Victims Taskforce Minutes: June 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Angela Constance (Co-Chair), Cabinet Secretary for Justice & Home Affairs

• Ruth Charteris KC (Co-Chair), Solicitor General

• Lindsey Miller, Deputy Crown Agent, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)
• Catriona Dalrymple, Director of Justice
• Vicki Bell, Law Society of Scotland (LSS)
• Ann Fehilly, ASSIST
• Mary Glasgow, Children 1st
• Marsha Scott, Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA)
• Lynn Burns, Victims’ Voices representative
• Karyn McCluskey, Community Justice Scotland
• Sandy Brindley, Rape Crisis Scotland
• Eric McQueen, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS)
• Kate Wallace, Victim Support Scotland (VSS)
• Liz McNamee, Scottish Prison Service (SPS)
• Colin Spivey, Parole Board for Scotland, Chief Executive
• Sharon Stirrat, Social Work Scotland
• DS Steven Bertram, Police Scotland
• DCS Sam Faulds, Police Scotland
• Lynne Henderson, Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)

Apologies

• Dorothy Bain KC, Lord Advocate
• Oona Brooks, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR)
• Anna Donald, Scottish Government
• Terresa Medhurst, Scottish Prison Service
• DCC Bex Smith, Police Scotland
• Linda Brown, CICA
• Anil Gupta, COSLA
• Kevin Quinn, Action Against Stalking
• Andy Shanks, COPFS

Other attendees

• Caroline Bruce, NHS Education for Scotland (NES)
• Tirion Seymour, VSS
• Catherine Docherty, Journey Associates
• Chief Inspector Jonathan Wright,  Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing, Police Scotland

Secretariat – Scottish Government/COPFS

• Emma Forbes, Head of Victims and Witnesses Policy Team, COPFS
• Naomi Gregg, Head of Justice Portfolio Management Office, SG
• Andrew Baird, Criminal Justice Reform Unit, SG
• Chantelle Lalli, Criminal Justice Reform Unit, SG
• Claire Johnston, Criminal Justice Reform Unit, SG
• Jeff Gibbons, Violence Against Women and Girls, SG
• Carola Eyber, Human Trafficking, SG
• Lindsey Henderson, Victims and Witnesses Unit, SG
• Lucy Smith, Victims and Witnesses Unit, SG
• Rebecca Aitken, Victims and Witnesses Unit, SG
• Kiran Saggu, Victims and Witnesses Unit, SG
• Rhianna King, Victims and Witnesses Unit, SG
• John Wallace, Victims and Witnesses Unit, SG

Items and actions

Chairs’ welcome, minutes and matters arising

The Solicitor General welcomed members to the meeting and noted apologies.

Members were referred to Paper 1: Draft minutes of 30 November 2023 meeting.

It was noted that all actions were complete or are ongoing.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.

Victim/Survivor Advisory Board to the Victims Taskforce

The Solicitor General thanked those with lived experience who participated in the Victim/Survivor Advisory Board (VSAB), and noted that the Lord Advocate and Cabinet Secretary had attended a workshop in March, where they heard directly about the experiences of survivors of sexual offences.  

Sandy Brindley from Rape Crisis Scotland was invited to speak to Papers 2, 3 and 4 (the issues tracker, the Victim/Survivor Advisory Board update, and the note from the workshop held in March, respectively).

Sandy referred members to the Victim/Survivor Advisory Board update (paper 3). 

For paper 2 (the issues tracker), Sandy referred to Issue 3(c) and asked Police Scotland for an update relating to the timing of checking accuracy of statements with victims and the rollout of visually recorded interview (VRI) pilot. In response, DCS Sam Faulds confirmed that both actions among others were being addressed and work is ongoing. DS Steven Bertram added that the VRI rollout is in progress and work is ongoing on upskilling staff. Sandy raised victim impact statements (Issue 3(d)) and asked whether the Scottish Government (SG) has any legislative plans around this. Kate Wallace added that the offenses for which a victim is currently allowed to give a statement is limited, and wondered whether there is scope to add this as part of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Lindsey Henderson confirmed that SG consulted in 2019 on expanding the use of victim statements and made regulations that would allow SG to pilot change. Primary legislation is not needed to expand the use of victim statements as it can be done under secondary legislation. She added that work is included under the Transformational Change Programme and is ongoing – but has been slowed due to interdependencies (including with the COPFS witness gateway project) and other resourcing pressures.

Eric McQueen confirmed that the Scottish Sentencing Council is also looking at the issue of victim statements. He also referred to a recent report on survivors’ views of sentences in sexual offences. 

