Chamber and committees

Court operational matters, including the system and arrangements for jury service, fall within the remit of the independent Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.

Jury service is an important civic duty, and I am grateful to all those who undertake it.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to review the list of “persons excusable as of right” for jury duty as set out in Schedule 1 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Scotland Act 1980.

It is the view of the Scottish Government that the pool of potential jurors should be as wide as possible, to ensure that an accused person is being judged by their peers from all walks of life. This also prevents the burden of jury service falling on a narrower section of society than can reasonably be helped.

However, it is recognised that there will always be people who have difficulty in serving as jurors. Therefore, in addition to those eligible to be excused as of right as set out in statute, individuals may also apply for excusal.

Clerks of Courts will be as sympathetic as they can to requests for excusal, and will consider, amongst other things; commitments at work, the cancellation of which would cause abnormal inconvenience - while at the same time balancing the need to have sufficient numbers of prospective jurors from which to ballot a jury.

The Scottish Government recognises that the community social work approach may provide assistance for people experiencing a range of circumstances. We know that children, young people and families benefit when they can access the support they need when and where they need it. Communities across Scotland are currently supported through national initiatives including Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), the Promise, and UNCRC legislation. Multi-agency community support hubs - which include social work - exemplify the ways in which national and local partners are working with their communities to provide effective whole family support in a place-based way that works for people.

We will continue to invest to provide a template for future change and improvement, however there are currently no plans to pilot the community social work approach across Scotland. We also acknowledge the role of local authorities in understanding and responding to the needs of people in local communities through the provision of services which promote people’s wellbeing.

Scottish Government officials meet with Social Work Scotland and Chief Social Work Officers regularly to discuss a range of social work issues. Specifically, Chief Social Work Officer Network meetings are held every fortnight, coordinated by the Scottish Government and Social Work Scotland.

Whilst community social work has not been a specific agenda item on the meetings this year, many of the discussions keep abreast of issues underpinning community social work.

The enforcement of traffic offences is an operational matter for Police Scotland, with oversight provided by the Scottish Police Authority, who act independently of Scottish ministers.

The enforcement of traffic offences is an operational matter for Police Scotland, with oversight provided by the Scottish Police Authority, who act independently of Scottish ministers.

The Scottish Government is aware of the Community Social Work pilot undertaken by Fife Council and recognises the approach is known to support positive outcomes. Ms Ewing will be aware of the challenging fiscal climate we are operating in at this time, which means that we are currently unable to provide additional resources to local authorities to pilot such an approach.

A] The Scottish Government believes that the community social work model remains an important approach and undoubtedly, in the right circumstances, offers a targeted early response to tackle a wide range of issues which may in some circumstances lead to crisis.

B] The Scottish government recognises that, as part of range of approaches, the community based social work model holds an important place in responding to the needs of deprived communities with the main strength being the proactive and accessible nature of the approach.

The Scottish Government recognises that social work has the greatest impact where practitioners are embedded in communities. This enables them to recognise and understand the challenges people in communities face on a day to day basis, including the existence of child poverty.

Social work has evolved to respond to both the existing and emerging needs of people and their communities, including demographic and societal changes. The Scottish Government understands that, as part of a range of approaches in which social work supports people, the community social work model holds an important place, especially in relation to responding to child poverty and other complex issues which people experience.

The Scottish Government welcomes the new partnership agreement reached between the College and the Trade Union Congress to safeguard the delivery of trade union education at the City of Glasgow College.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29252 on 19 September 2024. 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.