Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-32827

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the recommendations set out in the Policy Report: Sexual exploitation of children involved in the Children's Hearings System by Barnardo's Scotland and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) in 2020 have been acted upon, and if they have been actioned, what has been done and achieved.

The Scottish Government and national and local partners have acted on all recommendations of the Policy Report: Sexual exploitation of children involved in the Children's Hearings System.

In relation to recommendations on public-facing awareness activity, the Scottish Government has provided funding for a range of campaigns, including in March 2021 on child sexual exploitation and in February 2022 and February 2023 on child online safety. In 2024 the Scottish Government funded Child Protection Committees Scotland for a campaign focusing on effects of child sexual abuse. The campaign was developed in partnership with Barnardo’s Scotland and co-produced with the support of adult survivors and had a reported reach of over 1.8 million adults in Scotland.

Regarding recommendations on improving the experience of victims, a number of policies have promoted a trauma-informed approach. This includes the roll out of the Scottish Child Interview Model for Joint Investigative Interviews as part of the Bairns' Hoose Pathfinder Phase which aims to minimise the emotional impact on child victims, and ensure their safety and wellbeing throughout any investigation. The national roll-out involves specialised training for police officers and social workers focusing on the impact of trauma, child development and importance of effective planning for the needs of the child.

On recommendations regarding access to inclusive support for families and delivering recovery-focused interventions, the Scotland-specific Bairns’ Hoose Standards were published in 2023 and include Standard 3 on Inclusive Access which states:“ The Bairns’ Hoose is accessible for all children who are referred and their families, no matter what specialist needs or support they or their family require”. The opening of further Bairns’ Hooses will continue to enhance our response to providing care, recovery and justice for children who have experienced trauma, including child sexual abuse. In addition, the Scottish Government is transforming holistic family support through the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding Programme. Since 2022, we have invested over £110m in a programme of activity, including £32m for Children’s Services Planning Partnerships to improve and extend family support in their local areas.

In relation to recommendations on contextual safeguarding and a focus on locations of concern, the Scottish Government provided funding to North Lanarkshire Council in 2022-23 to test the implementation of contextual safeguarding within child protection processes. The Scottish Contextual Safeguarding Core Group, a subgroup of Child Protection Committees Scotland, has also been established to guide, support and encourage the development and implementation of the contextual safeguarding approach across Scotland. The group aims to facilitate collaboration amongst professionals, share best practice and promote consistency in delivery across different contexts, including groups, schools, neighbourhood and online spaces.

The Barnardo’s report also recommended development of an approach to risk that emphasises children’s needs. National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland published in 2021 and updated in August 2023 describes the responsibilities and expectations of everyone who works with children, young people and their families. The guidance includes a strengthened focus on risk assessment through consistent use of Interagency Referral Discussions (IRDs)- the start of the formal process of information sharing, assessment, analysis and decision-making – whenever a concern about abuse or neglect of a child or young person is reported. It makes clear that when a child is at risk of, or has experienced child sexual exploitation, an IRD should be convened without undue delay .We have developed and successfully piloted a national multi-agency IRD training course which will be rolled out across Scotland this Spring. The training will support more consistent IRD practice including in relation to cases involving child sexual exploitation.

In line with recommendations on ensuring best practice is shared, the Scottish Government funded a 2-year National Learning and Development Co-ordinator post to provide resources and support to assist local areas adapt their local responses in line with the national guidance. Included amongst the range of learning materials developed are specific resources on Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation which were made available in 2024.

Progress has also been made in relation to recommendations that were for the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) including on training and improving the timeliness of decision-making. SCRA have published detailed guidance for all Reporter staff and developed Harmful Sexual Behaviour Training for reporters which covers child sexual exploitation and includes the key findings of Barnardo’s research. SCRA’s “Programme Protect” has been running since 2022 and focusses on efficiencies including the timeliness of decision-making. CHS now includes child sexual exploitation in pre-service training for all new Panel Members, which is updated every year. In partnership with Strathclyde University’s Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice, CHS has developed a comprehensive Practice Guide and training module for panel members on ‘responding to the needs of older children’. This addresses child sexual exploitation, and its interrelationship with Child Criminal Exploitation, and how this should be addressed in decision-making.

