Hansard

I thank David Torrance for proposing this subject for today’s members’ business debate, and I welcome the members of the Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club who are in the gallery.

We have had several important debates on antisocial behaviour recently, and I am pleased that we are able to have a debate in which we can celebrate a community that is leading on a project of its own that has had such positive outcomes. In his opening speech, David Torrance recounted individual experiences that are testament to all the positive work that the club has done.

The wider social impact of the Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club is considerable, and I welcome Foundation Scotland’s continued support. The provision of an additional £90,000 over three years will make a big difference to the club’s work in Fife.

As well as tackling inequality, the club aims to provide safe spaces for young people, where they can develop safety awareness and skills. I understand that Fife police and local businesses are supporting the club with small donations. That is positive and a great example of how to engage with communities.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering diversionary work with children and young people and the debate has given me an opportunity to highlight the on-going diversionary and intervention work that the Scottish Government supports through the cashback for communities programme, which reinvests the proceeds of crime in youth projects.

Since 2008, that flagship programme has invested £130 million in community-based activities the length and breadth of Scotland, supporting close to 1.3 million young people in that time. We continue to provide that support and we are currently in phase 6 of the cashback for communities programme, which runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026 and will invest £20 million. It will deliver a range of services and activities for young people between the ages of 10 and 25 across Scotland.

At its core, the programme provides safe spaces, trusted adults and the opportunity for young people to build positive relationships with their peers. In Fife alone, the cashback for communities programme invested more than £4,123,000 in projects between 2008 and 2023, reaching more 142,000 young people.

The evidence proves that the cashback for communities programme is working. Evaluation shows that 4,318 young people reported that their antisocial and criminal behaviour reduced, 6,292 young people felt that they were less likely to engage in antisocial or criminal behaviour, and 4,954 young people gained an accreditation in furthering their development. Those statistics are from last year’s impact report for the cashback for communities programme that was published yesterday. The numbers illustrate how our focus on early intervention and diversionary activity is making a difference in communities.

While helping to provide more opportunities for young people in their communities, we also want to keep them safe from harm. That is why we have invested more than £4 million in the past two years to implement the action set out in the Scottish violence prevention framework. That supports the work of a range of partners, including the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, YouthLink Scotland and Medics Against Violence, to prevent young people from engaging in violence.

I also highlight the work of the improving Levenmouth together partnership. Through the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, £30,000 has been awarded to the local trade hub partnership, so that a science, technology, engineering and mathematics bus can now visit all 18 primary schools that feed into Levenmouth academy. Plans are in place for roadshow events led by various partners, including the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and ScotRail, covering issues such as fire-raising and track safety. In addition, the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit is supporting the role of the think equal programme across nurseries in the area with the stop the violence message. Together, those are some great examples of early and effective interventions in Fife that complement the work of the Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club in supporting children and young people.

I made it clear earlier that I wanted to focus on commending the positives in the debate. However, that does not mean avoiding concerns about antisocial behaviour, which remains such a core focus of the work of the Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club. As I have said previously, we take seriously the impact of antisocial behaviour, including antisocial driving, in our communities, and we have debated that four times in recent months. We are committed to working with local partners to tackle those issues effectively.

Recently, Bob Doris and Alex Cole-Hamilton have highlighted concerns about the reckless and dangerous misuse of a range of vehicles, and nuisance, such as noise. We have had another two comprehensive debates on that specific issue and, understandably, the level of interest in the debate has been high. Mr Cole-Hamilton discussed his concerns about South Queensferry with the First Minister. Along with the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, I hope to meet Mr Cole-Hamilton and Bob Doris to discuss practical considerations of what could be done in the new year with Police Scotland.