Official Report 874KB pdf
Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, and Parliamentary Business
We move to portfolio question time, and the first portfolio is constitution, external affairs and culture, and parliamentary business. As members will appreciate, we are tight for time across a busy afternoon. Therefore, I appeal for succinct questions and responses. Any member who wishes to ask a supplementary question should press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question.
Creative Scotland Review
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects its preparatory work to conclude and the review into Creative Scotland, which was announced in September 2024, to get under way. (S6O-04057)
I begin by extending my congratulations to the Scottish artist Jasleen Kaur for winning the Turner prize 2024. I note that she said that an inspiring school teacher and funding from the Scottish Government made it possible for her to train as an artist. I am sure that all members across the parties wish her well.
In answer to Tess White’s question, I recognise that it is essential that the culture sector has an opportunity to engage in the work on Creative Scotland. I can confirm that the engagement will begin early next year with a short survey about the scope of the review. The Scottish Government aims to announce the independent chair of the Creative Scotland review shortly and will aim for them to publish their recommendations by summer 2025.
Gender-critical author Jenny Lindsay wrote in her latest book, “Hounded”, that
“in a democracy … no person or group should be permitted to force their own subjective beliefs on those who take a contrary position”.
Yet, that is precisely what Creative Scotland did when a member of staff tried to prevent Ms Lindsay’s book from being stocked by bookshops because she was wrongly deemed to be transphobic. That was cultural authoritarianism at its worst.
The planned review into Creative Scotland is welcome, but can the cabinet secretary provide assurances that the process will look at the importance of protecting free speech for authors and artists who seek support for their work from a public body?
I thank Tess White for her welcome of the review. I say to her, as I have said to other colleagues in previous portfolio question times, that I look forward to the independent chair of the Creative Scotland review being able to get on with the process independently. I am sure that, when we announce that person and they take up office, they will listen closely to what MSPs of all parties have said about issues that they consider that the review should look at. It is not for me to suggest what should be on and off the table for an independent chair of a review to take seriously. I am sure that Tess White will wish to raise that directly with the chair when their appointment is announced.
Creative Scotland Review
To ask the Scottish Government how the planned review of Creative Scotland will improve compliance with fair work principles in the culture sector. (S6O-04058)
The review of Creative Scotland is a necessary part of a wider piece of work to maximise the impact of public funding. Our belief is that public sector funding should lever in wider societal benefits, such as the promotion of fair work, to support the development of a sustainable and successful wellbeing economy that is fair, green and growing over the long term.
The fair work task force is due to present its recommendations in June 2025. That will allow them to be considered during the review.
The review and the trajectory towards £100 million of additional culture funding offer a huge opportunity to improve much about the culture sector. Instead of dragging the sector into Tory transphobic culture wars, it would be of far more practical benefit to address issues such as fair work in a sector in which casual labour and freelance work are pretty much endemic.
Will the cabinet secretary ensure that fair work principles are addressed specifically in the review’s remit? Will he ensure that the unions that represent casual and freelance workers—creatives and those on the hospitality side of the culture sector—are represented as well?
As I am sure Patrick Harvie would expect, I meet the trade unions in the culture and arts sector regularly. I think that I am right in saying that I did so only last week. Fair work was at the top of the agenda of our conversations and, as I said to the unions, I say to Mr Harvie that I expect the review to consider that and other issues. In the meantime, by working through the task force, the Scottish Government will continue to play its part in all deliverables that ensure that fair work is respected across the culture and arts sector.
I join the cabinet secretary in congratulating Jasleen Kaur on winning the Turner prize.
Analysis of Creative Scotland’s published accounts from 2022-23 shows that the percentage of its budget that reached the pockets of front-line creatives in that year fell to 83 per cent, compared with 92 per cent in the two previous years. On achieving fair work, does the cabinet secretary agree that a greater proportion of Creative Scotland’s budget should be used to put money in the pockets of front-line creatives? Will that be considered as part of the review, alongside Mr Harvie’s sensible suggestions?
