The week in review

The week’s round-up includes the publication of legislation which would allow more pre-recording of evidence by vulnerable witnesses ahead of criminal trials, the launch of a new water rescue vessel in Aberdeen and the publication of the Damages Bill.

More pre-recording of evidence for criminal trials

Legislation to enable the greater use of pre-recording of evidence by child and vulnerable witnesses has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

The Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Bill would create a new rule that children who are due to give evidence in the most serious criminal cases should have their evidence pre-recorded in advance of trial.

The Bill proposes other improvements such as a simplified process for deemed vulnerable witnesses to request standard special measures such as giving evidence via a live TV link away from the courtroom during the trial.

It also includes a power to enable extension of the new rule to adult witnesses deemed to be vulnerable under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.  This covers complainers of sexual offences, stalking, domestic abuse and human trafficking in solemn proceedings.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said:

“This represents a significant change to the law and practice, which justice organisations will need to implement in a managed way in order to achieve our aim of ensuring witnesses can give their best evidence, while protecting the rights of the accused.

“From investing in a more ‘victim-centred’ approach that ensures people feel supported through the justice process to expanding advocacy services and funding research into survivors’ experiences, we are making significant progress to improve support for victims and witnesses.  We are working to deliver a criminal justice system that is increasingly focused on the people affected by crime rather than the processes surrounding them.”

 

SFRS launches new water rescue unit in Aberdeen

A team of specialist firefighters in Aberdeen are the latest to have been trained and equipped to stand on the frontline during severe weather related flooding and fast water rescue.

The highly-skilled Water Rescue Unit will be able to respond to the type of severe weather related incidents which devastated the Aberdeenshire community of Ballater during Storm Frank in 2015.

Community Safety Minister Annabelle Ewing said: 

“This investment in a new Water Rescue Unit for the north east is the latest example of the Scottish Government and SFRS’s continued commitment to protecting communities from emerging risks.

“The devastation to the Aberdeenshire community of Ballater by Storm Frank reminds us of the impact severe weather and flooding can have on communities. This new highly-skilled team will be better prepared than ever to help people who get into trouble in the water.

“And given that Scotland has more than 27,000 lochs alone, it is clear this is an important investment for Scottish communities.”

 

Human Trafficking – First Annual Progress Report

Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Matheson updated Parliament on progress in tackling human trafficking and exploitation in the past 12 months.

Read Mr Matheson’s full statement on the main Scottish Government website.

‘Trafficking and Exploitation: Strategy – First Annual Progress Report’ is available online.

Read our blog post with comments from key figures including TARA, Police Scotland and COSLA here.

Watch the Cabinet Secretary’s Parliamentary statement on the video below:

 

 

Damages Bill introduced

Reforming the law on setting the personal injury discount rate.

Legislation to create a clearer, fairer and more credible way of setting of the personal injury discount rate for damages claims has been published.

The personal injury (PI) discount rate is used to help calculate lump sum compensation to cover future losses such as future salary losses or future care costs in personal injury cases.

The Damages Bill, now introduced in the Scottish Parliament, addresses concerns that the current process for setting PI discount rate lacks transparency and has not been reviewed frequently enough – with the most recent change resulting in a substantial shift to the rate

Minister for Legal Affairs Annabelle Ewing said:

“This legislation is part of our wider programme of civil law reform which aims to ensure the system keeps pace with modern Scotland and the needs of its people. While the number of people affected by the discount rate is relatively small, we know that those cases tend to involve catastrophic injury with little prospect of the individual’s full recovery. That is why it is so important the law determining how the discount rate is set is clear, fair, transparent and credible.”

Read more on the main Scottish Government website.

Hate crime reporting must continue

Statistics on hate crime published

Hate Crime in Scotland 2017-18 can be accessed here

Victims and witnesses to hate crime are being encouraged to continue to speak out, as new statistics suggest more people are reporting incidents.

Following the publication of the bulletin, Hate Crime in Scotland 2017-18 the Community Safety Minister Annabelle Ewing said:

“It’s reassuring to see more people are coming forward to report hate crime, and in particular disability hate crime. A significant amount of work has been done by Police Scotland, the Crown Office and community organisations over the past year to ensure this is happening.

