearms, the harbouring of offenders and the provision of false alibis for others. Cannabis growing, theft and burglary, and street crime such as begging and pickpocketing, are common, too. As a member of the children’s hearings system before being elected, I recall the case of a four-year-old boy who slept in the middle of a cannabis factory. It was just one of the many terrifying things that I heard at that time.

What can we do to eradicate this? Action for Children is concerned that nowhere in the UK, including here in Scotland, do we have a legal definition of the criminal exploitation of children. It believes that that obstructs co-ordinated, joined-up prevention work with children who are being groomed for that purpose. As we have heard, it also believes that the upcoming and very welcome Promise bill could be a parliamentary vehicle to drive through urgent changes to keep Scotland’s children safe.

We must stop children from falling through the cracks and getting drawn into a world of darkness. It is the responsibility of us all to recognise the signs and care for those who are lost. However, we know that it can be challenging for agencies to detect and respond appropriately to the criminal exploitation of children, for a range of reasons. Indeed, the system currently struggles to balance the dual roles of exploited children as both victims and perpetrators. However, we must make no mistake: we must go after the exploiters to protect children.

Any child is at risk of exploitation, regardless of age or background, and exploiters will look for vulnerabilities. Once bribed, a child’s loyalty will be tested, and they will, of course, be scared or reluctant to talk about their exploiters. Certain groups of children are inherently more vulnerable, whether they have additional support needs and disability, are growing up in poverty or are in the care system, and there is also overrepresentation of black and minority ethnic children.

Serious organised crime can play a significant role in this insidious practice, with children groomed over time and threatened or targeted in a way that makes them feel that they cannot escape. As Roz McCall has outlined, we need to be aware of sudden changes in children. I will not go through those changes, as Roz McCall has already articulated them.

Let us all be aware of what is happening to a significant number of children in our country, let us prevent exploitation and let us protect our young people. It is our duty and responsibility to do so.

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost would be of permanently extending free rail travel to companions of blind persons national entitlement card holders, in light of the campaigning by Sight Scotland and Deafblind Scotland. (S6O-04459)

It is highly encouraging to witness the expansion to companions and the Government’s dedication to enhancing accessibility in Scotland’s public transportation system. Can the minister confirm when she will next meet Transport Scotland and ScotRail to discuss those plans and any next steps?

You have not spoken to it?

I thought that I had missed it. There is an important point that I want to make about it. I apologise.

Will the member give way?

I would just like to go back to the decisions to release prisoners and, specifically, amendment 251.

I completely agree with what Sharon says—you laid out the situation well. We know what the situation is, however, so I am not sure that the amendment is necessary. You have stated the effects of not having floating trial diets as well as the harm that they do, and the courts are aware of that, so I do not think that the amendment is necessary.