I give Neil Bibby the same assurance that I gave colleagues from other political parties in previous portfolio questions. The independent review of Creative Scotland will have to consider the wider arts and culture sector, not just that which is directly or indirectly funded by Creative Scotland. I am really keen for it to consider all the options that are relevant to people in the sector. That is why an invitation will be extended to the sector to raise issues, needs, interests, concerns and expectations. I expect members of all parties, and parties themselves, to be able to play an active role in that.
I give Neil Bibby a commitment that fair work is very high on my agenda. I believe that the review will be part of ensuring that we are able to deliver everything that we possibly can to ensure that people who work in the arts and culture sector are on a firm financial footing.
Employer National Insurance Contributions Increase (Impact on Culture Sector)
To ask the Scottish Government what impact it anticipates that the UK Government’s decision to raise employer national insurance contributions will have on organisations in the culture sector that are in receipt of Scottish Government funding. (S6O-04059)
The increased costs to the sector introduced by the United Kingdom Labour Government could lead to a reduction in employment, wages or services. The Scottish Government is committed to investing at least £100 million more annually in culture and the arts by 2028-29. It is disappointing that the UK Government has chosen to erode the benefits of that. We are clear that it should have asked the people with the broadest shoulders to contribute more, not tried to balance its budget on the back of cultural organisations, charities and the health service.
In recent years, the UK Government funding that has been available for the culture sector has decreased. Grant-in-aid funding for UK arts and cultural organisations fell by 18 per cent between 2010 and 2023. Thousands of charities and cultural organisations have warned that they will now have to absorb the costs of the changes. What impact will that have on the long-term sustainability of the culture sector in Scotland?
I recognise that the sector is hugely concerned about public funding for culture and about what the immediate and longer-term futures hold. It is not right that those organisations should be disadvantaged by the UK Government’s policy change. There is significant uncertainty about whether the UK Government will adequately and properly cover the costs of the changes to national insurance contributions. That will be the subject of detailed discussions between the Scottish and UK Governments as we proceed with our budget steps.
I, too, join the cabinet secretary in congratulating Jasleen Kaur on winning the Turner prize.
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that the national insurance contribution changes will have a cumulative cost of £75 million to the third sector in Scotland. Given that charities and the third sector play such a critical role in promoting Scotland, what guarantees can the cabinet secretary give that those vital employers will not be subject to further in-year cuts by the Scottish Government?
We are talking about the UK Government’s announcement on national insurance contributions, and Pam Gosal is absolutely right to highlight that the changes will have an impact on the third sector and on culture and the arts. Through our communications with the UK Government, we will do everything to stress that it is for it to ameliorate the problems. The Scottish Government’s job is not to make good on bad decisions by the UK Government but to use our powers in devolved areas of responsibility to deliver certainty and growth. We will try to do that as much as we can, but, given how detrimental the UK Government’s decision on national insurance contributions will be, we will have to persuade it to make good on its damaging decision.
Culture Sector (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture secretary has had with the finance secretary regarding whether it will deliver its commitment to provide an additional £25 million to the culture sector in 2025-26. (S6O-04060)
I have had regular discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government regarding the aim of providing a further £25 million in the next financial year as part of the commitment to provide an additional £100 million per year by 2028-29. I look forward to setting out further details on culture funding for the next financial year in the coming days, after the Scottish Government budget has been published later this afternoon.
The culture sector has faced a double whammy of broken promises and underfunding. The situation has been compounded by local authority budget cuts that have stripped more than £163 million from culture and heritage budgets since 2011-12. Will the cabinet secretary commit not only to talking to the finance secretary about the promised £25 million but to securing a fair funding settlement for local government that will start to reverse the culture cuts that have hit our communities?
Mark Griffin has asked an important question just ahead of the budget, so he will have to be a bit patient. I note what he has said about local government finance and the Labour Party’s hope that we will raise spending by £25 million, which was echoed by the Scottish Music Industry Association. Let us see what is in the budget later this afternoon, and I will be happy to have further conversations with Mark Griffin, if he wants.
Increased culture funding has the welcome potential to improve the arts sector in Scotland and allow it to flourish. What steps will the Scottish Government take, alongside any funding increase, to ensure that money is not wasted? What will the cabinet secretary do to ensure that projected funds from any uplift are an appropriate use of taxpayers’ money?
