Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, and Parliamentary Business
Good afternoon. The first item of business is portfolio question time. The first portfolio is constitution, external affairs and culture, and parliamentary business.
Arts Funding
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address reported concerns regarding the future of arts funding in Scotland. (S6O-03813)
I appreciate that the culture sector needs to have stable and supportive financial arrangements in place in order to fulfil its potential. This year, we have committed £15.8 million more than in 2023-2024. The Scottish Government budget on 4 December will be in line with the commitment to an additional £100 million per year for culture funding by 2028-2029 and will be subject to the normal parliamentary processes for approval.
Scotland’s arts sector has been plunged into further uncertainty after the Scottish National Party Government delayed a critical multiyear funding decision, which left more than 280 organisations in limbo.
With theatres, festivals and venues already warning of collapse and broken promises, does the cabinet secretary accept that the Government’s failure to provide budget clarity is deepening the crisis in the arts sector? What plans are in place to restore trust and stability to those vital organisations?
I am very much in favour of providing budget clarity to everybody in the culture sector, but I am sure that Mr Stewart would agree that that happens as part of the budgetary process. As soon as we have been able to go through the budget, I hope that we will be on the way to continuing to increase culture spending in Scotland to that annual target of an additional £100 million by 2028-29.
That is subject to normal budgetary processes and would support the introduction of—among other things, and it is very important to the sector—multiyear funding for organisations and venues the length and breadth of the country.
I hope that the Government will have the support of all parties and all members for the budget process and for the vote on the budget.
I very much welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide an additional £100 million annually in arts funding by 2028-29. That is a clear vote of confidence in the sector.
Can the cabinet secretary say more about how current funding for culture in Scotland compares with the funding that is provided elsewhere in the United Kingdom?
Cabinet secretary, please answer with a focus on matters that are within your portfolio responsibility.
It is important to understand the trends in culture spending both in Scotland and in the rest of the United Kingdom. There has been a reduction in the culture budget for England this year, with a similar approach from the Welsh Government, whereas, in Scotland, this year we have committed £15.8 million more for 2024-25. That is the first stage in our commitment to an additional £100 million annually by 2028-29. I believe that I am right in saying that that would constitute the biggest-ever increase in culture funding since the beginning of devolution.
Creative Scotland
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Creative Scotland is fit for purpose as an arts funding body. (S6O-03814)
I welcome Murdo Fraser to his role as culture spokesman for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, and I offer him—as I have his predecessors and front-bench colleagues of all parties—an open door. I look forward to working with him where we can find agreement.
I recognise the important role that Creative Scotland plays in supporting the arts, screen and creative industries. The programme for government included a commitment to undertake a review of Creative Scotland as part of a wider commitment to review the way in which the culture sector is supported. The decision to review Creative Scotland is normal practice in ensuring that the functions and remits of public bodies continue to meet the needs of Scotland.
I thank the cabinet secretary for his kind words of welcome.
He knows that Creative Scotland is a body that is wreathed in scandal. An £85,000 grant for an explicit sex film was withdrawn after a public outcry, and a Creative Scotland literature officer called bookshops to demand that they stop stocking a book by a gender-critical writer, Jenny Lindsay.
Meanwhile, as Alexander Stewart says, arts grants are being cut. If money is tight in the culture sector, is it not time that we took an axe to this bloated and failing quango and, instead, diverted that money to those who produce artistic output at the grass roots, where they are desperately in need of it?
In the spirit of welcoming Mr Fraser to his position, I acknowledge that he has come at it from a standing start and is trying to get up to speed with the ins and outs of all the challenges of the portfolio.
I hope that he agrees that it is important that we have an arm’s-length arts funding organisation and that it is not for the culture secretary to micromanage its artistic decisions. He has raised some issues and, no doubt, those questions will be looked at as part of the review, in which it will be open to all colleagues to share their thoughts.
Mr Fraser has views on where funds could be redistributed. Funding will, no doubt, play an important part in the consideration of the review, but it will go beyond that. I encourage him to put his suggestions down on paper. I will read them with very close interest. I hope that we all have a shared interest in making sure that creatives across Scotland are appropriately funded. If there are ways in which the review should consider that, I would very much welcome those suggestions
How will the recently announced review of Creative Scotland help to maximise the impact of public funding for the cultural sector?