Steps have also been taken to address recommendations to enhance the voice of children in decisions that affect them. In November 2020, the Scottish Government launched a national advocacy service to support children and young people who may need independent, expert advocacy support to reinforce their rights when they may need to be involved in a Children’s Hearing. These services are offered Scotland-wide and a Children’s Hearings Advocacy Expert Reference group chaired by Scottish Government supports the design, delivery, and implementation of the scheme.

The Scottish Government agrees with the aim of Barnardo’s recommendation on research to improve our collective understanding of all forms of childhood sexual abuse and exploitation. Any data must however be gathered in a manner that is appropriate, sensitive and minimises the risk of re-traumatisation of victims. We continue to consider opportunities to explore the scale and nature of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Progress also continues to be made on data gathering and sharing by agencies in Scotland. Data on reported concerns about child abuse or neglect is collected by Police Scotland and reported nationally in a monthly dashboard, and this dataset is currently being extended to provide more in-depth analysis of characteristics and trends in abuse and exploitation. This will provide an improved understanding of prevalence of different forms of abuse, including child sexual abuse and exploitation.

In line with recommendations on strategic oversight, a number of Scottish Government and partner-led groups were involved in delivering these activities to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation. In order to enhance our approach to this issue we established a new Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation National Strategic Group in October 2024. This comprises operational partners and other expert stakeholders, and its purpose is to review current actions and agree where additional focus is needed to better protect children from abuse and exploitation. The group will assess existing workplans and consider where further consideration and further work may be required for specific issues.

Question reference: S6W-32830

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the National Child Sexual Exploitation Group became inactive; on what date it became inactive, who or which agency decided that it should become inactive, and which of its aims were achieved prior to making it inactive.

Question reference: S6W-32829

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific action it has taken to implement recommendation (a) 2, (b) 3 and (c) 4 of the Policy Report: Sexual exploitation of children involved in the Children’s Hearings System by Barnardo's and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA), and what results it has achieved.

Question reference: S6W-32828

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has commenced and/or commissioned a full multi-agency prevalence study as set out in recommendation 2 in the Policy Report: Sexual exploitation of children involved in the Children's Hearings System by Barnardo's Scotland and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) in 2020.

Question reference: S6W-32831

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 44 action points set out in the July 2020 publication, National Action Plan to Prevent and Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation 2016-2020, have been (a) delivered and (b) fulfilled.

The National Child Sexual Exploitation Working Group published its final report on delivery of actions contained in the National Action Plan to Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation in July 2020. This sets out the range of achievements and activity to prevent and tackle child sexual exploitation delivered since the publication of the updated National Action Plan on Child Sexual Exploitation in 2016 as well as ongoing improvement and development work related to the actions in the updated plan. For further information on how the Scottish Government has continued to deliver action on child sexual abuse and exploitation since this period, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32827 on 16 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Following publication of the final report, and with the agreement of Ministers, the Working Group concluded its work which was time-limited and linked to the delivery of the Action Plan. However, a number of operational and strategic groups have continued to have a focus on delivery of actions to prevent and tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation, including the National Child Protection Leadership Group, Police Scotland’s Multi-agency Group on Preventing Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and Social Work Scotland’s Child Protection Subgroup.

We have subsequently established a new National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Group with operational partners and other expert stakeholders. The Group met for the first time in November 2024 and again in December 2024 and is reviewing current activity and identifying where further work is needed to better protect children from abuse and exploitation.

Question reference: S6O-04244

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete being found in current and formerly council-owned residential properties in Dundee.

Question reference: S6W-32820

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there has reportedly been a 24% decrease in solicitors registered for children's legal aid since 2020, what analysis it is undertaking to understand any issues caused by this, and what action it will take to address those issues, including reversing the reported decrease in numbers.

The Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 gave the Scottish Legal Aid Board the function of monitoring the availability and accessibility of legal services in Scotland, and it has arrangements in place to monitor legal services. However, any assessment of registered solicitor numbers does not offer an accurate measure of the provision or supply of legal aid. This is because there is a large number of registered solicitors who are inactive, so the reduction in the number of registered solicitors, doesn’t necessarily equate to the same size of reduction in active solicitors. Therefore, registered solicitor numbers should not be viewed in the same context as active solicitors. The relevant measure of supply is active solicitors.