I give Alexander Stewart the assurance that, particularly at this time of year, a lot of thought goes into ensuring that we maximise funding. As members would expect, as the culture secretary, I have impressed on colleagues why it is important to have the appropriate funding in place. Our conversations with funding bodies such as Creative Scotland and with the national performing companies, which I met earlier today, revolve extensively around the best use of taxpayers’ money to ensure that we support culture and the arts in the best way possible. If Alexander Stewart has any views in that regard, I urge him to feed them into the Creative Scotland review process, and I am sure that they will be taken very seriously.
Community Arts and Placemaking (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent reaffirmation of its commitment to increase culture funding by at least an additional £100 million a year by 2028-29, how much of this extra investment will be directed towards community arts and placemaking. (S6O-04061)
I would be in trouble if I was to preview what we are about to hear in the budget, so I will rest on the point that, once the Scottish Government budget has been published later this afternoon, I will set out further details on funding for specific areas of the culture sector, and I will be happy to share that with Ariane Burgess.
Community arts organisations in my region, such as Findhorn Bay Arts, Dunoon POP Shop and An Lanntair, in Stornoway, play a key role in placemaking, but because of a lack of a clear route map for that kind of funding and the low levels of funding relative to other European nations, organisations around the country are worried about how secure the £100 million pledge is. They have set up the investing culture campaign—I am sure that the cabinet secretary is aware of it—to highlight the value of the culture sector and raise their concerns. What route map does the Government have for funding community arts and placemaking?
I strongly urge Ariane Burgess to remain where she is and wait for the budget. I am sure that she will hear much more about the subject.
In passing, I put on the record my appreciation to Findhorn Bay Arts and many of the arts and cultural organisations that emanate from the Universal hall and Findhorn more generally. Speaking as a former member of Parliament for Moray, I know how talented the arts organisations that are based there are.
I am a big fan of community arts projects, but I would be in breach of protocol if I gave previews of what is in the budget. I encourage Ariane Burgess to remain in her seat to listen to the details later.
Labour has made a real-terms cut to the culture resource funding in England, with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport seeing an average 2.5 per cent cut in day-to-day spending between 2023-24 and 2025-26. Given the concerns that have been raised by those in the culture sector, can the cabinet secretary outline how that contrasts with the approach that the Scottish Government is taking and the steps that it will continue to take to support community arts?
Gordon MacDonald is absolutely right to highlight the fact that the UK Labour Government is cutting revenue funding through the DCMS for the culture sector in England. It is worth noting that the Labour Government in Wales is also cutting culture funding, whereas spending in Scotland is up.
I assure Mr MacDonald that I am committed to supporting arts and culture in the community. I know at first hand how important that is. After the publication of the Scottish budget this afternoon, I will be happy to set out in more detail how we will continue to support community arts.
The MacMillan Skills Hub in Muirhouse, in north Edinburgh, will fully reopen in January. The project, which was completed with support from the Scottish Government and others, will include a 96-seat theatre, a social enterprise cafe, artist studios and a council library. It is a great example of local culture benefiting all. Can the cabinet secretary advise whether the Scottish Government would consider working with the Brunton Theatre Trust in a similar effort to replace the Brunton theatre in Musselburgh, which was recently forced to close?
I welcome Foysol Choudhury’s question and the way in which he asked it. I have already given commitments to the constituency member who represents the theatre in Musselburgh.
I am delighted to hear about the progress that is being made in Muirhouse. If there is anything more that I can do to support either of those organisations and venues, I am open to doing so.
Library Services (Rural Areas)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it can do to support access to library services in rural areas. (S6O-04062)
Public libraries are devolved to local authorities, which have a statutory duty to secure the provision of adequate library facilities in their area.
We encourage library usage through our support for the Scottish Library and Information Council. That support includes £450,000 for the public library improvement fund, which supports creative, sustainable and innovative public library projects throughout Scotland and is on top of our general revenue funding to local authorities.
The cabinet secretary might be aware of the proposal to close a host of rural libraries across Perth and Kinross, which is a serious issue. The case for libraries is well known and well made, but libraries in Perth and Kinross are now run by an arm’s-length external organisation. There is a complete democratic deficit there when communities are trying to campaign to save those libraries.