Sandy suggested that Oona Brooks-Hay be invited to present the above research findings at a future Victims Taskforce meeting. Lindsey confirmed that Oona Brooks-Hay has also offered to do this.

Sandy referred to Issue 2 (a) (on court delays) and asked for clarification on the response from the court service relating to delays. Eric explained that there has been an increase in the level of cases going through court, but there have been improvements and efforts are ongoing to reduce the delays.

Marsha Scott raised concerns about sentencing in domestic abuse cases and asked if the Taskforce could look into this. Ann Fehilly agreed that sentencing is an issue. 

Kate flagged that the Scottish Sentencing Council are currently working on sentencing guidelines, and suggested waiting until that has been published before coming to a decision as a Taskforce.

Child victims and witnesses update

The Cabinet Secretary highlighted that there is ongoing work aimed at improving the journey of child victims and witnesses within the justice system. The Victims and Witnesses Justice Reform Bill contains measures relating to trauma informed practice, the right to anonymity and the creation of a Victims and Witnesses Commissioner.

Chantelle Lalli and Andy Baird were invited to speak to Paper 5, highlighting work on Bairns’ Hoose, the Scottish Child Interview Model, the Vulnerable Witnesses Act, remote court suites, the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill, and a review of communication with child victims and witnesses.

In the subsequent discussion, the following key points were made:

• the evidence by commission suites are not designed to be child friendly 
• whether the Taskforce should have a separate workstream that focuses on children and young people
• the impacts of uncommenced legislation (from 2020) on children, and the perceived lack of focus on children in the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.
• the need to focus specifically on children throughout the justice system (in criminal and civil courts)
• clarification about geographical spread of evidence by commission suites in Scotland. SG confirmed that there are four suites operating across 3 sheriffdoms, with more due to open in Tayside, Central and Fife. Eric commented that evidence by commission suites are operating across all sheriffdoms in Scotland, and that SCTS is looking to develop remote access to these suites, for additional coverage.

Mary Glasgow invited members to visit the Bairns’ Hoose in North Strathclyde, highlighting that although there has been significant progress, the Bairns Hoose model is not yet fully integrated. She commented on the difficulties and inconsistencies in applying the model across Scotland. Mary suggested that it may be useful for the Taskforce to hear directly from children and young people regarding Bairns Hoose and to find out what matters to them in their care and justice journeys.

Ann highlighted the increasing number of young women under the age of 18 who are victims of domestic abuse and suggested there needs to be more focus on young people as victims and not just witnesses.

The Cabinet Secretary noted the desire for a deeper discussion into this area of work and commented that the secretariat would consider how to best do this.

Workstream 1 update: Victim Centred Approach

The Cabinet Secretary invited Kate Wallace and Emma Forbes to provide an update on the project.

Kate explained that the original aim of this workstream was to develop models and costings for a victim centred approach to justice in Scotland. The project is now nearing completion and the workstream is looking for steer from the Taskforce for its next steps.

Emma highlighted that three main propositions have come from the workstream – a single point of contact, a victims’ passport and Opt-out referral

Catherine Docherty spoke to Paper 6 and presented progress of the project and the key findings.

The Cabinet Secretary noted her thanks to those who participated in the project.

Members were asked to note the project progress to date and to endorse the key propositions for a Victim-Centred approach and the additional focus on the predominant propositions.

The majority of members noted agreement with the propositions.

Sandy flagged that having an opt out as part of the proposition to formalise the referral process is not appropriate for all crime types and that she would expect a lot of opposition if victims’ details were passed onto support organisations without their consent. Sandy also commented on the need for proportionality and the importance of involving Police Scotland in discussions about automatic referral. 

Kate highlighted that there is still further work to be done exploring an opt out referrals proposition.

Marsha raised her concerns about how information from domestic abuse victims/survivors will be used.

Catherine acknowledged the sensitivities around domestic abuse and confirmed that ASSIST have been involved in discussions.  

Colin Spivey noted that for the next steps of the project, it is important to get costing information.  

Workstream 2 update: Trauma Informed Workforce

The Solicitor General welcomed the ongoing work in the trauma informed workforce workstream and invited Lindsey Henderson and Caroline Bruce to provide an update. 

Lindsey noted that SG is temporarily chairing this workstream and would welcome volunteers to chair going forward with SG secretariat support.

Lindsey referred to Paper 7. She commented that the workstream had met twice since the last Taskforce meeting, most recently a few days before the Taskforce (on 17 June). Paper 7 sets out key themes for implementing the knowledge and skills framework.

Caroline highlighted that NES are focused on supporting the workstream to think about implementation and also how they are training the workforce to implement these changes in practice.

It was noted that the first phase of training is likely to have reached all High Courts in Scotland by the end of the year.