However, fluctuations in the numbers of Children’s solicitors occur for various reasons, these are:

Children’s legal assistance volumes are directly related to the numbers of children’s hearings taking place. The volume of hearings is in turn related to the number of Compulsory Supervision Orders (CSOs) being made or reviewed.

There are fewer Compulsory Supervision Orders and therefore less business for solicitors in this field.

At 31 March 2024, 6,490 children were subject to Compulsory Supervision Orders. In 2019-20, the number was 8,875 – a reduction of 27%.

The number of children subject to Compulsory Supervision Orders has decreased for a fourteenth consecutive year.

The Scottish Government recognises that reform is needed to the legal aid system, which is why we are currently developing a legal aid action plan for reform which will be published in early 2025.

Question reference: S6W-32054

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 30 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31040 by Siobhian Brown on 13 November 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding for what reason there has been a reported reduction in the number of criminal legal aid solicitors, since 2007, from 1,459 to 966.

Patterns of business in the criminal justice system have changed fundamentally since 2007 due to reductions in crime, the increasing availability and use of alternatives to prosecution and trends towards earlier resolution of cases. This means that the demand for criminal legal aid - and so for the services of criminal defence solicitors - has also changed fundamentally.

Comparing the 12 months ending March 2007 with the 12 months ending March 2024, the number of grants of legal aid in relation to summary matters fell by 37%, for solemn legal aid by 13%, for appeals by 86% and the number of accused requiring representation by a duty solicitor fell by 81%. Over the same period, the number of registered solicitors fell by 34%, broadly reflecting the reduction in demand.

The criminal courts are not reporting people unable to get representation, anyone who needs a solicitor at a police station or to appear in court from custody gets access to a solicitor.

Question reference: S6W-32053

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 30 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31038 by Siobhian Brown on 13 November 2024, when it will (a) commence and (b) conclude its evaluation of the legal aid trainee fund; who will be involved in the evaluation; on what basis the achievement of the fund will be evaluated; should the evaluation conclude that the fund was a success, whether similar funding will be made available, and, if so, when.

The Fund was co-designed and funded between the Scottish Government and the Law Society of Scotland (“the Society”) and was part of an overall support package for the legal aid sector as it recovered from COVID 19 and is due to close at the end of March 2025. As part of the grant funding conditions, on completion, the Society must submit a report to the Scottish Ministers summarising the outcomes and performance of the Fund.

The evaluation will form part of the discussions of the Future of the Legal Profession Working Group. Once we receive the Society’s report and have considered the contents, we will arrange to meet the working group again. The Group consists of senior representatives from the legal professional bodies, the legal profession, wider justice sector and other organisations.

Question reference: S6W-32024

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the reported £13.3 million reduction in the budget of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) that has been proposed in the 2025-26 draft Budget could have on the operation of SCTS, including from what areas of this operation this reduction will be met.

The prior year 2024-25 Budget comparator figures are based on the latest in-year budget numbers which were revised at the Autumn Budget Revision. The 2023-24 Scottish Budget comparator figures reflect the outturn numbers for that year.

It is not the case that the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) budget has been reduced by £13.3m. The SCTS budget is subject to revision and adjustment via the Scottish Government Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) and Spring Budget Revision (SBR) processes, as such a direct comparison with the published comparator figures does not provide a true reflection of SCTS 2025-26 budget position. Compared to the opening 2024-25 budget, an additional £11.5m Resource funding and £2m Capital funding has been provided to the SCTS.

In addition to the funding allocation in the Budget Bill, the SCTS receives income primarily from civil court fees and retained fines; in-year funding from the Scottish Government related to non-baseline areas that are still highly variable such as the recently devolved tribunals; and through the Recovery, Renewal and Transformation (RRT) budget, receives additional funding to increase criminal court capacity and take forward a range of initiatives to improve service delivery and realise longer term efficiencies.

In the 2023-24 Budget Bill, SCTS was allocated £147.6m, following the adjustments at ABR and SBR the final year outturn figure was £191.1m.

In the 2024-25 Budget Bill SCTS was allocated £165.9m, following the adjustment at ABR the revised budget was £190.3m. A further revision will take place at SBR and will be published in January 2025.

The 2025-26 allocation to SCTS is £177.0m, in addition SCTS will receive RRT funding of £20.3m and, as in previous years, additional in year funding to cover non-baseline costs.

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