Creative Scotland distributes a significant proportion of Scottish Government funding to the culture sector, which amounts to £66 million this year. The review is part of a broader review of how the sector is funded and will ensure that the significant extra funding of £100 million a year by 2028-29 is put to best use.
I am sure that the cabinet secretary will join me in welcoming the announcement by the United Kingdom Government that it is increasing tax relief for independent film producers.
Last week, he told the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee that the Creative Scotland review
“will not be a Government review”,
that he will not sit at the head of it and that
“others will look very closely at how things operate”.—[Official Report, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, 3 October 2024; c 10-11.]
Can he confirm that it will be a fully independent review with an independent chair and that it will be independently run? Who will sit at the top of it, and who are the others he referred to?
I thank Neil Bibby for his question. That reflects a view across the chamber that there should be a review of Creative Scotland’s future operations. There has not been any such inquiry since 2010. We are currently considering the modalities of the review, and I want it to take place as soon as possible. I will not be sitting at the head of it—I can assure him of that. If Neil Bibby has any suggestions as to people whom he thinks are best qualified to lead such a review, I would be grateful to hear them. Nobody has been ruled out and nobody has been ruled in. If he thinks that there are people who are well qualified to do it, I would be keen to hear from him.
Scottish Government International Offices
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of its international offices. (S6O-03815)
In the coming weeks, I will publish the second annual report on Scotland’s international network. That will again illustrate how Scottish Government and Scottish Development International teams overseas and in London contribute to delivering tangible benefits to Scotland’s people, businesses and institutions, having supported £1.73 billion in forecast export sales and more than 8,500 jobs in 2022-23. Their efforts are a key part of the reason that, for the ninth year running, the Ernst & Young attractiveness survey shows that Scotland has been the top destination in the United Kingdom, outside London, for foreign direct investment. I hope that Mr Kerr will join me in thanking the hard-working Scottish network staff for their successful work in that area.
My question was about the international offices. The cabinet secretary will know of my long-standing scepticism about the so-called embassies. Like many Scots, I view them as just another Scottish National Party vanity project. I invite him to convince me that they are not.
I would very much like Scotland to have an embassy network like those of other independent countries. We unfortunately do not have that at the moment. I will quantify that—I think that that it is the benefit of having an annual review, and I am surprised that Mr Kerr was not convinced by last year’s statistics. I will update him, as perhaps he has not read the review.
Through the international network, Scottish Development International provided support that resulted in trade worth £1.7 billion. More than 1,000 planned real living wage jobs in Scotland are associated with investment that was supported by the Scottish Government office in the United States of America. More than £120 million in planned capital investment was supported by the Scottish Government office in Canada, and more than 360 companies were supported by the Scottish Government office in the USA. Those are just North American statistics. I could go on, but I do not have time enough to do so.
I will make sure that Mr Kerr has the updated second annual report. I hope that he will welcome it, and I hope that he will take the opportunity to thank all those people who work in Scottish Government offices, all the SDI staff around the world and the more than 1,200 global Scots who do so much to boost Scotland and its standing internationally.
Ireland’s and Scotland’s population sizes are comparable, but Ireland maintains nearly 90 diplomatic representations worldwide and Scotland has nine.
Despite the economic catastrophe of Brexit and the damage that has been done to international relationships following it, there is still a record number of foreign direct investment projects in Scotland, underpinning its position as the top-performing area in the United Kingdom outside London, which it has maintained for the ninth consecutive year. Does the cabinet secretary agree that that represents value for money, as is demonstrated in the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s report on the value of our international offices?
The value of the international offices has been borne out over the years. We should not forget their genesis. The first international office, in Brussels, was hosted by the then Conservative UK Government and then by the Scottish Executive. It is now hosted by the Scottish Government, and additional offices have been added to the network. Those are civil service-staffed offices—sadly, they are not embassies but representative offices—similar to those that are operated by Quebec, Flanders, the German Länder and many others internationally.
Clare Adamson’s point about the value that they provide in the promotion of Scotland and the securing of inward investment and jobs is something that everybody in this Parliament should get behind. They do tremendous work, and it would be helpful if colleagues from all parties took the opportunity to commend them for their efforts.
Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture (Overseas Trips)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what the total monetary cost has been, including in relation to travel, accommodation and staff and ministerial working time, of all overseas trips taken by the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since his appointment in 2021. (S6O-03816)
As Mr Mountain knows, the Scottish Government proactively publishes details of all ministerial engagements, as per section 9.17 of the ministerial code. However, we do not hold details of staff and ministerial working time spent on overseas engagement. As I have said in relation to the Government’s international network, I view such engagement as an essential part of doing the job of promoting Scotland internationally. It brings benefits to our economy, jobs, education and tourism—I could go on. I hope that Mr Mountain supports that.
I support openness. My question relates to around 20 visits, with 66 days abroad and more than 23 members of staff accompanying the cabinet secretary. I want to know—in pounds, shillings and pence—what it has cost the taxpayer for that to happen. I am surprised that the cabinet secretary is not prepared to give me that answer. I ask the question once more: what is the cost in pounds, shillings and pence?
I do not think that things are formatted in that way, but I am happy to write to Mr Mountain to point out where all the figures are listed. I am sure that he was not trying to suggest that, when I travel internationally, I am supported by a delegation of 23 members of staff on any individual visit. I am not.
I am responsible not only for the visits that I undertake but for the visits that colleagues across Government undertake. I make absolutely no apology for Scottish Government ministers travelling internationally to promote inward investment, jobs, tourism and education—and, yes, that costs. I note for the Official Report that Mr Mountain is making a money sign. Yes, it costs to travel, and that is worthwhile. That is why every other Government in the world does it, and that is why the Scottish Government does it. Investment depends on it, jobs depend on it and our international relations depend on it. It provides value for money, and I am sorry that Mr Mountain cannot get behind it.
Arts Organisations (Current Challenges)
To ask the Scottish Government how it is engaging with local arts organisations to address any current challenges they face in maintaining their operations. (S6O-03817)
I appreciate the challenges that are being faced by cultural organisations. The Scottish Government engages with local arts organisations across Scotland, directly through Creative Scotland and through membership organisations, and we are closely working with Creative Scotland and the wider culture sector to support, where possible, organisations that are facing immediate challenges. We will continue to do everything within our powers to ensure that the culture sector has in place the stable and supportive financial arrangements that it needs in order to fulfil its potential.
Last year, the Scottish National Party-led Aberdeen City Council shamefully slashed the funding to Big Noise Torry. To be fair, the Scottish Government stepped in to fund Sistema, though for only one year. What discussions has the cabinet secretary had with Sistema to put in place a long-term funding model to ensure that the brilliant work that Sistema does can continue long into the future?
I am in favour of the use of long-term funding models across the culture and arts sector. That is why the Government is committed to multiyear funding for cultural organisations and venues.
I am working hard within Government to make the case for that funding to be in place as part of the normal budgetary process. I very much hope that, if we are able to secure the funding—and I am confident that we can—to allow the roll-out of multiyear funding from the next financial year, parties and members right across the chamber will vote for the budget. Without the budget going through Parliament, the funding will not be in place for Sistema or anybody else. We need a budget to go through, and we need it to have the appropriate allocation for culture. I hope that Mr Lumsden will vote for it and not just raise questions about it.
In the light of reports that Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts is closing its doors in December until March next year to restructure the organisation, citing funding challenges, what is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that the CCA’s temporary closure does not become permanent and a further blow to an already beleaguered Sauchiehall Street?
I am concerned by any temporary difficulties that cultural organisations find themselves in, and there have been a number of such difficulties in recent years. When such difficulties have been raised directly either with me or with Creative Scotland, there have been interventions to ensure that the organisations can continue.
We are in the process of ensuring that funding is in place for the multiyear support of cultural organisations. I would be grateful if the member or any other colleague who hears of such issues arising between now and the budget process could raise them, because I am keen to ensure that we not only sustain the organisations that are in place but find the funding—the means—to give them a medium and long-term confident financial future.
However, I again make the point, which I have made to members of the Conservative Party, that that will require members across Parliament to support the budget. We cannot wish just for the ends—we have to wish for the means, too. If the funds are secured and included in the budget, which I am very focused on ensuring is the case, I hope that Mr Sweeney will join me in voting for it.
As has been touched on, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget announcement on 30 October will have a hugely significant bearing on the Scottish budget. What engagement has the cabinet secretary had with Creative Scotland to ensure that arts organisations are best placed to navigate the operational challenges presented by the timing of the United Kingdom budget announcement?