Is there not a need for clearer guidance to be given to local authorities on the provision of rural libraries? Is there not also a need for a review of the democratic deficit that has been created by, in effect, creating quangos to run those public services and, indeed, close them?
As I am sure that Alex Rowley knows, I am a big fan of libraries and a big supporter of library provision right across Scotland, whether in rural or urban settings.
The member raises an issue about democratic accountability and decisions that are made at local authority level. I am perfectly content to have a look at the question that he raises and I will endeavour to write back and reply to him. I will do anything that I can to support and encourage colleagues in local authorities to protect and support the provision of library services.
Members from across the chamber, including Mr Rowley just now, have raised concerns about the closure of libraries in Perth and Kinross, which is part of the region that Mr Rowley and I represent. The issue is not isolated to Perth and Kinross; it is happening right across the country, where councils are looking to close libraries due to cost pressures.
I welcome what the cabinet secretary said about the value of libraries. Is it not time for a proper national strategy to protect local libraries, given their importance to the community? Is it not time that the Scottish Government properly funded local councils to make sure that libraries can stay open?
First, on local government finance, I am sure that Mr Fraser will be listening closely to the budget statement later this afternoon.
I am open to all suggestions about ensuring that Scotland—a country of libraries—can maintain the level of service that the public support. I appreciate that there are cost pressures in local government and that there are challenges, particularly in rural areas. I have given Alex Rowley an undertaking that I will look at the issue, and I will happily share my response to him with Murdo Fraser.
I understand that a review has been undertaken in Perth and Kinross. No doubt, Mr Fraser has made a submission to that—given how important the issue is, I am sure that he will have done so. If he forwards that submission to me so that I can understand better the challenges in Perth and Kinross, I will look closely at that.
Brand Scotland
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of brand Scotland. (S6O-04063)
Since brand Scotland was established by the Scottish Government in 2018, it has gone from strength to strength and has evolved into a multi-award-winning nation brand. The cross-organisational partnership continues to play an instrumental role in improving Scotland’s positive reputation abroad by building and maintaining strong relationships with other nations and attracting people to Scotland to live, work, study and do business.
I extend my congratulations to the teams working across the brand Scotland partnership on winning five awards this year, the most recent of which was at the City Nation Place global awards 2024, in which the partnership achieved the best communication strategy award.
I have had a look at the brand Scotland website, which is an excellent tool. However, what plans does the Scottish Government have to ensure that more people, both at home and abroad, are aware of that comprehensive source of information about Scotland? How can local communities ensure that their events are referenced?
I commend Annabelle Ewing for her supplementary question, in which she raises the excellent opportunity that we all have to get behind the brand Scotland partnership. For members who are not aware, I point out that they can visit www.scotland.org and click on the link to the toolkit at the bottom of the landing page to access the amazing resources there to help promote things such as our economy, our tourism sector, our universities or the food and drink sector. All those organisations work in partnership as part of brand Scotland.
I hope and expect that colleagues from right across the chamber in all parties are using that resource to help promote Scotland at home and abroad. Of course, local communities are welcome to use the branding tools for their event promotion to help to showcase the beauty of Scotland to those who come here to live, work, study, visit and do business.
Question 8 was not lodged. Therefore, that concludes portfolio questions on constitution, external affairs and culture, and parliamentary business.
Justice and Home Affairs
We move straight on to portfolio questions on justice and home affairs. I make the same appeal as I made earlier: on a busy afternoon, I would appreciate succinct questions and responses. Any member who wishes to ask a supplementary question should press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question.
Violence against Women and Girls
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it being the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to tackle violence against women and girls. (S6O-04065)
Violence against women and girls is abhorrent. If we want to have a society that is free from violence, abuse and misogyny, we must prioritise addressing the root cause of that violence—gender inequality.
Tackling gender-based violence is not a commitment for only 16 days; it is a commitment for 365 days. Working with a range of partners, we are implementing our ambitious and long-term equally safe strategy, which focuses on early intervention and prevention and is backed by the annual provision of £19 million through the delivering equally safe fund, which supports 119 projects involving more than 100 organisations.
