Hansard

I am particularly pleased to be taking part in the stage 3 debate on the bill because this is the first bill that I have seen through from start to finish since joining the Parliament in 2011. As such, it gave me a great sense of achievement to have my amendments supported today.

I thank the clerks and everyone who gave evidence to the committee, which helped to deliver what I hope is a strong and robust piece of legislation. I particularly thank Scottish Women’s Aid, Victim Support Scotland and Barnardo’s Scotland for their support with lodging my amendments. I also thank the minister and his legislation team for working with me on my amendments since stage 2 to find a form of words that was acceptable to all concerned.

I am grateful to the Justice Committee for agreeing to my amendment 95 at stage 2. Amendment 95 ensures that, when a prisoner is being released, the safety of other persons in the community, including victims of offences and their families, is taken into account.

At stage 3, the purpose of my amendments 28 and 29 was to place a specific reference to victims, communities and families in the bill. Amendments 30 and 31 were intended to ensure that the third sector is properly represented, consulted and engaged with by community justice partners when the partners prepare their plans and that the methods and outcomes are reported to CJS, which will comment on them and take action if required.

All those amendments had wide-ranging support from various organisations and stakeholders, including Women’s Aid, Victim Support, Shelter and the community justice forum. I am happy that the Scottish Government supported them today.

Some issues that were raised during evidence still need to be addressed, and one is the funding of third sector organisations. As I said during the stage 1 debate, we should be moving away from annual funding to a three-year model to allow for continuity and sustainability for the third sector organisations that provide many of the community justice services. That would reduce uncertainty and allow for planning for staff and service users. As the stage 1 committee report stated, those concerns have existed over a number of years, but no action has been taken. Perhaps the Scottish Government can confirm today whether the issue is anywhere near being resolved.

I am still concerned about the level of transitional funding to implement the bill. It is £1.6 million over the next three years, split among the 32 local authorities, which might not be enough to support the changes. That is even more crucial now that we know that local authority budgets are being cut again.

If community justice partners are to succeed in achieving their outcomes, they must be properly resourced, as my colleague Elaine Murray pointed out. Given that I raised the issue during the stage 1 debate, I ask the minister again whether he has considered the availability of resources for community justice partners to deliver the proposals in the bill.

I am happy to support the bill at stage 3, and I thank the Parliament for supporting my amendments today. With the passing of the bill, we will need to take a serious look at how we deliver community justice under increasing financial pressures. I am also keen that we find a solution to secure longer-term funding for the third sector.