I appreciate the need for clarity from the culture sector in relation to the outcome of Creative Scotland’s multiyear funding process. Indeed, I meet Creative Scotland regularly to discuss that matter. My last meeting with it was on 27 September, when I reiterated the Scottish Government’s support for arts and the culture sector and the multiyear funding process.
I also explained that the Scottish Government can provide further financial clarity only once the Chancellor of the Exchequer has set out her budget. I am making the strongest case possible for appropriate funding as we increase funding for culture and the arts in Scotland. I have no doubt that Audrey Nicoll will vote for that in the budget, and I hope that members across the chamber will do so, too.
People’s Story Museum
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions ministers have had with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding the proposed closure of Edinburgh’s People’s Story museum. (S6O-03818)
I am saddened to hear about the temporary closure of the People’s Story museum, which tells the important history of the lives of ordinary working people in Edinburgh, and I hope that it reopens as a priority. I also recognise the challenges that Scotland’s museums face, which is why we are continuing to support the sector with £2.7 million of funds in 2024-25 to Museums Galleries Scotland, Scotland’s national museums and galleries development body. I urge the City of Edinburgh Council to continue discussions with key stakeholders, including Museums Galleries Scotland, to see whether there is a way forward.
As the cabinet secretary is the constituency member, he will be aware of real concerns about the closure of the museum due to unplanned staffing issues and costs facing the council. We simply cannot allow such a brilliant collection of archive material celebrating the stories of the people of Edinburgh to be lost to the city and, I believe, to Scotland. Have the Scottish Government’s culture services offered support to the council to help provide for the sustainable reopening of the museum? Will the cabinet secretary agree to visit the museum with me when it reopens, which I hope will be in December?
It has caused absolute consternation that the closure was announced before any consultation—frankly, it is shocking that a Labour-led council should do such a thing. I take the opportunity to pay tribute to the community campaigners—especially Jim Slaven and the city centre ward Scottish National Party councillor, Finlay McFarlane—who have been strongly making the case against the temporary closure by the Labour-led City of Edinburgh Council. Especially in this 900th anniversary year of Edinburgh, the People’s Story and its important working-class history must be open to the public. That must be a priority.
My answer to the member’s question is yes, the Scottish Government, through Museums Galleries Scotland, has been liaising with the City of Edinburgh Council to look at ways in which a temporary closure can be lifted.
The news regarding the People’s Story, which is Edinburgh’s only museum dedicated to working-class history, is deeply disappointing. The public deserve to see history that represents them. Will the Scottish Government step in to protect this important facility? Does the cabinet secretary recognise that the Scottish Government’s consistent underfunding of local authorities and museums will force more councils in Scotland to make tough decisions and damage local culture?
With the greatest respect to Mr Choudhury, that is buck passing by the Labour Party on the closure of the People’s Story—I repeat, the People’s Story—which was set up by the Labour Party and closed without any consultation. Mr Choudhury suggests that that is something to do with the Scottish Government, but it has nothing to do with the Scottish Government and everything to do with the wrong priorities of the Labour Party.
Yes, I have asked Museums Galleries Scotland to become involved, but it is through the work of the likes of Jim Slaven and Finlay McFarlane that the frankly shameful behaviour of the City of Edinburgh Council has been exposed, and through that alone. I believe that the temporary closure will have to be lifted, as it is absolutely unsustainable. We should be hearing apologies from Labour members rather than buck passing.
Strategic Partnership for Scotland’s Festivals (Involvement of Scotland’s Winter Festivals)
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that those delivering Scotland’s winter festivals will be involved in the planned strategic partnership for Scotland’s festivals. (S6O-03819)
The strategic partnership for Scotland’s festivals will seek the input of arts festivals of all sizes across Scotland. It will bring together arts festivals, public bodies and the wider culture sector with the aim of developing a strategic approach to how festivals are supported in their delivery and development. That will include consideration of how the Scottish Government’s commitment to increase culture funding by £100 million by 2028-29 can uphold the role of festivals in the culture sector.
Delivery plans for the partnership are currently being worked up, but the Scottish Government’s aim is to ensure that all interested stakeholders have opportunities to input into and shape its work.