NES are working on e-modules covering trauma-informed and trauma-skilled levels under the knowledge and skills framework. These resources are expected to be ready in the coming months and can be used to train staff across the justice system.

On the question of workstream chairs - Vicki Bell, Karyn McCluskey and Lynn Burns noted their interest. 

Lindsey also highlighted plans for regular meetings between workstream chairs for improved information sharing across workstreams.

Workstream 3 update: Communications

The Solicitor General emphasised the importance of effective and accessible channels of communication for victims and witness to feel supported throughout the judicial process. She invited Lindsey Henderson and Andy Shanks to speak to this update.

Andy introduced himself as chair of the workstream and provided an update on the progress so far: 

• The working group has met twice and includes representation from across the criminal justice agencies, victim support organisations and victim representatives. 
• The group’s overall strategic aim is to develop a person-centred, trauma-informed approach to communication. The first phase of work is to develop an implementation plan and is underway. An initial mapping exercise has been undertaken to identify gaps – members were directed to paper 8. The next step is to develop a road map that will be applicable across the criminal justice system. 

The First Word are involved in this workstream and have developed e- modules with a People at Heart approach. They are engaging directly with criminal justice agencies to address individual business needs for implementation and how they can best be supported.

Andy noted that it would be beneficial to have collaboration with the other two workstreams to ensure that there is alignment across all workstreams. 

Kate noted that the point in the terms of reference for workstream 3 (on making sure there is alignment between workstreams), does not specifically mention the other two workstreams. 

Kate also highlighted that the journey mapping work that was completed for the victim centred approach workstream would be helpful for this workstream. 

Marsha raised concerns that victims in the civil justice system are not being addressed as most of the focus is on the criminal justice system.

Marsha also questioned if the work could benefit from considering what success looks like across the various agencies. 

Lindsey acknowledged that understanding the activities and how they contribute to the outcomes is crucial - the work is not yet advanced enough for this but that is what we are working towards. There will be opportunities to learn from the work being undertaken in workstream 2 to help with this. 

Scottish Government Update

The Cabinet Secretary reflected on the variety of ongoing work within SG, some of which has been slightly delayed due to the upcoming general election. 

Cat Dalrymple referred members to Paper 9 as an update on the areas of work that either contribute directly to, or are linked to, the Victims Taskforce workstreams. Cat made the following key points:

• Stage 2 of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, is expected to start in Autumn, and will be guided by Parliament.
• Aspects of the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act 2023 are currently being implemented. Parliament approved regulations recently which allowed for the emergency release of prisoners. Cat expressed thanks to the VSOs that have engaged on this matter.
• The Children (Care and Justice) Bill received Royal Assent after papers had been agreed - it is now the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024.
• The consultation on the Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill closed in April. 

In response, Sandy asked for clarification on the progress of the Misogyny Bill. The Cabinet Secretary confirmed that discussions on this are taking place and work is ongoing.

Any other Business

No other business was raised

The Secretariat will be in touch regarding the date of the next meeting 

The Cabinet Secretary closed the meeting and thanked members for their attendance.

Actions Log

• DS Steven Bertram to liaise with Sandy Brindley and provide a more specific update on the timescales of wider VRI rollout.  Action ongoing
• SG Secretariat to invite Oona Brooks-Hay to present research findings on survivors views of sentences on sexual offenses at next meeting.  Action ongoing
• SG Secretariat to invite Marsha Scott to liaise with Simon Stockwell in relation to children in civil and criminal courts. Action ongoing
• SG secretariat to consider how Taskforce could engage more deeply into this area of work. Action ongoing
• Marsha Scott and Catherine Docherty to liaise on sensitivities around information sharing from domestic abuse survivors. Action ongoing
• SG Secretariat to confirm Chair(s) for Workstream 2. Action ongoing
•  SG Secretariat to re-draft terms of reference for Taskforce workstreams to align work of all workstreams. Action ongoing
• SG Secretariat to co-ordinate and link work between all three workstreams. Action ongoing

Actions from last meeting dated 30 November 2023

• Law Society Scotland (LSS) to provide SG with information/material on the process of complaints against defence. Action ongoing
• SG to liaise with Children 1st on the visibility of child victims. Action ongoing
• COPFS and VSS to set up discussion on court delays with COPFS and Colin Spivey/Kate Wallace. Action complete
• Caroline Bruce to liaise with Jodie McVicar / Marsha at SWA on how we best make links between training in gender competence and in training in trauma as resources are developed.    Caroline Bruce. Action ongoing 
• SG to confirm chairs for communications workstream. Action complete
•  Anna Donald to raise communications workstream with Criminal Justice Board to drive engagement. Action complete