Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 23 October 2018
23 Oct 2018 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Survivors of Child Abuse in Care (Response to Recommendations on Financial Redress)
I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for giving me early sight of his statement. I begin by simply and sincerely associating members on these benches with the cabinet secretary’s apology to everyone who suffered abuse and neglect while in care in Scotland. We all share the shame of which he spoke. However, we cannot hide from the fact that an apology was first made in 2004, 14 years ago. Important though the inquiry is, it took us too long to initiate it, and welcome though the promise of redress is—welcome indeed—it has taken us too long to get to that commitment too.
Given that fact, even in the knowledge of the complexity of legislation, is not the end of the current session of Parliament—two and a half years away—still too far away for all those who have waited so long already? As well as introducing the advance payments scheme, will the cabinet secretary bring forward the deadline for the full redress scheme? We will do all that we can to help him accelerate the legislation through the Parliament.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
We turn to the next item of business, which is a statement by John Swinney on the response to recommendations on financial redress for survivors of child abu...
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (John Swinney)
SNP
Today, I will set out the Government’s response to the recommendations that I received from the interaction action plan review group on the provision of fina...
Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I thank the cabinet secretary for giving me prior sight of his statement, and I restate the Scottish Conservatives’ whole-hearted commitment to ensuring that...
John Swinney
SNP
I thank Liz Smith for her expression of the Conservative Party’s support for the direction that the Government has chosen to take on the issue. In relation t...
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for giving me early sight of his statement. I begin by simply and sincerely associating members on these benches with the...
John Swinney
SNP
I thank Iain Gray for associating the Labour Party with my remarks and the direction of travel. In looking at the time period since the public apology was g...
John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
I thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of his statement and, indeed, its content. I offer the Scottish Green Party’s support on progressing these very...
John Swinney
SNP
I am grateful to Mr Finnie for his expression of the Green Party’s support for our approach. I intend to pursue discussions carefully with providers of care ...
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
I, too, want to reflect the Deputy First Minister’s tone and the substance of his remarks and I associate my party with the recognition of the factors that l...
John Swinney
SNP
I am grateful to Mr Scott for the expressed support of the Scottish Liberal Democrats for our position as we take it forward. On his first point, the Govern...
Angela Constance (Almond Valley) (SNP)
SNP
I will follow on from the two earlier questions. Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is only right that religious bodies and institutions, and other org...
John Swinney
SNP
First, I pay tribute to Angela Constance for the work that she undertook, as my predecessor, in establishing the abuse inquiry. She ensured that the inquiry ...
Alison Harris (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
I would like clarification. Will the Scottish Government adopt a dual payment system that includes a flat-rate standard payment to all survivors and another ...
John Swinney
SNP
I have not set out any detail on that. That is a material issue for further consideration. The review group did not make recommendations of that nature, alth...
Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
The cabinet secretary will be aware that a small number of other countries are facing up to failings that have meant that children were abused while they wer...
John Swinney
SNP
The review group has already undertaken a lot of work and looked at schemes in other jurisdictions. We will, of course, have the advantage of learning from t...
Johann Lamont (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I acknowledge the work of survivors who have fought long and hard for recognition, often at huge personal cost. In recent times, Parliament has proved itsel...
John Swinney
SNP
On the timescale for legislation, I reiterate that I want to move as quickly as possible, but we must go through the necessary dialogue with survivors in ord...
Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP)
SNP
The cabinet secretary confirmed earlier that there will be an option for the next of kin of deceased victims and survivors to make applications for redress. ...
John Swinney
SNP
That is one of the points that we will discuss in the detailed design that we will develop. Given the length of time that some survivors have waited, and giv...
Maurice Corry (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Survivors have been waiting decades for compensation. The cabinet secretary will be aware that many of the victims who have been waiting for compensation are...
John Swinney
SNP
I encourage Mr Corry to reflect on the fact that if the Government is going to make ex gratia payments of this type, we must have parliamentary authority tha...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
I will follow on from the questions about contributions that are to be made by responsible third-party organisations. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that ...
John Swinney
SNP
No payment will be contingent on contributions from third parties. We will design and deliver a scheme that will, ideally, benefit from contributions that ar...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Most of the questions on the statement have been on financial redress. Can the cabinet secretary say whether other kinds of support that might be available, ...
John Swinney
SNP
I made relevant points in my response to Johann Lamont, which I will draw on in answering Mr Mason. The Government has put in place financial support throug...