Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 19 August 2020
19 Aug 2020 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Scotland’s Redress Scheme for Survivors of Historical Child Abuse in Care
The point that I make to Johann Lamont is the same response that I gave to Alison Harris: a survivor can decide not to participate in the scheme and can pursue a civil legal action if they wish to. For survivors of abuse that predates 1964, I accept that the scheme is the only option. However, it is beyond my ability to legislate for that, and the Government has moved significantly to create an opportunity for individuals to pursue such action should they choose to.
Therefore, my response to Johann Lamont is that survivors have the choice of pursing civil legal action if they wish to do so. My argument is that the approach that is taken in the bill gives survivors the opportunity to pursue action with a great deal more certainty of the outcome than they would have in a civil legal process, saving themselves significant personal and, potentially, financial distress in the process.
As I have said, the bill will be the subject of dialogue and discussion in Parliament. I will engage in that discussion openly and constructively, and I encourage Johann Lamont to do likewise.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Lewis Macdonald)
Lab
The next item of business is a statement by John Swinney on Scotland’s redress scheme for survivors of historical child abuse in care. The cabinet secretary ...
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (John Swinney)
SNP
On Thursday last week, the Scottish Government introduced the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill to Parliament. The bill...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
The cabinet secretary will take questions on the issues which were raised in his statement. I intend to allow about 20 minutes for that, after which we will ...
Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I assure the cabinet secretary that Conservative members will support the efforts of the Government and the Parliament to do what it must to offer redress an...
John Swinney
SNP
I thank Mr Greene for his remarks. I welcome the Conservative Party’s encouragement and support in principle for the bill. As I did in my statement, I commit...
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome the introduction of the bill. As I have said previously, we have all let survivors down by taking too long to get to the inquiry, too long to addre...
John Swinney
SNP
I welcome Mr Gray’s remarks. Like him, I feel that these issues have gone on for too long. This is the moment to address them, and I make it absolutely clear...
John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of his statement. I commend the progress that has been made over the years, not least recently, in relati...
John Swinney
SNP
The point that Mr Finnie makes gets to the nub of the argument that Parliament must settle when debating the legislation. In my judgment, having looked at th...
Clare Adamson (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)
SNP
I thank the Deputy First Minister for his statement. As convener of the Education and Skills Committee, which will take the bill through the stage 1 process...
John Swinney
SNP
A range of organisations already act in that area. Earlier on, I mentioned Future Pathways. A variety of other organisations provide services to survivors. ...
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
I associate myself and my party with the Deputy First Minister’s sentiments and the tone of the statement. Financial redress will not make up for the injust...
John Swinney
SNP
I thank Beatrice Wishart for her support for the direction of travel in the bill. The Government is already engaged in discussions with a range of organisat...
Alison Harris (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
I see that, in accepting a redress payment, survivors will agree not to continue to raise a civil legal action, as per the Deputy First Minister’s statement,...
John Swinney
SNP
My recollection is that it does not. Obviously, there is a choice for an individual in deciding whether to participate in the scheme that is envisaged or whe...
James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP)
SNP
Inaudible.—for redress schemes for survivors. If so, how has that shaped the approach that has been taken in Scotland?
John Swinney
SNP
I am not sure that I heard all of that question, but I think that I caught the drift of it. Through the interaction group, there has been extensive dialogue...
Johann Lamont (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Will the cabinet secretary point to the survivor groups that support his decision to deny survivors the choice to seek compensation from organisations for th...
John Swinney
SNP
The point that I make to Johann Lamont is the same response that I gave to Alison Harris: a survivor can decide not to participate in the scheme and can purs...
Annabelle Ewing (Cowdenbeath) (SNP)
SNP
Having had the privilege of taking the Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (Scotland) Act 2017 through Parliament, I am very pleased indeed to see that the cabinet ...
John Swinney
SNP
I am grateful for the perspective that Annabelle Ewing brings to these very challenging issues, given her involvement with the Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
I declare an interest in that, for the past two years, I have been working with a constituent who, after 44 years, has finally managed to get the person accu...
John Swinney
SNP
The issue here is the role of the state. Mr Whittle cites the example of a young person who may have experienced abuse in a school. If they were living in a ...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
How will the Government reach out to survivors who may live on the margins of society, such as homeless people and addicts, given that those people are more ...
John Swinney
SNP
Many of the organisations that deal with survivors find that those people are often immensely traumatised by their experiences and can be hard to reach. Surv...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
Annabelle Ewing touched on the point that the purpose of the new body will be to assess claims. The methodology for doing that will be highly sensitive. When...
John Swinney
SNP
The bill is extensive. We have tried to put as much as possible of the information to which Mr Johnson refers into the bill itself. Structuring the bill in t...
Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP)
SNP
The bill requires the provision of information and evidence in support of applications and it gives the power to compel any individual or body to provide spe...
John Swinney
SNP
That is a fundamental question. We all want to avoid any individual experiencing retraumatisation. The bill is designed to help to address the unacceptable e...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Thank you. That completes questions on the statement.