Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 10 June 2020
I am happy to speak in the stage 3 debate on a bill that is incredibly important to the Scottish Government’s ability to protect the most vulnerable in society. In a nutshell, if passed today the bill will modernise and improve proportionality in the disclosure system, balancing public protection with the right to move on from past offences. It is a progressive and necessary bill. Significant amendment and improvements have been made in its journey from stage 1, and I thoroughly recommend that it is passed. As we have heard, it is a detailed bill with many parts and I commend the minister and her officials for getting it into such a good place.
The Law Society and COSLA support the development of a simplified regime for disclosure in Scotland, balancing an individual’s right to privacy with protection of the public interest, and acknowledge that the current disclosure regime is complex and difficult to navigate. As Daniel Johnson said, the two-part test was greatly debated in committee. The Scottish Government and Disclosure Scotland have outlined the approach on statutory and non-statutory guidance and the Law Society is keen to contribute to that work.
One of the most vital parts of the bill relates to childhood offending; children should not serve a lifetime sentence of discrimination and unemployability for offences in childhood, many of which were a result of adverse childhood experiences. The bill will end automatic disclosure of convictions that were accrued between the ages of 12 and 17.
For adults, the fundamental aim of the disclosure regime is to balance public protection with the right to move on from past offences. A theme of the policy discussions is how care-experienced young people can be particularly susceptible to becoming involved with criminal justice agencies, as the minister and the convener articulated. One care-experienced witness, Robert Dorrian, said that
“care-experienced individuals often self-exclude, which cannot be quantified ... Our members have told us that childhood convictions have prevented them from moving on from their past.”—[Official Report, Education and Skills Committee, 13 November 2019; c 6.]
That needs to change and the bill is an opportunity for that change.
The bill will simplify and modernise the disclosure system, with applications being made online. With digital applications and disclosures, the process is expected to be faster. However, the committee welcomed reassurances from Disclosure Scotland that non-digital means of seeking disclosures will remain.
I am delighted that amendment 25 defined the meaning of domestic abuse and I thank Women’s Aid for its involvement in that. Alex Cole-Hamilton’s amendments to the bill were withdrawn, but I was pleased to hear of the working group proposal that was outlined by the minister.
The bill is hugely progressive and will strike the balance between protection and allowing people to move on with their lives. I am happy to support it at stage 3.