Chamber and committees

I congratulate Gordon MacDonald on bringing the motion to the chamber. I am delighted to speak in a debate celebrating big noise Wester Hailes. I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I am a councillor in the Torry/Ferryhill ward of Aberdeen. Torry is the home of big noise Torry.

We have heard about the pivotal role that Sistema Scotland plays in delivering big noise, from Aberdeen in the north, to Dundee, Stirling, Glasgow and, of course, Edinburgh early next year. Sistema Scotland believes that music and nurturing relationships play a critical role in inspiring individuals and communities. Within that, big noise recognises the impact of poverty and inequality on opportunities for children and young people to develop self-esteem, confidence and friendships, all of which are key components to them realising their ambitions and aspirations for the future.

In 2015, big noise Torry was born. Funded by Aberdeen City Council and many local partners, it has transformed the lives of many local children and young people through music. I pay tribute to Jim Kiddie, a former local Torry councillor who, like so many others, worked tirelessly to make big noise Torry happen. The programme now supports over 600 children and young people, working directly with Walker Road and Tullos primary and nursery schools. Incredibly, big noise Torry reached a milestone last August when its oldest participants started secondary school in Lochside academy.

Throughout the pandemic, big noise Torry has worked closely with local schools to maintain the wellbeing of children and families and ensure continuity of learning. During the first lockdown, big noise Torry went virtual, delivering numerous online music lessons. Such was the demand for lessons that its delivery extended beyond primary 1 to 3 and went all the way up to primary 7. During the second lockdown, the strength of the partnerships between local primary schools and big noise enabled musicians to become key workers, supporting educational delivery and wellbeing support for vulnerable children.

Meanwhile, the team continued to play a leading role in digital development and was the first big noise centre to use Facebook live during the first lockdown. It subsequently supported other centres during big noise birthday week. Alongside the Wednesday wee ones videos, big noise Torry continues to have weekly Facebook live broadcasts for participants and community members. Lorna Carruthers has recently joined big noise Torry in the role of head of centre, bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge that will ensure that big noise Torry goes from strength to strength.

The 2019 evaluation of big noise undertaken by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health reported consistent positive impacts on participants’ lives and recognised that, at the heart of big noise is a quality, meaningful and trusted relationship between musicians and participants. Big noise musicians are educators and mentors and can become role models. It is through those types of relationships that people change lives.

I welcome the inclusion of Sistema Scotland and similar initiatives in the Deputy First Minister’s statement on the Covid recovery strategy earlier this afternoon as important strategies supporting the wellbeing of children. I wish big noise Wester Hailes the very best of luck and I cannot wait to watch its first online music performance.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that comments that were made by the North Yorkshire police commissioner, who blamed Sarah Everard for her murder by saying that she “never should have submitted” to arrest, were completely inappropriate? Does he agree that we should never blame women or leave it up to women to fix the problem of male violence and that, for change to happen, it needs to be accepted by everyone?

Households on low incomes are experiencing significant pressure due to Covid-19, which will only be made worse by the UK Government’s ill-judged moves to cut universal credit and the furlough scheme. Does the cabinet secretary agree that those decisions should be reversed immediately? Can he provide further detail on the actions that the Scottish Government will take as part of the strategy to support households on low incomes?

In what ways does the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021 provide tangible support for those who have experienced abuse in care?

Does the First Minister agree that local authority budgets have been badly affected by the disastrous Tory Brexit deal? [Interruption.] Councils such as Aberdeenshire Council are struggling to repair potholes because contractors cite additional costs relating to supplies and staff.

The next agenda item is a round-table discussion on legal aid and legal aid reform. I refer members to papers 2 and 3. We will take evidence from a round table of witnesses, who will join us virtually due to social distancing rules at Holyrood.

I welcome our witnesses: Gillian Fyfe, strategic lead for strong communities, Citizens Advice Scotland; Tony Lenehen, president of the Faculty of Advocates criminal bar association; Ian Moir, legal aid convener for the Law Society of Scotland; David Fraser, executive director of court operations at the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service; Colin Lancaster, chief executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board; Julia McPartlin, president of the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association; Professor Alan Paterson, professor of law at the University of Strathclyde; and Dr Marsha Scott, chief executive of Scottish Women’s Aid. We appreciate the time that they have taken to join us, and I thank the witnesses who have provided written submissions. Those are available online.

I intend to allow an hour and 20 minutes for questions and discussion. I ask members to indicate which witness they are directing their remarks to, then we can open the floor to other witnesses for comments. If other witnesses wish to respond, I ask them to indicate that by typing R in the chat function on BlueJeans and I will bring them in if time permits. If they are merely agreeing with a point that has been made, there is no need to intervene to say so. Other comments that witnesses make in the chat function will not be visible to committee members or recorded anywhere, so if a witness wants to make a comment, they should do so by requesting to speak.

We now move on to questions. I ask members and our invited guests keep their questions and comments as succinct as possible to facilitate a free-flowing discussion. I will structure the discussion around a series of broad themes. The first theme is access to justice and the current experiences of users of the legal aid system, and I will direct some opening questions to Professor Alan Paterson and Mr Ian Moir.

Professor Paterson, you had an advisory role in Martyn Evans’s review, which resulted in the report, “Rethinking Legal Aid—an independent strategic review” in 2018. It brought out some key issues about simplifying the system, creating a fair payments system and making the system more accessible. What priorities do you see in the overall theme of accessing legal aid and how can we improve access to criminal justice legal aid?

I will bring in Mr Lancaster for a very quick comment, and then I will move to Mr Findlay for questions on other aspects.

I will now bring this evidence session to a close. I again apologise for the lack of time—there is so much to cover. Many thanks to all the witnesses who have joined us today. If there are any outstanding points that you would like to share with the committee, please feel free to follow up with them in writing, and we will of course take them into account as additional evidence.

My thanks again to all our witnesses for attending today.

Mr Greene, I am conscious of the time, and I would like the discussion to remain focused on the SSI. If you have any further questions in that respect, that is fine, but if not, I will move on to Mr MacGregor.

As members have no further questions, I thank the cabinet secretary and his officials for attending. I will suspend the meeting for a short time before we move on to the next agenda item.