I urge the cabinet secretary to include in his partnership representation from the Big Burns Supper in Dumfries. He will know that, sadly, last year, the Big Burns Supper festival in Dumfries had to be cancelled when the Scottish Government ended the winter festival fund. The festival is back this year on a smaller scale—in fact, I invite the cabinet secretary to attend what will be a great weekend. Does the cabinet secretary agree that sustaining the Big Burns Supper could play a huge part in realising the enormous positive economic impact that Burns can have in the South Scotland economy?
I totally agree on the importance of Burns night and the opportunity to celebrate it domestically and internationally. I think that Mr Smyth is aware that I wrote an open letter to the culture sector in relation to festivals, and I will see whether I have been contacted by the festival that he has named. If he wishes to forward to me any correspondence that he has on that, I will look closely at it.
A stakeholder meeting in relation to the festivals partnership was held this week, at which the issue of winter festivals was a subject of discussion. I give a commitment to the member that I view the issue as important. Whether it be in relation to the event that he has mentioned or any other event that could benefit from consideration with regard to support for festivals, I would be pleased if constituency members and others raised issues with me directly.
Lebanon (Humanitarian Assistance)
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to humanitarian aid funding through its humanitarian emergency fund, what consideration it is giving to supporting the provision of humanitarian assistance in Lebanon. (S6O-03820)
The Scottish Government maintains a £1 million per year humanitarian emergency fund to respond to humanitarian crises globally. Decisions on which emergencies to activate the fund for are based on the recommendations of a panel of eight leading humanitarian non-governmental organisations in Scotland.
As yet, we have not received a request from the humanitarian emergency fund panel to activate the fund in relation to the Lebanon crisis. However, we are extremely concerned about the rapidly increasing violence in the middle east, the high level of civilian casualties and the catastrophic humanitarian situation. We continue to call for an immediate ceasefire on all sides and an increase in the level of humanitarian aid.
People up and down Scotland are watching in absolute horror the human pain, human misery and human loss that hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are experiencing across the middle east. Although we recognise the limitations of a devolved Administration, what more can the Scottish Government do to help in this humanitarian crisis and be a strong voice for peace?
I thank Alex Rowley for his encouragement to try to do as much as we can. He is absolutely right that we are limited—sadly, we are not responsible for foreign affairs. We are responsible for our external relations, especially in relation to our devolved functions. We have an international development policy as well as a humanitarian policy, and I have tried to explain the mechanics of how that works. I have not yet had a call in that respect in relation to Lebanon, but it might well come. The situation has been developing in recent weeks; perhaps such a call will be made in the weeks to come, and I will look very closely at that.
That concludes portfolio questions on constitution, external affairs and culture, and parliamentary business. There will be a very short pause before we move on to the next portfolio to allow front-bench teams to change position, should they wish.
Justice and Home Affairs
Female Custodial Estate
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in reforming the female custodial estate. (S6O-03821)
Over the past two years, the Scottish Government has opened His Majesty’s Prison and Young Offender Institution Stirling for women and the Bella and Lilias community custody units, with Bella celebrating its second anniversary this week.
The community custody units for women are the first of their kind in the United Kingdom. Investment in those facilities demonstrates our commitment to compassionate care for women in custody, which acknowledges experience of trauma and adversity and supports successful transitions back to the community, which can reduce reoffending.
Recent inspectorate reports commended both community custody units for their success in delivering a safe, stable and trauma-informed service, whereas HMP and YOI Stirling is described as:
“making confident strides towards being world leading in the care and support of vulnerable women”.
I welcome that response, particularly around the development of the community custody units, although they have taken a bit longer than had been anticipated when the plan was originally set out.
Given that they are a new innovation, and that they have drawn significant international interest, will the cabinet secretary set out what form of monitoring and evaluation has been undertaken of the centres? As that process is taken forward, when will the evaluations be published, in order for us to see the level of progress that has been made with the community custody units?
The cabinet secretary will be aware that last week, there were 370 women in custody in Scotland, 36 per cent of whom were on remand. What action is being taken to reduce the number of prisoners in our custodial estate who are on remand?
