Good morning. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important bill with the committee during what is a uniquely challenging time for everybody.
Scrutiny of the bill is crucial in ensuring that, together, we agree a collective national response to the widespread failures of the past that resulted in the abuse of some of our most vulnerable members of our society—our children. I want the bill to provide survivors and their families with the acknowledgment and recognition that they rightly seek and deserve. The bill will sit alongside, and positively contribute to, the wider changes that we are making in Scotland to ensure that all our children are safe, protected and loved.
We have introduced this vital bill because acknowledging the unquestionable harm that was caused by historical abuse is the right thing to do. I want to take the opportunity to repeat the apology that I made to survivors on behalf of the Scottish Government in 2018. Their terrible experiences should not have happened, and we are truly sorry that they had to experience what they did.
The bill builds on the experience of the advance payment scheme, which opened in April 2019 and has made 500 payments to elderly and terminally ill survivors of historical child abuse in care. Through the delivery of the advance scheme, we have been able to gain invaluable insight and knowledge on the principles and processes of redress, which has greatly informed the content of the bill.
We know how important it is that a redress scheme offers more than a financial payment. Survivors will have their own views on what would make a difference in relation to acknowledgement, apology and support, and the redress scheme will offer access to those non-financial elements.
As I said in my statement to Parliament in August, it has always been a priority for me that survivors’ views be at the heart of designing measures that are introduced to support them. Consultation and engagement with survivors has been key in developing the bill, and survivor voices continue to be at the core of the bill as it progresses through Parliament.
I am well aware that not all survivors have the same views on every element of the redress scheme. It is crucial that we hear as many views as possible, and I am pleased that the committee has read and heard evidence from so many.
I have been listening to the wide range of evidence that has been presented to the committee, and my officials are carefully considering all the points that have been raised. As scrutiny of the bill continues, I look forward to working collectively with all interested parties, inside and outside Parliament, to build a redress scheme that meets the needs of survivors. We will continue to engage with those who provided care in the past, as we look to them to play their part in making fair and meaningful financial contributions and in delivering the redress scheme that survivors have told us that they are looking for.
It is important that we do not underestimate the complexity of the issues that are addressed by the bill and the impact that it will have on survivors, including those who have fought tirelessly for decades to get to this point. However, I am confident that, if we continue to work together constructively, we can create a world-leading redress scheme that symbolises Scotland’s national collective endeavour to address the failures of the past.
I look forward to having an open discussion with the committee and to answering the questions that the committee will have.