Meeting of the Parliament 25 February 2026 [Draft]
Roz McCall touched on a number of points, and I will try to cover each in turn.
Ms McCall talked specifically about having faith in the process. Throughout my engagement with survivors, I have been keen to ensure that all these issues are not politicised. Across the board, we need to be careful not to use individual cases in the chamber, for example. Instead, we must consider the evidence base, which is exactly what I have been doing throughout this process, in order to arrive at informed decisions.
In December, I gave an update to the Parliament on the work of the inspectorates. On Ms McCall’s point about timescales and the terms of reference, that work will be pivotal in informing Alexis Jay’s understanding of the terms of reference. She will be the inquiry’s independent chair, so it is not for me, as the cabinet secretary, to stipulate what the terms of reference should be.
The point about independence has also consistently been put to me by survivors. I am sure that Roz McCall has also heard that through her engagement with survivors, many of whom lack faith in some of those organisations, for well understood reasons. Bringing a level of independence to the process is, therefore, hugely important.
Roz McCall mentioned that this represented a U-turn from Government. However, I do not necessarily accept that point. The wording of my statement in December was very clear that the Government was not, at that point, ruling out further inquiries in this space. I also said that I would come back to Parliament in February with a more substantive update. I have done that today and I have committed to a further inquiry, which I am glad to hear that Conservative members will support.
I will make a final point in relation to policing, which is that additional funding has been provided to Police Scotland through the budget. We will, of course, come to stage 3 of the Budget (Scotland) (No 5) Bill later this afternoon, and I very much hope that the Conservatives find themselves able to vote for a budget that will provide additional income to Police Scotland to allow it to respond to some of the real challenges that we see in relation to child sexual abuse.