Violence against women and girls is abhorrent, and front-line services provide much-needed support to victims and survivors. What steps is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that victims get all the support that they need?
We are investing record levels of funding, including through the provision of significant levels of funding to front-line services, to support victims of violence, including through our delivering equally safe fund and the victim-centred approach fund.
Between October 2021 and March 2024, the delivering equally safe fund supported 67,004 adults, children and young people. The stories of the transformative impact on their lives demonstrate the importance of that work. Between 2022 and 2025, our victim-centred approach fund is providing £48 million to 23 organisations, including £18.5 million for specialist advocacy support for survivors of gender-based violence.
The Scottish Government regularly highlights its excellent equally safe at school project, which was developed by Rape Crisis Scotland. That project is one of the key ways of tackling violence against women and girls at its root.
The Scottish Government reported that it expected that the equally safe at school project would have been running in around 48 per cent of secondary schools by 2020, but it seems from an answer to a parliamentary question that I recently submitted that, four years later, only 116 schools have registered with the project, which is less than one third of secondary schools. Will the cabinet secretary outline what action the Government will take to ensure that all secondary schools run the equally safe at school programme, or a similar programme, to tackle violence against women and girls at its root?
Ms McNeill raises an important point about the efficacy of the equally safe at school programme. When I was the social justice secretary, I attended the launch of that programme in a Lanarkshire school. I know that progress has been made with its roll-out, but I will raise the matter with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, who has responsibility for that area.
The Scottish Government’s stated position in the equally safe strategy is that prostitution is violence against women. In the absence of a Scottish Government plan to challenge demand, will the Scottish Government do the right thing by Scotland’s women and girls and back my unbuyable bill?
The member is quite correct: the commercial sexual exploitation of women is indeed a form of violence against women and girls. The Scottish Government has a programme of work, at the core of which is to challenge and deter demand for that form of violence.
I know that my colleague Ms Brown has met Ms Regan and will continue to do so. It is important that the issue is not considered in isolation and that we all get behind a collective endeavour.
Bella Centre and Lilias Centre
To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of how successful the Bella centre in Dundee and Lilias centre in Glasgow have been in acknowledging the experience of trauma and adversity and supporting successful transitions for women back into the community. (S6O-04066)
Community custody units represent a step change in the rehabilitation of women in custody. The units support women to develop key life skills and a greater degree of independence, giving them the best possible chance of a successful return to the community.
I welcome Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland’s recent report on HMP YOI Stirling and the Lilias and Bella centres, which found them to be safe, stable and in keeping with the trauma-informed ethos that is set out in the national strategy for women in custody. The inspectorate commended the units for their “evident successful beginning” and hailed them as a
“significant milestone on the SPS’s journey towards excellence”.
The Bella and Lilias community custody units are world-leading facilities and are the only ones of their kind in the United Kingdom, and as such, they have rightly garnered national and international interest. I was hugely impressed when I visited them in my former ministerial role. I was so struck by the sense of calm and the psychologically informed design that they embodied. I said at the time that they felt more like a women’s refuge than a custody setting. Will the cabinet secretary provide an update on the continued assessment and evaluation of those centres moving forward to ensure their success in delivering a safe, stable and trauma-informed service, especially to those women who have experienced severe and multiple disadvantages?
I thank Ms Whitham for her continued interest. I, too, am proud of what has been achieved by the introduction of the community custody units. The approach is founded on the principle that all aspects of the care of women in custody should be designed for women and take account of their likely experience of trauma and adversities. The universities of Glasgow, Stirling and Cambridge have been commissioned to undertake an independent evaluation of the community custody units, and I very much look forward to considering their report in the spring.
Cashback for Communities
To ask the Scottish Government how much money recovered from the proceeds of crime has been committed to the cashback for communities programme since 2008. (S6O-04067)
Since 2008, cashback for communities has committed £130 million of money recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to support around 1.3 million young people across all 32 local authorities in Scotland. Cashback-funded partners provide a spectrum of interventions, including providing safe spaces, trusted adults and a range of positive diversionary and support activity to young people who may be at risk of entering the criminal justice system and communities that are impacted by crime.