“But I still believe this isn’t the full picture and remain concerned that crime motivated by prejudice is underreported and would urge anyone who experiences it to ensure it’s reported properly.”

 

Justice Secretary launches One Community

A group of women are helping young people from Glasgow’s African community to create new lives in Scotland.

The ladies have become community champions supporting families to overcome challenges as they build a future in the city. 

The group are part of One Community which is led by prominent campaigner Khadija Coll who has spent more than 25 years working in Scotland and Africa with refugees. Khadija has developed the new project in collaboration with the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, which specialises in prevention work.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Matheson, said:

“This project will have a crucial role in working with BME communities across Glasgow helping them to overcome barriers in access to education and encouraging positive life choices.

“Today I’ve had the opportunity to hear from some of the young people already benefiting from One Community’s mentoring programme which reaches out to those who may feel disconnected from the community. The project’s community champions provide vital support and empower these young people helping them move away from a potential life of chaos and violence.

“We want to build inclusive, resilient and safe communities across Scotland and we will continue to invest in the Violence Reduction Unit to deliver innovative ways to tackle violence.”

 

 

 

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Human Trafficking and Exploitation – First Annual Progress Report

Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Matheson has updated Parliament on progress in tackling human trafficking and exploitation in the past 12 months.

Read Mr Matheson’s full statement on the main Scottish Government website.

‘Trafficking and Exploitation: Strategy – First Annual Progress Report’ is available online.

Key figures look back on the progress that has been made in the past year:

Assistant Chief Constable Gillian MacDonald, Police Scotland, said:

“In the past year, Police Scotland has continued to support the Scottish Government Human Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy and has led the action area for law enforcement, working alongside key partners including National Crime Agency, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Border Force, other support agencies and third sector groups.  As well as leading this group, Police Scotland is represented on all areas of the government strategy.

“Our National Human Trafficking Unit has coordinated multi-agency days of action in conjunction with UK wide intensification periods led by the National Crime Agency, which has focused on specific types of exploitation, both with enforcement and awareness raising.

“The National Human Trafficking Unit has recently developed an online training package for public sector workers, who are often best placed to identify people who may be trafficked within their communities. As well as advising on the signs of trafficking, it advises on what do if they believe someone is trafficked.

“Only by working together with partners and across communities will we tackle human trafficking and end this unacceptable exploitation of people.”

Bronagh Andrew of Community Safety Glasgow also commented:

“The thread of multi-agency approaches and working together to end Human Trafficking and Exploitation which is woven throughout the Scottish Government’s Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy has led to some early successes in improving the identification and support to survivors of trafficking and disrupting criminal activity. The close links with Police Scotland and the TARA Service have been further strengthened to include our collective strategic responses.  This includes support with the development of the Human Trafficking DVD package, by  using the learning from both organisations to ensure our experiences are shared leading to improved responses from frontline staff.

“We also participated in a joint visit to Romania to learn from their law enforcement and support services to learn more about supports available on return for women TARA have worked with, strengthen international referrals and improve our ability to keep women safe and disrupt perpetrators. Strong partnership approaches, locally, nationally and internationally are an essential aspect of our shared responsibility to achieve the aims of Scotland’s strategy to tackle Human Trafficking and Exploitation.”

COSLA Spokesperson for Community Well-Being, Cllr Elena Whitham said:

“I welcome the publication of the first annual progress report on the implementation of the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy. The collaborative partnership approach that has been taken is enabling local authorities to take forward actions where they can contribute to the identification of and support for victims of trafficking, and disrupt preparators in our communities.

“COSLA and local authorities are committed to contributing to the Strategy and working to eradicate these abhorrent abuses of human rights. COSLA will continue to Chair the working group for Action Area One (Identifying and Supporting victims) and I am looking forward to taking a paper on this report, and the awareness raising and training materials which have been developed, to COSLA Community Well-Being Board next week.”

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The week in review

The week’s round-up includes new research into local experiences and wider public perceptions of serious organised crime, an independent review into the impact of policing the 1980s miners’ strike on communities, and Parliament’s unanimous approval for legislation delivering an automatic pardon for historical convictions for homosexuality.

(Thanks to Anna Davidson who visited the Justice comms desk this week, for assisting with preparing this week’s round-up blog.)

