Hansard

Although the Scottish Government’s amendments at stage 2 have done much to improve the bill, I consider it an opportunity lost to have removed from its scope the amendment that would have ensured early intervention and prevention. The minister attempted to give assurances to the Justice Committee that the Government is tackling primary prevention through its policies on early years provision, on raising educational attainment, on tackling youth unemployment, on health and on housing. However, that approach ignores the views of people on the front line, including Police Scotland, which advocated an holistic approach. Chief Superintendent Grant Manders said in evidence last September that

“for all this to be successful it is necessary to take a whole-system approach; it needs to be right from start to finish. That leads to the emphasis on prevention and early intervention ... For me, successful community justice is a whole-system approach. It would be nice if some of the language, experience and good practice were encompassed in the language of the bill.”—[Official Report, Justice Committee, 15 September; c 44, 45.]

Sadly, despite the importance of early intervention in identifying people who are at risk of offending and in helping to prevent them from pursuing a life of crime being accepted wisdom, the Government has chosen to reject that holistic approach, which would have helped to improve the success of early intervention initiatives.

Consequently, the omission of prevention from the bill’s provisions represents an opportunity lost for it to become a vehicle to address groups including young carers who, due to their caring role, sometimes miss school or further education studies, which can have an impact on future employment and career prospects. Although the new Carers (Scotland) Bill addresses some of the problems, during a recent visit to the young carers centre in Falkirk I was reminded by people who support young carers that there are still young carers who leave school without qualifications or training but who have immense caring responsibility on their young shoulders. As the Carers Trust explains, that in turn means that for those young people there is

“a greater danger of developing mental or physical health issues and a higher likelihood of offending and becoming involved with the justice system.”

So, although I welcome what the Scottish Government is doing with primary prevention across the different portfolios, I do not believe that it has to be an either/or approach. Instead, by expanding the bill’s scope, the Government could have complemented and strengthened work that is already being carried out. Crucially, that would have provided young carers and other organisations access to another funding stream to sustain tried and tested work, rather than requiring additional funding—I think that that addresses a point that was made by Roddy Campbell.

So, there remains a question mark over the broader and longer-term implications of the bill. In the absence of a sunset clause, it will be incumbent on Parliament in the next session to monitor the bill’s impact closely.

Notwithstanding those comments, the bill that is before us today is, as I stated at the outset, much improved from the version that the Justice Committee scrutinised at stage 1. The new provisions seek to implement many of the recommendations that were made by Audit Scotland, the commission on women offenders and a range of stakeholders. The recognition of the importance of housing and the vital role that the third sector plays in tackling re-offending are particularly welcome. The Scottish Conservative Party will support the bill at decision time.