I should acknowledge that it was Mr Matheson who introduced the “Strategy for Women in Custody: 2021-25” to Parliament a number of years ago. It is imperative that we continue to build on the legacy of the Angiolini commission, and on the progress that has been made in providing more compassionate care that both recognises and responds to the adversity that is so often experienced by women who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
It is imperative that that progress is evaluated. Teresa Medhurst, the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, has recently indicated that although that evaluation is at an early stage, the signs are very encouraging. There is international interest in the community custody units for women, which were established according to the very best international practice.
The Government will continue to invest in alternatives to remand; there is a whole suite of activity in that regard. For example, specific investment has been allocated to local authorities towards providing bail support for women, with a view to reducing the numbers of those on remand.
The previous chief inspector of prisons for Scotland, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, warned of “degrading”, “disproportionate” and “unnecessary” body searches being carried out on women at HMP Stirling. She also raised that concern about the Bella community custody unit in Dundee and the Lilas CCU. She warned that those searches risked “re-traumatising” vulnerable women, and advised that they should be stopped. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update on the use of that practice?
I have discussed the matter on a number of occasions with the previous prison inspector and with the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service. It is important to acknowledge that Wendy Sinclair-Gieben stated that there are legitimate reasons for body searching when it is based on robust intelligence or reasonable grounds. Nevertheless, it is imperative that, where possible, we reduce body searching across the estate. The use of body scanners in various establishments reduces the need for physical searching.
The opening of the new women’s custody units was very welcome. Last year, the Bella centre was at 50 per cent occupancy, and the Lilias centre was at 33 per cent occupancy. However, in February this year, the cabinet secretary told me that the assessment criteria had been reviewed and that there had been an increase to two thirds occupancy. Are those units now being fully used? Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is important that those facilities are fully utilised?
I absolutely agree that those facilities should be fully utilised. That means that women have to have the opportunity to progress to the prison system, which can be hindered due to a large population.
I will, if I can, provide the member with some reassurance: occupancy of HMP and YOI Stirling is at 90 per cent, occupancy of the Lilias unit is at 92 per cent, and occupancy of the Bella unit is at 70 per cent.
Food Crime
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the justice secretary has had with Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service regarding their role in addressing food crime, in light of reports of counterfeit vodka being seized in the Central Scotland region. (S6O-03822)
That particular investigation is being led by Food Standards Scotland as a member of the multi-agency tasking and delivery board. That board, which operates out of the Scottish crime campus, comprises a range of law enforcement agencies, including Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Trading Standards Scotland, and enables them to share intelligence on new and emerging threats, and to pool resources to disrupt those threats and reduce the harm that they cause.
It plays a major role in delivering the detect and disrupt strands of Scotland’s serious organised crime strategy. It is vital to disrupt such crimes and activities. I am aware that with food and drink, there is a risk to public health, so I would urge everyone not to buy or consume such goods and to report instances to Police Scotland or to Food Standards Scotland.
I thank the cabinet secretary for that important public health message, and I thank the organisations that have been involved in the measures that she described. However, the matter is really concerning. In one shop in Coatbridge, 40 bottles of fake vodka were seized. More than 240 bottles in total have been confiscated in the central belt alone.
There is a real workforce issue. Food Standards Scotland is under pressure and we do not have enough trading standards officers. What discussions are taking place across Government to ensure that we have the right workforce? What is being done to stop those criminal gangs?
I ask the cabinet secretary to say something brief about toxicology. Is she confident that there are no delays in that?
I make the member aware that I, along with the Lord Advocate, chair the serious organised crime task force, which has a pivotal role in identifying the threats from, and steps to disrupt, serious organised crime in all its forms.
Food Standards Scotland issued a warning on 30 August with respect to counterfeit alcohol. That was based on lab results in which isopropyl, which is harmful if consumed, was found in alcohol. I will follow up with the member on the more detailed points that she raises about toxicology.
I am confident of Food Standards Scotland’s capacity and capability to investigate food crime. It is a specialist reporting agency and is empowered to report crimes and offences directly to the Crown Office. Various other partners are involved, whether through the work of the crime campus at Gartcosh or Food Standards Scotland’s engagement with all 32 local authorities, bearing in mind that it works with all local authorities with respect to intelligence gathering.
The Criminal Justice Committee recently heard from Food Standards Scotland about the close work that it undertakes with agencies such as the Crown Office and Police Scotland. Indeed, I was on a webinar at lunchtime with people from Food Standards Scotland, who were particularly complimentary about the agency’s relationship with the Crown Office. Will the cabinet secretary further outline how those relationships work, their importance in protecting public health and businesses from contaminated and counterfeit products and how the activities that we are discussing can be disrupted?
