Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 03 November 2021
03 Nov 2021 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Legal Aid Solicitors (Action)
Nothing underlines the Government’s—indeed, the minister’s—chronically poor relationship with Scotland’s criminal defence lawyers more than the response, on the Law Society’s website, to the minister’s letter of 22 October. The letter was described as “tone deaf”, “whining”, “a slap in the face” and “a patronising, condescending disgrace”—and those are just some of the comments.
The Lord Advocate said this morning that the huge court backlog will take years to address, with the biggest impact being on women and girls who are victims of serious assault and abuse. Is it not time for the Scottish Government to work with the legal sector to develop a sustainable criminal defence workforce strategy?
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The next item of business is a statement by Ash Regan on action by legal aid solicitors. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so the...
The Minister for Community Safety (Ash Regan)
SNP
I have been asked to make a statement regarding the action that is being taken by legal aid solicitors in the context of the 26th United Nations climate chan...
Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I thank the minister for sending her statement in advance. Sadly, the statement will go down like a bag of sick with Scotland’s criminal defence fraternity o...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Before I call the minister to reply, I should have asked members who wish to pose a question on the statement to press their request-to-speak button. There w...
Ash Regan
SNP
Jamie Greene raised a few points there. I will respond to the point about the incident that took place at the weekend. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Serv...
Katy Clark (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement and for agreeing to give a statement today. The Scottish Labour Party supports the campaign by crimin...
Ash Regan
SNP
I am sure that the member accepts that there are obviously constraints on public finances due to a decade of austerity from Westminster. Despite those constr...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Before I call the next member, I have allowed a certain degree of latitude for front-bench exchanges, but if we are to have any hope of getting everybody in ...
Audrey Nicoll (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
I thank the minister for her statement and the letter sent to the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association, which underline the ex...
Ash Regan
SNP
A generous package of enhanced legal aid fees for COP26-related cases was developed by a working group that included representatives of the solicitor profess...
Russell Findlay (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
The boycotts will have an impact on witnesses and victims. I note that the minister’s statement makes no mention of victims. What consultation has the minist...
Ash Regan
SNP
Russell Findlay has asked a very fair question. My officials are working with all our justice partners to ensure that people who need legal advice can receiv...
Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
Following on from the previous question, what measures are in place to support vulnerable defendants and witnesses during Covid-19 and the current action of ...
Ash Regan
SNP
Officials have been in close contact with our justice partners. All steps are being taken to provide advice to people who require it. A combination of things...
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I acknowledge that some progress has been made since 2019, but does the minister accept that we have reached a crisis point in the legal aid profession? We a...
Ash Regan
SNP
There is a need to resolve the situation, which we do not want to have going forward. As I said in my response to the member’s colleague, I have spent some c...
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the minister’s statement and I share her worry for those left unrepresented. The minister probably alluded to this in her answer to Pauline McNeill...
Ash Regan
SNP
In our programme for government, we committed to engage with legal professionals and other stakeholders to review the legal aid system and introduce a legal ...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement. Access to justice relies on access to solicitors, which is increasingly challenging in parts of the...
Ash Regan
SNP
The member will have heard me say in my exchange with Pauline McNeill that we have amended the criminal fee reform package that we were discussing and are re...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
The minister said that, in correspondence, local bar associations said that the issue has more to do with wider unhappiness about legal aid fees in general. ...
Ash Regan
SNP
I take that very much on board. As part of the portfolio that the cabinet secretary and I share, I work on the civil side, so the issue is not lost on me. W...
Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
Nothing underlines the Government’s—indeed, the minister’s—chronically poor relationship with Scotland’s criminal defence lawyers more than the response, on ...
Ash Regan
SNP
I am not sure that the member was here throughout my statement, when I explained all the work that has gone on behind the scenes on the part of the cabinet s...
Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green)
Green
That defendants could be in a situation in which they are without representation is appalling. A foundation of our justice system must be the right to repres...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Please may we have a question, Ms Chapman? We are nearly out of time.
Maggie Chapman
Green
Yes, Presiding Officer. The minister said that she and her officials would do everything possible to reduce the risk of defendants appearing without represe...
Ash Regan
SNP
I can. We have been working to ensure that those who need that legal assistance will receive it. The courts will be supported by a number of mitigations. Sol...
Jackie Dunbar (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
As well as the legal reform bill, what other steps are being taken to ensure the viability of legal aid in the long term?
Ash Regan
SNP
Secondary legislation was made in the summer in order to work with the profession on that. Regarding the long term, I have already made commitments in the ch...