The programme delivers national and local projects, with particular efforts made to work in the lowest 20 per cent of Scottish index of multiple deprivation areas to ensure equality of opportunities for our young people. That is reflected in the annual impact report, which will be published shortly.
Cashback for communities has invested £8.7 million into projects across Edinburgh since 2008, supporting 198,000 activities. SCOREscotland, which is a recipient of funding, delivers significant intervention work through its youth exchange project at Gate 55 in my constituency. Young people are driving change in their communities and influencing what happens through the cashback for communities programme. Will the minister advise how the effectiveness and impact of the programme funding will be evaluated?
The member raises examples of great work that is happening in his constituency. I urge all MSPs to look at the cashback work that is going on in their constituencies and pay a visit.
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of transparency when it comes to evaluating the cashback for communities programme. The impact of the programme is evidenced in two ways. Each year, an impact report is published, which provides evidence of how cashback has positively impacted young people’s lives and provides an opportunity for young people to make their voices heard.
In addition, an independent evaluation is commissioned to review the impact and value of each three-year phase of cashback for communities. We have appointed Bean Research to evaluate phase 6 of the programme. The evaluation will assess the effectiveness of the programme, with a particular emphasis on measuring and reporting social changes that the programme delivers.
I will take a supplementary question, as long as it is brief and the response is likewise.
The latest statistics reveal the scale of confiscation orders that are imposed on criminals but not yet paid. Around a quarter of the fines that were issued in 2020-21 remain unpaid and behind schedule, amounting to almost £500,000, and the figures for 2022-23 are not much better.
In total, from the past five years, criminals who are subject to those orders are £1.7 million in arrears—that is money that could be benefiting communities and victims of crime. What is the Scottish Government doing to improve collection rates?
As the member knows, up to £20 million has been committed to phase 6 of the programme, and the Scottish Government will always endeavour to do what we can to improve the collection of the proceeds of crime.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to support the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in advance of the winter months. (S6O-04068)
The Scottish Government supports the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to keep our communities safe, every day of the year, through its highly skilled crews, providing £393.3 million this year. The SFRS is ready to respond to the range of challenges over winter, including severe weather and flooding, and it works closely with our other responders through resilience partnerships. As a national organisation, it can direct resources where it needs them most. The SFRS will continue to issue public safety advice over the winter, with a particular focus on road and water safety in the event of severe weather. In parallel, the Scottish Government supports the service to undertake prevention activity through home fire safety visits to vulnerable people and winter safety campaigns.
I thank the minister for that response. John McKenzie, Scottish secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has recently warned that the service is in a deadly cycle of decline, with the number of engines being cut, and funding so bad that some stations do not even have running water. Can the minister reassure our brave firefighters that the Scottish National Party Government will not perpetuate that deadly cycle of decline?
We continue our commitment to support the SFRS to deliver a high standard of services that are required to keep the whole of Scotland safe. As I said, in the 2024-25 budget there was £393.3 million, which is £79 million more than it was back in 2017-18. Decisions on how that budget is spent is a matter for the SFRS board. We will continue to work closely with the SFRS to identify funding needs.
There is a supplementary from Beatrice Wishart.
Thank you Presiding Officer. I am sorry, but there is something wrong with the camera. I do not know what is wrong with it. I have a blank screen.
I should, before I ask my question, declare that I have a family member who is a volunteer with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
The regional secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, John McKenzie, said that he found Shetland’s Bressay fire station to be
“the worst station I have seen in 20 years”.
Work is urgently needed to bring stations up to an acceptable standard for our emergency services crews. In advance of the winter months, what will the Scottish Government do to ensure that the fire stations in Shetland will be supported and that the facilities receive urgent attention?
The safety and welfare staff in the SFRS continue to invest in the repair and maintenance of its buildings so that it can deliver services to communities across Scotland. I know that the SFRS has a programme of fire station refurbishment, where dignified facilities for all firefighters, along with proper separation of areas to avoid contamination, are priorities. It is right and sensible for the SFRS to consider where its assets should be based to ensure that the right resources are in the right place to deal with the risks that our communities face. I am happy to write to Beatrice Wishart specifically about the Shetland case.
