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Meeting of the Parliament 13 June 2012

13 Jun 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Victims and Witnesses (Improving Services)

MacAskill, Kenny SNP Edinburgh Eastern Watch on SPTV

We are looking at those matters. The answer is that that will depend. I am happy to share whatever information we have to date, but the measures that I am talking about today are being driven not by the need to raise revenue but by a point of principle. We want to enter into discussions and work out for what offences it will be appropriate to apply the victim surcharge because, clearly, there are some that it would be inappropriate to deal with in this way. I am happy to share information with other parties. Off the top of my head, I cannot remember whether such financial information is available, but I will write to the member on the issue, while assuring him that what we are proceeding with is based on principle as opposed to raising revenue. Clearly, in a time of financial austerity, revenue will be of interest to those who require it, especially victims organisations.

In addition to the legislative changes that I have mentioned, a range of projects is being led by our justice partners under the making justice work programme. They are aimed at delivering improvements that legislation alone cannot address. For example, witness non-attendance is a major reason for adjournment in summary trials and it has an obvious impact on victims and other witnesses. Earlier this year, the Crown Office launched a pilot to text witnesses to remind them to attend court. Similarly, the getting people to court project, which is aimed at making sure that critical participants in cases attend court, is now under way. As part of that project, pioneering research is being commissioned to help us to better understand what factors influence attendance at court and what we need to do to improve. From having been at some briefings, I know that there is a small minority of people for whom nothing seems to work other than various sanctions, but there are many other people for whom we can improve the system.

Other initiatives are being led by organisations such as Victim Support Scotland. With the backing of the £30,000 that the Scottish Government provided in 2009, Victim Support Scotland created a victims fund to help those who have no other access to support. That fund has been used to meet the immediate needs of victims such as funeral costs, the cost of redecorating a victim’s home following a violent incident, and help for a woman who has disabilities to purchase a second-hand mobility scooter after she was attacked and her scooter was vandalised. Such a practical use of funding can be key in helping victims to recover from what is often a traumatic experience, which is why we have just agreed to provide a further £30,000. We believe that such immediate practical support is often more appropriate than a compensation payment that might come many months or even years down the line.

As I hope members will appreciate from those varied examples, the proposed victims and witnesses bill should not be seen in isolation. It will simply be a continuation of the improvements that have been made over the past few years, and it will be the basis of further improvements.

That said, we believe that a bill can make a real difference, so we have proposed a broad package of reforms in our recent consultation paper. Some of the proposals focus on making offenders pay towards the cost of providing support services. For example, we have proposed the introduction of a victim surcharge, which could be applied in cases that result in a court fine and would raise funds that can be used for the benefit of victims. The victims fund has already been shown to be effective, and I know that Mr Stewart and members throughout the Parliament support that. We have also proposed requiring the courts to consider compensation when victims have suffered injury, loss or distress, and the introduction of restitution orders, which would give the courts an additional option to make offenders pay towards the cost of supporting police officers who have been the victims of violence while carrying out their duties.

Other proposals are aimed at ensuring that victims and witnesses have access to better information about cases, that they can have more confidence that cases will go ahead as planned, and that they are served by organisations that have clear standards of service. Ensuring the adequate protection of vulnerable witnesses is also crucial. We have proposed the widening of access to special measures such as the use of a screen or giving evidence remotely via a video link, and the creation of an automatic right to such measures for victims in sexual offence or domestic abuse cases.

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Meeting of the Parliament 13 June 2012

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