Communities tell of organised crime impact

serious organised crime taskforce logoThe changing face of serious organised crime (SOC), its impact in communities and the potential for local services to prevent exploitation, were highlighted in research published on Monday.

An 18-month study, which found that the harmful consequences of the illicit drugs market remains the primary area of concern, also identified the range of ways that SOC adversely affects people’s lives.  The research highlighted good practice and made recommendations to enhance Scotland’s collective response to SOC, including strengthening links between local services, particularly housing and social work, to help prevent exploitation of vulnerable residents.

At the same time, an Ipsos MORI survey was published showing a growing awareness that everyone has a role in tackling the issue, as well as revealing that one-in-ten had personally been affected by SOC in the past three years.

You can find out more about the work of Scotland’s Serious Organised Taskforce and actions of its partner organisations to tackle the issue by following the @SOCTaskforce Twitter account launched this week.

Pardon for gay and bisexual men

Gay and bisexual men in Scotland are to receive automatic pardons for historical convictions for homosexuality following a debate and unanimous vote in Parliament on Wednesday.

MSPs passed legislation that provides an automatic pardon for those convicted of criminal offences for engaging in same-sex sexual activity which is now legal.  It will also create a system to allow anyone with such a conviction to apply to have it “disregarded” so it is removed from public records and no longer appears on a disclosure check.

The Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) Bill was introduced to Parliament by Justice Secretary Michael Matheson in November last year, when the First Minister also made an unqualified apology to those men convicted before 2001 under discriminatory laws.

After Parliament passed the legislation on Wednesday, Director of the Equality Network Tim Hopkins said: “This is concrete recognition of the huge harm that was done to people who were prosecuted or lived under these old laws. Together with the First Minister’s apology, the message is that Scotland has changed for good, and that discrimination is no longer acceptable.”  Read more on the main Scottish Government website.

Minister leads debate on hate crime

On Thursday Minister for Community Safety Annabelle Ewing led a debate in Parliament to hear MSPs’ initial views of the report of the Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland, published a week earlier.

Lord Bracadale, who led the review, published a full report with more than 20 recommendations and a summary leaflet.  Ministers have agreed to the proposal to consolidate Scotland’s hate crime laws into a single piece of legislation and will arrange a public consultation to inform the development of that new Act, fit for the 21st century.

Ms Ewing said: “The publication of Lord Bracadale’s report marks an important stage in this process in which we are all engaged. While legislation on its own will not solve hate crime, a good, substantive law will certainly be at the heart of our efforts to build a country in which everyone — regardless of background — feels valued, respected and at home.”

Reviewing impact of policing of Miners’ Strike

On Thursday the Justice Secretary announced plans for an Independent Review into the impact of policing on communities during the miners’ strike from March 1984 to March 1985.

The review will be led by John Scott QC Solicitor Advocate, working with an advisory panel comprising former MSP Dennis Canavan, former Assistant Chief Constable Kate Thomson and Professor Jim Murdoch of the University of Glasgow.

Mr Matheson said “This represented an extremely turbulent and difficult time for many mining communities in Scotland. And although more than three decades have passed, the feelings and scars from that time run deep and there are questions that still need to be answered.”

The Justice Secretary has also written to the Home Secretary, again urging him to consider establishing a UK-wide investigation which would be necessary to fully explore concerns about the role of the then UK Government during the strike.

Read more about Scotland’s independent review on the main Scottish Government website or watch Mr Matheson’s Parliamentary statement on the video below.

New Chief Inspector of Scottish Fire & Rescue Service

Simon Routh-Jones, a former fire officer who served 37 years before joining HM Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI) as an assistant inspector in 2016, has been appointed as the new HM Chief Inspector of the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service.  He will replace Martyn Emberson, who has served in the role for over two years.

Announcing the appointment, Minister for Community Safety Annabelle Ewing said: “Simon brings a huge breadth of experience in fire and rescue and with his history of strategic and innovative thinking his appointment brings continuity to the Inspectorate, which has independent oversight of one of our vital public services.

“I would also like to record my sincere thanks to Martyn Emberson for his dedicated service as Chief Inspector and for his advice and wise counsel. He can be proud of the positive impact he has had and I wish him all the very best in his retirement.”

