Hansard

I welcome the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. Scottish Conservatives will always stand up for victims of abuse and we will support the general principles of the bill.

Scottish Women’s Aid and the Law Society of Scotland, to name two organisations, have welcomed the bill’s proposed powers, which are intended to fill a gap in legislation, or, as my colleague Adam Tomkins said,

“sharpen the effectiveness of the tools that we have”

to help those who may be experiencing domestic abuse. The powers aim to reduce the risk that a person has to make themselves homeless in order to provide a safe pathway to other forms of safety.

Sadly, we know that domestic abuse is on the rise in Scotland. The number of domestic abuse incidents recorded by Police Scotland has risen in the past three years, from 58,108 in 2015-16 to 60,642 in 2018-19. It is concerning to see the number of incidents rising, but, as I have previously said in the chamber, that must be seen through the prism that perhaps more victims feel confident and empowered to come forward.

I thank my local women’s refuge, Border Women’s Aid in Hawick, for its important work. It has worked tirelessly to help women gain freedom from abusive relationships. It provides safe accommodation and specialist support for up to a year for women and their children who have left abusive homes. Through its excellent outreach service, it supports many women in the community who currently live with abuse while they plan for a life beyond it.

We have come a long way in supporting victims, but there is still a lot more work to be done. I believe that legislation must go further in tackling the domestic abuse issues that occur post-separation, which I will touch on later in my speech.

I want to make two main points regarding how we can strengthen the bill to help the system to empower victims. Many members have discussed both these issues in the debate.

First, we welcome the two new powers: the power for courts to make the domestic abuse protection orders and the power for the police to make domestic abuse protection notices. However, we have concerns about their implementation. I thank my colleague Liam Kerr for raising points during the passage of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill in 2018. He proposed an amendment to the bill that would have called for a review of measures that would have, among other things, excluded someone from a person’s house if they presented an immediate danger to that person or their child.

The Justice Committee, the Law Society of Scotland and Police Scotland have noticed issues with the current drafting of the powers. On section 4, the Law Society has questioned whether a DAPN is a proportionate measure in the context of the relevant rights under the European convention on human rights. It remains uncertain how a DAPN will be issued in practice, and the bill does not appear to make a specific power available to the police to remove a suspected perpetrator to the police station in relation to a DAPN.

The committee has noted those concerns and they will be dealt with at stage 2, following proper consultation with Police Scotland, to ensure that the new powers are fit for purpose and effective.

Secondly, I want to touch on the important issue of financial abuse, especially post-separation. We know that when a victim leaves a perpetrator, there can still be ties that unfortunately link them to that person. Lack of money and financial resources is the main reason why women return to abusive partners post-separation, and economic barriers and a lack of financial independence are the main factors in why women stay in abusive relationships.

According to the Co-operative Bank and Refuge, one in five women and one in seven men in the UK have experienced domestic abuse from a current or former partner and one third of victims did not tell anyone at the time that they were being abused.

We know that the UK Government has provided £22 million to support tackling domestic abuse and sexual violence in the community access support services and £10 million to domestic abuse safe accommodation charities. That has helped many people in difficult situations.

Just this week in the House of Lords, Baroness Lister has been instrumental in bringing amendments to the committee stage of the UK Domestic Abuse Bill. Her amendments seek to ensure that those who were previously personally connected are protected from any coercive and controlling behaviour, including economic abuse that occurs post-separation.

Post-separation coercive and controlling financial abuse is widely recognised. I am glad that banks such as the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland have been supportive of victims and have set out guidance and best practice for employees on how to treat sensitive situations, such as victims accessing bank accounts or closing accounts that they have with abusive partners.

There are provisions in the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 to cover coercive behaviour, even if the people are ex-partners. Section 3(3)(c) of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Bill refers to

“controlling, regulating or monitoring person B’s day-to-day activities”.

I am not a member of the Justice Committee, but will the cabinet secretary clarify in his closing remarks whether financial abuse post-separation is covered in the bill and whether the new notices and orders are able to deal with coercive financial abuse post-separation?

In conclusion, the Conservatives support the general principles of the bill, but there are issues that require to be addressed. As my colleague Liam Kerr said, many stakeholders, such as Police Scotland, have significant concerns about the operational and resource impacts of the bill. Those concerns must be addressed if the bill is to become law; otherwise, it could undermine any convictions that take place under it. The proper financing and resourcing of our police force to ensure that it can continue its good work is crucial to the bill’s efficacy and the tackling of domestic abuse. I urge the Scottish National Party Government to ensure that our police officers are fully equipped to root out an evil that continues to be a scourge on our society. The support groups, charities and victims of domestic abuse need to be listened to so that the Scottish Government can get it right.