The relationship between Food Standards Scotland and law enforcement is critical. As I mentioned, Food Standards Scotland is a member of the multi-agency tasking and delivery board, which is a forum that it can use to report food crime-related matters with a serious organised crime focus so that a consistent partnership approach is taken and appropriate support is provided if necessary.
Food Standards Scotland also recently chaired a working group meeting with relevant partner agencies, including Police Scotland and the Crown Office, to focus on the investigation into the contamination of food and drink.
Questions 3 and 4 were not lodged. I call Sue Webber for question 5.
Rape and Sexual Assault Victims (Support)
It is just as well that I was paying attention, Presiding Officer.
To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements it has in place to ensure that victims of rape and sexual assault can always access the support that they need to deal with trauma. (S6O-03825)
We are investing record levels of funding in our front-line services to support victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault, including more than £5 million annually for the rape crisis network, through our delivering equally safe fund. The Scottish Government is committed to sustaining our support for the fund, which includes funding for rape crisis centres, and we will pursue that commitment through the budget process.
The trauma of vulnerable victims goes beyond the courts and the justice system. Women are self-excluding themselves from rape crisis centres across the country because a number of the centres are still not clear about their single-sex policy. Despite that, Ms Brindley, who has presided over the mess, is clinging on and trying to save her own skin rather than doing the decent thing and allowing rape crisis services to start again under new leadership. Does the cabinet secretary agree that, if we are genuine in our endeavours to restore rape victims’ confidence in rape crisis centres, it is time for Ms Brindley to leave her role now?
It is not for me to comment on the retention and recruitment policies of independent charities.
However, I agree with Ms Webber that people who have experienced rape, sexual assault or childhood sexual abuse have suffered the gravest violation of their human rights, so it is imperative that they are able to access the right service at the right time that meets their individual needs. I reiterate what Ms Stewart, the Minister for Equalities, said a few weeks ago: the Government upholds and adheres to the Equality Act 2010, which protects single-sex spaces, and we support the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is the regulator for the 2010 act.
I was pleased to see the Scottish Government’s response to the victim notification scheme review today. Cabinet secretary, can you provide the timelines that you are working to in order to make the much-needed reforms?
Always speak through the chair.
The review made a number of recommendations on all aspects of the victim notification scheme, and we agree with the majority of them. Implementation will take place through a mixture of primary legislation, secondary legislation and administrative changes. We want work on the reforms to take place as quickly as possible, and we intend to take forward the recommendations that need primary legislation as part of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, which is currently at stage 2. Other recommendations on the victim notification scheme will be taken forward in tandem, in collaboration with justice partners and victim support organisations, so that we can make changes to the system as a whole. We will take a joined-up approach with justice partners and victim support organisations to deliver the reforms.
I have met numerous organisations that provide support and advice to survivors in my region, including the Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland—RASASH—and the Compass Centre in Shetland. Personally, I know just how important it is that victims are able to access the type of support that is right for them and that they do not feel pressured by others to react in a certain way. Will the cabinet secretary tell us more about what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that rural and island organisations can continue to provide the safe space that a victim of gender-based violence might need?
The equally safe strategy recognises that women in small rural or island communities can face particular challenges and that abuse can be even more hidden in those areas than it can be in urban areas. That is why we continue to fund vital specialist support across all parts of Scotland—including, importantly, in rural and island communities—through the delivering equally safe fund. For example, more than £2 million of the £19 million that we are providing this year is going to projects that support women in our island communities.
Legal Aid Solicitors
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the reported reduction in the number of legal aid solicitors. (S6O-03826)
The Scottish Government has taken significant steps to assist legal aid providers, including increasing legal aid fees by more than 25 per cent since 2019 and providing £1 million of funding to establish 40 traineeships in legal aid firms during 2021.
The number of legal aid solicitors can fluctuate for a variety of reasons, and the issue of solicitor availability is being explored by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, which is undertaking comprehensive analysis that will look in detail at legal aid activity at a geographical and subject matter level. We will continue to work with the legal profession and others to identify measures to improve and reform Scotland’s legal aid system.