Inspectorates to review home detention curfew processes

The Justice Secretary this week instructed the Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Chief Inspector of Constabulary to review processes surrounding Home Detention Curfew (HDC), which allows some prisoners, mainly serving shorter sentences, to serve part of the sentence period in the community subject to licence conditions, including wearing an electronic tag and remaining at home during certain hours.

A person is only eligible for HDC if they are assessed to be at low risk of reoffending, while certain categories are automatically excluded, including prisoners subject to an extended sentence or any prisoner who is required to register as a sex offender.

Mr Matheson ordered the independent assurance review following the life sentencing of a man for a murder carried out while he was unlawfully-at-large following a breach of the terms of his HDC which had been granted while he was serving a prison sentence for knife possession.  The Inspectorates will consider how prisoners are assessed before being granted HDC and also review the processes for investigating breaches of HDC terms and apprehending individuals when that happens.

Mr Matheson announced the review as he gave evidence to the Justice Committee on the Management of Offenders Bill, which aims to improve how the justice system safeguards the public while helping rehabilitate people with convictions.  The legislation includes provisions to extend the range of areas where electronic monitoring may be used, including for public protection – for example: in sentencing, as part of the requirement options in a Community Payback Order; in prisoner management for home leave; and alongside a sexual offences prevention order, which is a civil protective order. The Bill will also enable GPS technology to be used with tags, where appropriate, as an alternative to current radio frequency technology – enabling the use of exclusion zones.

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Safer Communities & Justice Brief : May 2018

Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services have recently published the May edition of the Monthly Safer Communities and Justice Brief.

This brief provides, in a single place, a concise but comprehensive overview of all the most important Justice and Safer Communities statistics.

The brief includes a special feature on its back page, with this month’s article on the report published earlier today entitled Understanding Childhood Adversity, Resilience and Crime.

A copy of the brief has been placed on the Crime and Justice Statistics section of the Scottish Government website

Any suggestions for improvement or for other aspects to cover in the brief would be very welcome and should be addressed to JusticeAnalysts@gov.scot.

 

 

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The week in review

This week’s round-up blog includes evidence on the long-term impacts of adverse childhood events, an announcement of new investment to expand the ‘Navigators’ emergency-room violence prevention project, and the publication of a major independent review of Scotland’s hate crime laws.

Injured officers

The thoughts of Ministers, and all of us in the Safer Communities and Justice directorates this weekend, are with the officers who were injured while on duty on Friday during a serious incident in Greenock, and with their families and colleagues.  Justice Secretary Michael Matheson was updated on Friday’s incident by Police Scotland interim Chief Constable, DCC designate Iain Livingstone and conveyed his best wishes for the officers’ speedy recovery.  The incident remains under investigation.

Adversity in childhood

Evidence on the links between childhood adversity and victimisation and criminality in adulthood are the focus of a short briefing paper published by Scottish Government analysts this week.  The paper makes a strong case for preventing crime by targeting those most at risk of experiencing adverse childhoods, and supporting people in the justice system whose lives have been affected by adverse childhood experiences (also known as ‘ACEs’) in order to reduce reoffending and prevent intergenerational crime and victimisation.  It argues that this will require a coordinated and collaborative effort across government.

The evidence of the impact of ACEs in later life and actions to mitigate harms was a key theme in Scotland’s Justice ‘Vision & Priorities’ strategy launched last summer, as well as the 2017-18 Programme for Government, which outlined a range of work being undertaken to support children and their families from the early years of life through to adulthood.

You can read the new evidence paper on the main Scottish Government website.

A&E Navigators step up a gear to break cycles of violence

More patients affected by violence will be offered support during admission to hospital to help them turn away from violence in their lives.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson announced extra Scottish Government funding to the national Violence Reduction Unit to expand its ‘Navigator’ programme – which has been supporting patients attending emergency rooms at the Royal Infirmaries of Glasgow and Edinburg – to new locations at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, and Crosshouse Hospital in South Ayrshire.

Navigator is a unique scheme which seeks to help people trapped in a cycle of violence.  Mentors or ‘navigators’ provide support in hospital, help to diffuse difficult situations, and identify support services that patients can access.

