Chamber and committees

The 10 “Nightingale” courts in England and Wales are being set up for civil and non-custody cases. Running full trials in external venues was one of a range of options to restart jury trials put forward by the Scottish Government but, following our discussions with partners and stakeholders, it is not one of the options currently being focussed on. Jury trials in Scotland have now recommenced using two different models, while virtual proceedings are being used for summary and civil business. We are continuing to work with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to explore additional innovative solutions to enable recovery across the justice system.

The position remains as per my answer of 4 June 2020. The impact of Covid-19 has meant development of new services in this area is not likely to be possible while the current focus is on maintaining and recovering justice services. My intention is though that these discussions will resume as soon as practically possible.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days”

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

The published Financial Memorandum which accompanies the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill details the Scottish Government’s estimates regarding the number of additional prosecutions that may take place should the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill be enacted.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

The responses to the, ‘ One Scotland: Hate Has No Home Here ’, consultation and public awareness events yielded valuable information both from individual and organisational perspectives.

Subsequently the Scottish Government contracted independent external analysts who undertook the analysis of the consultation responses and produced a report , which was then published on the Scottish Government website in June 2019.

Contained within Annex A of the report is a list of all the organisations who responded to the consultation broken down into four categories: third sector bodies, public sector and partnership bodies, faith groups and other organisations .

These responses can also be viewed individually on the Scottish Government’s Consultation website unless the organisation requested that their response remain anonymous.

I announced on 3 July that the Scottish Government is establishing the Performing Arts Venues Relief fund – a £10 million fund to support Scotland’s performing arts venues to be administered by Creative Scotland so that organisations across Scotland are able to access this much-needed money as quickly as possible. On 5th of July, the UK Government announced a £1.57 billion support package, with £97 million for Scotland which the First Minister has confirmed will be used for the arts, culture and heritage.

We welcome this announcement and we are pleased that the UK Government has listened to our calls for significant funding for the arts, culture and heritage sectors and is using its borrowing powers, which we don’t have, to deliver this level of support. The Scottish Government is currently establishing the best means and the criteria to provide additional support to those in the arts, culture and heritage sectors who have been so badly affected by Covid-19.

We continue to take forward a range of initiatives to strengthen victims’ rights and ensure support and information is available to them. The Victims Taskforce is leading the development of a victim-centred approach to put victim’s needs at the heart of the justice process and provide more compassionate and trauma-informed support at every stage. The Taskforce is also directly informed by victims’ voices and experiences through the work of reference groups set up by Rape Crisis Scotland and Victim Support Scotland. All Taskforce papers, including a detailed work plan, have been published on the Scottish Government website https://www.gov.scot/groups/victims-taskforce/

We are investing £18.7 million during 2020-2021 to support victims of crime, including funding for victims’ organisations who provide practical and emotional support. This includes increasing Victim Support Scotland’s victims fund to £100,000 to help meet immediate financial needs of the most vulnerable victims. We’re also investing in specialised services for families bereaved by crime and have consulted on plans to give more victims of serious crimes the right to explain to courts how it has impacted on them.

In addition, since April 2019, under the Victim Notification Scheme, victims of prisoners who are serving a life sentence have been given the opportunity to make representations in person, orally or in writing before any decision is taken on the first occasion that the prisoner is considered for temporary release.

Progress has also been made on parole. We are discussing with the Parole Board options for victims attendance at hearings, improved communications and greater use of electronic monitoring, including GPS technology. We have also recently commenced work to rewrite the Parole Board for Scotland Rules.

The Scottish Government will continue to listen to the lived experiences of victims and their families in helping to shape our victim-centred approach within the justice process. If the Stewart family wish to meet with the Scottish Government again my office can facilitate a meeting.

The Aberdeen to Central Belt Reference Group met six times between May 2017 and September 2019, with representatives from Transport Scotland, Network Rail, ScotRail, Nestrans, Aberdeen City Region Deal and Tactran. A Key Stakeholder Group, involving these organisations, now meets quarterly to review project progress.

The Reference Group had commissioned a study exploring the possibility of doubling the line between Montrose and Usan Junction. However, this concluded it would be prohibitively expensive and have a major environmental impact on the Montrose Basin and its wildlife, while only delivering negligible journey time improvements. The Reference Group concluded that the investment would be better focussed on signalling enhancements between Aberdeen and Dundee.