More than 400 solicitors have withdrawn from legal aid duty plans in the past three years, and entire towns and cities are now lacking solicitors on police station or court duty. That has raised concerns, in particular from the Law Society of Scotland, about the creation of legal aid deserts in rural communities. Given that those shortages could leave vulnerable people without access to justice, what immediate action will the Scottish Government take to prevent rural communities from becoming legal aid deserts?
It is important to note that court and police station duty numbers are not the same as the total number of solicitors who are providing criminal legal aid. As the member might know, the Scottish Government cannot compel private solicitors to undertake work. However, I am committed to working with the legal profession to find solutions to bring forward legal aid reform.
As members will be aware, we are losing lawyers from the defence profession because we are unable to get a longer-term sustainable plan for the retention of much-needed lawyers across Scotland. Will the minister elaborate on whether there is a wholesale plan for the retention of those solicitors, including what progress has been made since 2021 on the traineeship that has to be part of such a plan? Maybe it is time to agree that an annual uprating of legal aid fees might end the constant battle with the legal aid profession. Notwithstanding what the Government has done already, a regular increase would at least help to retain some of that profession.
As the member knows, the “Vision for Justice in Scotland” is a three-year delivery plan that contains action to reform the legal aid system and to engage with key stakeholders to inform and shape future legislative proposals. Officials will take part in a series of stakeholder engagement sessions on legal aid reform in the coming months.
The Scottish Government is liaising with the Law Society of Scotland to evaluate the traineeship system that we funded a year or two ago.
As has been suggested, the Scottish Legal Aid Board has estimated that 439 private solicitors will have been withdrawn from legal aid court duty between 2021 and 2023. In Orkney, there is now no duty solicitor working on court and police station duty plans. As I have repeatedly said over the years, rural and island communities are particularly vulnerable to becoming legal aid deserts, as has been suggested. Does the minister acknowledge that risk? If so, what specific targeted steps is the Government taking to ensure that those who live in communities such as the one that I represent have proper and equitable access to justice?
Yes, I do acknowledge that risk. As I said in my earlier answer, the Scottish Legal Aid Board is doing comprehensive analysis to look at the detail of legal aid activity at a geographical and subject matter level and to see how it can be improved.
The legal aid system is a national one and it is flexible enough to allow services to be delivered by solicitors around the country to people in other parts of the country. There are numerous ways in which access to solicitors can be facilitated remotely, and funding is available to allow solicitors to travel to rural and remote parts of the country. However, as I have said before, the Scottish Government cannot compel private solicitors to take on work.
Question 7 has not been lodged.
Civil Justice (Access to Advice and Advocacy)
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure access to advice and advocacy for civil justice issues, especially for people in rural and island communities, in light of the reported recent reduction in funding for the early resolution and advice programme. (S6O-03828)
The Scottish Government is continuing to fund the early resolution and advice programme with just over £2 million this year for 16 projects in the third sector across Scotland, including rural and island communities. Project funding will continue to be provided to agencies in the Highlands and Islands until March 2025, focusing on advice related to the housing emergency and any associated debt-related issues that result from that. That includes funding for projects managed by the citizens advice bureaux in Orkney, Alness, Moray, Nairn and across Argyll and Bute.
In addition, the Scottish Government has allocated more than £12 million this year for the provision of free income-maximisation support, welfare and debt advice.
Domestic violence has serious and long-lasting consequences for victims’ health and wellbeing. The costs of the failure to protect, which go further than financial and budgetary issues, are borne by women and children across Scotland, and those who live in rural areas suffer exponentially as a result of a lack of readily available, competent legal advice and services. People in Glasgow are able to benefit from the help of organisations such as the Govan Law Centre. Will the Scottish Government commit to helping to establish and support similar charitable organisations that are able to provide legal aid-funded services here in Lothian and, moreover, across Scotland, especially in our towns, villages and island communities?
We are working closely with other portfolio areas in the Scottish Government to give particular consideration to how more targeted and planned interventions can support user need, align and identify Government priorities, and assist legal aid in being rightly recognised as an invaluable public service, so that more targeted provision in the current year could improve access to legally aided services in certain geographical areas or for groups with specific legal needs, such as victims of domestic abuse or people who are facing housing issues, especially now that the moratorium on evictions has ended.
That concludes portfolio question time. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business to allow front-bench teams to change position, should they so wish.