Chamber and committees

Rachael Hamilton wants to ask a quick supplementary question.

Agenda item 2 is consideration of an affirmative instrument. I welcome to the meeting Siobhian Brown MSP, who is the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, and her supporting officials from the Scottish Government. Lisa Davidson is a senior policy officer in the courts and tribunals branch, and Leanna MacLarty is a solicitor in the legal directorate.

I refer members to paper 1 and I invite the minister to speak to the draft regulations.

If you have a concern, I can advise you that you have the ability to lodge a motion to annul the instrument with the chamber desk, and that the issue will then be discussed and debated in the chamber. The committee’s timetable does not allow for us to discuss the instrument again, but that route is available to you, should you wish to take it.

Thank you. Many of the findings of the asylum inquiry resonate with the evidence heard by our committee, such as people not feeling safe in the hotels, the food being inadequate, people having to rely on charities and people experiencing barriers to accessing health care, including mental health care.

The inquiry also reflects on similar inconsistent evidence provided by Mears Group and the third sector organisations. The third sector has been quite critical of Mears, while local authorities have said that they work well with the company. Mears has said that it works well with all partners associated with asylum accommodation.

Do you think that there is inconsistency between the evidence from private contractors and third sector organisations? I would also be interested to hear your views on the use of private contractors in the context.

You recommended that Mears should put an amount of money into providing a mental health and wellbeing service for asylum seekers and refugees. Has there been any movement on that?

Baroness, you have provided powerful, compelling evidence for our inquiry. I thank you for taking the time to speak to us and giving us all that information and insight.

We will now draw this evidence session to a close. I once again thank Baroness Helena Kennedy very much for attending.

It would be helpful to obtain more information. The issue of free bus travel has come up time and time again. Third sector stakeholders with lived experience have all raised it in their evidence. Would Aileen Harding like to come in on that?

On having no recourse to public funds, minister, you mentioned that asylum seekers and refugees have different statuses and are assessed differently. In response to the war in Ukraine, the Scottish Government took on the role of supersponsor. During the past few weeks, we have heard evidence from asylum seekers and refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea and Sudan who in no way wish to see and end to the amazing work and support that Scotland has provided at Government level and public level towards the Ukrainians. However, they felt that there was a disparity between the levels of treatment of different refugees from different countries. I am therefore interested in the minister’s and Scottish Government’s view on that. Unfortunately we live in a turbulent world, so what criteria would the Scottish Government use for supersponsor status in the future?

Paul O’Kane joins us online.

Go ahead.