Meeting of the Parliament 14 November 2017
I thank the cabinet secretary for the advance copy of the statement.
The issues that are addressed by the statement are complex and MSPs have increasingly raised concerns in the chamber over sexual offending involving children and young people. We have seen a rise in sexual offences committed by a child against a child in recent years, and I welcome the Solicitor General’s initiative in highlighting the consequences of that behaviour and today’s statement. I welcome Catherine Dyer as the chair of the expert group and I wish her well in the work ahead.
Will the cabinet secretary expand on the remit of the group? He says that there will be a particular focus on cyber-enabled offending. That is welcome, as it is a significant contributor to the increase in offences and it could be seen as an area that could be addressed with better education and information. However, it is also important that we focus on children and young people who display a greater degree of harmful sexual behaviour. Will the cabinet secretary say a bit more about what work the group will undertake in that area?
At the start of his statement, the cabinet secretary talked about how the whole-system approach to offending is working, with referrals down by 80 per cent. Why does he feel that that approach has not been as successful in the area of sexual offences?