Legal Aid
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent reports that many towns in Scotland are so-called legal aid deserts. (S6O-04069)
The number of active legal aid solicitors has remained broadly similar in the years since 2020, and we are unaware of any accused being released as a result of being underrepresented. We acknowledge that people seeking help in relation to certain types of cases face challenges in some places. However, we cannot compel private solicitors to undertake work.
We recognise that reform is needed, and the Scottish Legal Aid Board is currently undertaking a comprehensive analysis to collect evidence of the degree of legal aid activity at geographical and subject matter level. I have written to the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association, asking them to continue to work productively to identify measures to improve and reform Scotland’s legal aid system.
Over recent years, legal aid organisations have called for serious reform, citing a system that has been left in a state of neglect. Their calls have been frustrated by a Government that has failed to recognise the need for immediate action. In recognising the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, does the minister accept that a failure to deliver both short and longer-term reforms to the legal aid system poses significant risks to vulnerable groups in our society, particularly victims of domestic abuse?
I acknowledge—I have been up front on the parliamentary timetable—that it is unlikely that primary legislation and legal aid reform will happen in this parliamentary term. However, I am committed to making legal aid reform within the next 18 months.
Legal aid needs to be better able to identify and anticipate the needs of service users to allocate resources where they are most needed and to ensure that it is accessible, consistent and transparent and has a clear focus on delivering policy objectives. That work is on-going and a paper on legal aid reform will be published imminently.
There are a couple of supplementary questions. I will get them both in if they and the responses are brief.
Significant changes were previously made in England and Wales which reduced both the scope and the resources for legal aid compared with those in Scotland. Has the minister considered replicating that or does the Scottish Government believe that free legal services should be available to those who are most in need?
Unlike England and Wales, where there have been significant cuts to legal aid scope and funding, we have maintained the scope and resourcing of legal aid.
The expenditure for legal aid provides timescales. The expenditure in the financial year 2023-24 was £151 million. That is demand led, and it was £10 million higher than the allocated budget. It was a 12 per cent increase on 2022-23 and a 16 per cent increase from 2019-20.
We do not intend to replicate the changes of the United Kingdom Government with reduced legal aid, but we agree that an independent review of reform is needed.
One of the drivers of legal aid deserts is the decreasing number of legal aid criminal defence solicitors. The legal aid trainee fund is due to end in March 2025 and the Government says that it is evaluating the scheme. When will the Government conclude that evaluation, and when precisely can practices expect to know whether support from the fund will continue beyond March 2025?
Regarding the numbers, some of the figures that have been in the local press do not take into account solicitors on joint duty plans. Additionally, they do not include publicly employed public defence solicitors.
The legal aid trainee fund is due to end in March 2025, and learning lessons from previous grant-funding projects such as that is extremely important. The outcome of the evaluation will help to shape and inform any decisions with regard to future traineeship. The fund will finish in March 2025, and then we will evaluate it.
Criminal Court Backlog
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is working to clear the criminal court backlog. (S6O-04070)
Significant progress has been made on reducing court backlogs. The number of scheduled trials has fallen by more than 20,000 since January 2022, which is a reduction of more than 48 per cent. That trend continues, and we remain committed to supporting justice partners to drive reform to ensure that our justice system works better for everyone.
Summary case management, which provides a new approach to summary criminal cases, and digital evidence sharing capability, which allows digital evidence to be shared at the earliest opportunity, are examples of reforms that aim to conclude cases more quickly and reduce the time for which victims, witnesses and the accused wait for trial.
Recent analysis conducted by the Public and Commercial Services Union found that 75 per cent of Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service staff felt that their high workload was impinging on their effectiveness and the successful delivery of justice. The justice system is crumbling, and problems are widespread and systemic. What action will the cabinet secretary take to support our staff in the court system to ensure that the long-running backlog is cleared?
I pay tribute to our hard-working courts and tribunals staff. It is accurate for me to point out to Alexander Stewart that, since 2021, this Government has invested £180 million in court recovery. It is true that our courts continue to be very busy. The level of business has changed and the new baseline will be to get the number of outstanding trials down to around 20,000.
As the chamber fills, I encourage members not to engage in private conversations while portfolio question time continues.
