Chamber and committees

In an interview with the BBC broadcast on 1 May 2018, Lord Carloway referred to vulnerable witnesses, including rape complainers, not necessarily having to go to court to give evidence as “the ultimate objective”.

The Scottish Government is supportive of a greater use of pre-recorded evidence for vulnerable witnesses. We have committed to introducing primary legislation to add to recent improvements to strengthen and improve the rights and experiences of victims and witnesses and remove any legislative barriers to enable the greater use of pre-recorded evidence. The Bill will be introduced to Parliament before the end of this session.

Ministers and Scottish Government Officials regularly meet with companies across the financial services sector including some of those listed. All ministerial engagements are published proactively at https://beta.gov.scot/search/?q=ministerial+engagements .

These discussions cover a range of issues relating to the sector and its workforce. For example, in a recent conversation with Aberdeen Standard Investments I discussed gender inequality in the sector and measures they were taking to address this. The First Minister will take part in their annual Gender Summit in July.

The Scottish Government works closely with a range of key partners to engage with and consult LGBTI people.

In February 2017, I announced three year funding under the Equality Budget. As part of this, grant funding was announced for a range of organisations working to promote LGBTI equality in Scotland, including work to address discrimination and tackle hate crime. Funding was announced for three years, with the first funding year (running from 1 July 2017 – 30 June 2018) confirmed and the next two (July 2018 – June 2019 and July 2019 – end June 2020) on an indicative basis. The amounts for
‎ 2018-19 have now also been confirmed and the funding for 2017-18 and 2018-19 are set out as follows.

2017-18 funding

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-16407 on 16 May 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Prosecution policy is a matter for the Lord Advocate.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with key justice partners, including Crown Office, Police Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, and with third sector organisations such as Rape Crisis Scotland to deliver its key commitments within the Equally Safe Delivery Plan. This includes developing a victim-centred approach to the justice system and encouraging the increased use of pre-recorded evidence to minimise the requirement to give evidence in court.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) regarding the use of pre-recorded evidence in general and in particular have been engaging with them and other criminal justice stakeholders on the development of primary legislation mentioned in S5W-16360 on 16 May 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

In addition, Scottish Government has had discussions with COPFS (and also with Police Scotland and Rape Crisis Scotland) to explore a pilot for recording a complainer's initial statement to the police.

The Scottish Government recognises that sexual violence is an abuse of human rights and is committed to preventing and eradicating it in Scotland. We agree that it is vital that survivors of rape and sexual assault have early access to crisis services that meet their needs, and we are working with Rape Crisis Scotland to determine the best way to support services to meet demand.

We are also investing over £2m (2017-20) through our Rape Crisis Fund in resources for 16 rape crisis centres across Scotland and in addition, we recently announced £1.7m in funding from Justice Budgets to support advocacy in the justice system for victims to be delivered by local centres. We also provide nearly half a million pounds (2017-2020) to support the operation of the National Rape Crisis Helpline and continue to invest resources in a number of organisations working to tackle all forms of violence against women and support survivors.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has invested more than £15.8m directly to NHS Boards for implementation of the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework, of which breastfeeding support is a key component. We have also continued to invest in a National expert post to support the implementation of the Framework. The current post holder is assisting Boards to offer the highest standard of support for all breastfeeding mothers.

In addition, we directly fund a Scottish UNICEF post and the first stage UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation. Scotland was the first country in the UK to have 100% of its maternity units meeting the UNICEF Baby Friendly best practice standards. Over 90% of our Health and Social Care Partnerships and the largest Scottish Neonatal units now have full accreditation.

We use national statistics, reported in October each year, using routine data captured through the Child Health Surveillance System (CHSP) to monitor breastfeeding activity across Scotland.

The Scottish Government continues to support women to breastfeed as the normal nutrition for babies. That is why we have been working to improve the quality of support through a number of initiatives, including our commitment in the Programme for Government 2017 “to increase resources for breastfeeding to support mothers, particularly in the days immediately following birth, and supporting the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework”.

The Scottish Government’s Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework (2011) outlines the measures that should be taken by all organisations working with families to ensure that every parent is supported to give their baby the very best nutritional start in life and ask NHS Boards to report annually on progress.

It is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population. Most health boards have infant feeding advisors and/or peer support coordinators who will provide support to mothers, regardless of the choices the mothers make in how they feed their infants.

Information on the number of people normally resident in Northern Ireland accessing family planning services in Scotland is not collated centrally.