Mr Matheson announced the expansion as he met cyclists embarking on a charity bike ride in aid of the Navigators’ #Recycle2 ‘Running on Empty Fund’.

Hate crime

The report of the Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland, led by Lord Bracadale, was published on Thursday.

The independent review, which was established by Minister for Community Safety & Legal Affairs in January last year,  published a full report with more than 20 recommendations and a summary leaflet.

Responding to the final report, Ms Ewing said: “I am grateful to Lord Bracadale and his team for completing such a thorough piece of work.  We agree that Scotland’s hate crime laws should be consolidated into a single piece of legislation. The Scottish Government will use this report as a basis for wider consultation with communities and groups across the country on how to bring forward new legislation that is fit for the 21st century.

“We have been consistently clear that legislation alone will not achieve the inclusive and equal society that we aspire to, however the laws passed by Parliament do form a clear basis for what is and is not acceptable in the communities we are elected to serve. We will continue to work with communities across Scotland to build trust and understanding and, wherever possible, prevent hate crime from happening in the first place.”

You can read more about Lord Bracadale’s review on the main Scottish Government website.

Auditor General reports on fire reform

Also on Thursday, Scotland’s Auditor General reported on the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service, saying that transforming the unified service, created in 2013, into a more flexible, modern service has been steady though slow.

The Audit Scotland report from Caroline Gardner said real progress has been made with integrating the eight former services into a single body and that SFRS is now in a good position to complete the process following a deal agreed in April 2018 to harmonise firefighters’ pay and conditions.

Welcoming the report, Minister for Community Safety said: “The SFRS inherited a substantial capital backlog from the eight legacy services and the Scottish government continues to work closely with the service to identify and provide the capital funding it needs for buildings, fleet and equipment.  This year the Scottish government increased the spending capacity of the service by £15.5m to invest in transformation plans – and maintained an increase of £21.7m in capital funding announced in the 2017-18 budget.  This investment, coupled with service transformation, will ensure that communities across Scotland remain protected from emerging risks and threats.”

SFRS Dundee control room

Earlier in the week Ms Ewing visited the Fire & rescue Srevice’s North Operations Control to meet staff. The Minister also took the opportunity to thank control staff and the firefighters on the ground for their sustained work tackling recent wildfires and keeping affected communities safe.

Address to Superintendents

Also this week the Justice Secretary attended the Wednesday morning session of the annual conference of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, addressing delegates as they gathered at the Police College, Tulliallan.  You can follow Twitter conversations from the conference with the #asps2018 hashtag.

Update on work for missing people

Scotland’s first Missing Persons Week draws to a close this weekend, following a range of activity to raise awareness of the scale and complex nature of the issue in Scotland’s communities.

People who go missing often do so because they lack that sense of belonging and have lost the trust in society that most of us take for granted. In any given year, well over 20,000 missing person investigations are conducted in Scotland. Many of these relate to vulnerable individuals who may be at risk of harm and abuse.

The National Missing Persons Framework for Scotland was launched in May 2017 to help prevent people from going missing in the first place and to ensure they receive the best possible support when they do. It supports a multi-agency approach and builds on best practice being delivered in areas across Scotland.

One year on, the Scottish Government has published details of progress being made on the Framework’s objectives, as well as priorities for the future. You can read the update on the main Scottish Government website.

Read more information about Missing Person’s Week, and links to further advice and information on the Police Scotland website.

And finally

“What a truly inspirational story” – that was the verdict of BBC presenter John Craven, as the Countryfile Diaries programme visited HM Prison Castle Huntly to feature the Dementia Dog collaboration with the Scottish Prison Service.  The ground-breaking project supports inmates’ rehabilitation ahead of returning to their communities by developing their skills to train dogs who go on to provide lifeline help for people with dementia.

Speaking of his experience of the project one male inmate told the programme: “You get a lot of satisfaction knowing that, obviously at the far end of the scale, it’s going into the community to help people with dementia… for some people they might never have had that connection or bond with anyone, either an animal or a person, so it can give you that.”

The programme is available to watch for just over another three weeks on BBC iPlayer, and the 7-minute feature on Dementia Dogs begins two-and-a-half minutes in.

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