Law Enforcement Resources (Cities)
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Police Scotland to increase law enforcement resources in Scotland’s cities. (S6O-04071)
The budget statement, which we will hear shortly, will include details on how we will continue to support our hard-working police officers to keep Scotland’s communities safe.
I remind Sue Webber that, in our 2024-25 budget, we provided record police funding of £1.55 billion. The chief constable confirmed that that would allow her to maintain officer numbers at around 16,500 to 16,600, with the figure of 16,600 officers being reached on 4 November.
However, it remains the case that the UK Government’s austerity through the back door, via the increase in employer national insurance contributions, will cost our public services. The increase could add around £500 million to public sector costs.
Edinburgh’s population has grown over the past decade, along with complexities in policing the capital. However, that population growth has not been matched by a rise in divisional resources for Police Scotland, which has floated at around 1,100 officers in Edinburgh for most of this year. Maintaining numbers is not enough for the city.
I witnessed the pressures first hand when I went out with officers from Wester Hailes police station in south-west Edinburgh, and the strain became evident to all in the firework-related violence that we saw last month.
What action will the cabinet secretary take to ensure that Edinburgh has policing resources that are fit for a capital and match its growing population? [Interruption.]
I ask for a little less background noise.
The population continues to increase, not only in the city of Edinburgh but right across the Lothian region, including in my Almond Valley constituency. One of the benefits of having a national police resource is that resources can be deployed to where need is required.
In relation to the very important point that Sue Webber raised about bonfire night this year, during which one officer was injured, I note that someone was charged for that and that it was an improvement on the 62 injuries to police officers last year. However, one injury is, of course, one too many.
As has been said, this year, we have experienced some very dangerous, harmful and disruptive antisocial behaviour in Edinburgh, undertaken in the main by a very small minority of young people. I would be grateful if the cabinet secretary would engage with Police Scotland partners and MSPs in 2025 to consider any further ways that we can address that together.
Yes, of course. Although decisions on the deployment of resources are for the chief constable, as of 30 September, Edinburgh’s E division had more than 1,100 officers deployed across the city, which is a small increase on the previous quarter.
The independent working group on antisocial behaviour will report to ministers, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and Police Scotland by the end of 2024, ahead of publication. I look forward to reading and discussing its findings and recommendations, and I will keep Ben Macpherson informed.
Firework Control Zones (South Lanarkshire Council)
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with South Lanarkshire Council regarding potential firework control zones in the local authority area. (S6O-04072)
The Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 gave local authorities powers to designate firework control zones. It is for them to decide how they use those powers. This year, four zones were designated by the City of Edinburgh Council.
Statutory guidance is available to support local authorities, and the Scottish Government has made funding available for consulting on and implementing the zones. South Lanarkshire Council has not requested any of that funding or approached my officials about the possibility of doing so.
More broadly, I recognise the nature of problems that are caused by fireworks, and I have written to the United Kingdom Government to ask for a meeting to discuss what more can be done on fireworks regulation.
Glasgow City Council offers the option for community requests to be made online in relation to firework control zone consideration, yet South Lanarkshire Council has no information about the process on its website. Groups in my Rutherglen constituency are interested in learning more about making a community request. Will the minister shed more light on the process and encourage local authorities to share information locally on how to make community requests?
Firework control zone statutory guidance, which was jointly developed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, was issued in June 2023. It makes clear that local authorities should, where possible, establish a local process to give communities the ability to make the case for the designation of firework control zones through a community request.
The format and detail of the community request process will be determined by each local authority. I repeat the encouragement that I have given previously to all local authorities to establish published and accessible details about community request processes.
I hope that the information that I have provided is helpful for Clare Haughey’s on-going engagement with South Lanarkshire Council in that regard.
What discussions has the Scottish Government had with councils that implemented firework control zones in this first year? Will the minister undertake to provide a full report to this Parliament, which spent a great deal of time scrutinising the legislation, on the operation and effectiveness of control zones and the lessons that can be learned?
I have had a briefing with Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service after bonfire night and the implementation of the firework control zones. I have not engaged with the City of Edinburgh Council yet, but I will do so. I am happy to report back to Katy Clark.
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Budget 2025-26