Official Report 973KB pdf
Grooming Gangs
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will now hold an inquiry into grooming gangs in Scotland, in light of the recent reported comments by the NSPCC that the country lacks a clear understanding of the scale and nature of child sexual abuse.
Child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation are abhorrent crimes with devastating impacts on victims and their families, which is why the protection of children is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government. It is why we established the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group, of which the NSPCC is a valued member. At a meeting today, the strategic group agreed next steps in its programme of work to improve our response to child sexual abuse, which includes on-going actions on workforce, data and consideration of mandatory reporting.
As has been set out to the Parliament on several occasions, the Scottish Government will give every consideration to holding an inquiry if we feel that it is necessary. The work of the strategic group, as well as the on-going work by Police Scotland, will help to inform our thinking.
We have a minister appearing online, but here in the chamber is a cabinet secretary who has previously answered questions on grooming gangs. I am a little confused as to what the process is and who is leading on what.
The NSPCC is the leading Scottish child protection charity, and it sits on the Scottish Government’s national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group. Its intervention is unprecedented. The national child sexual abuse and exploitation sub-group produced a 27-page deep dive on child sexual abuse, yet there was not one mention of grooming gangs—not one single reference. That is more evidence that the national structures that the minister points to are focused on general practice, not on identifying or analysing organised group-based exploitation.
Given that that detailed report has overlooked the issue of grooming gangs entirely, does the minister still believe that the Scottish Government is truly committed to confronting the issue?
I have been very clear that—as I outlined in my first response—we are prepared to give an inquiry every consideration, but surely members want to ensure that we are diverting resources in the most appropriate way by strengthening our response to this abhorrent crime and supporting any victims.
As I said, I have been very clear that we are not closed off to the holding of an inquiry, but we want to ensure that we put in resources in an appropriate way that is inclusive of the on-going work by Police Scotland and the national group to inform that.
The minister talks about resources, but the report that the Scottish Government has issued does not mention grooming gangs once. The Government does not know what it is doing.
The minister will be aware of the inquiry that is taking place in England. The sheer scale of offending that has been uncovered has led to the collapse of the grooming gangs inquiry there. The task force made more than 1,000 arrests in its first year, and survivors have said that they were taken across the border to be exploited right here in Scotland. It is impossible, therefore, for anyone in the Scottish Government to argue that Scotland is immune, given the large scale of what has happened down south.
So far, the Scottish Government has rejected calls from victims to hold an inquiry here, but the NSPCC has been clear that Scotland still lacks a clear understanding of the scale and nature of child abuse. Victims deserve better than that, so will the minister take this opportunity to finally agree to our calls for a grooming gangs inquiry to be established in Scotland so that we can uncover the true scale of child abuse that has occurred across the country and provide victims with justice and closure?
I think that I have been very clear in my responses to Meghan Gallacher. We are not closed off to holding a grooming gangs inquiry; I have said that we want to ensure that that is where resources need to be diverted.
I am confident that we need to build a clearer picture in Scotland of the nature of such group-based activity. I met with Police Scotland representatives just last night, alongside the First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, to receive a progress update on the on-going work. I am confident that we are building that picture, both with the work that Police Scotland is undertaking and the further work that has just been agreed today by the national group. I think that that speaks to exactly what Meghan Gallacher is calling for in ensuring that we have a clear picture of the scale of such activity in Scotland.
I call Pauline McNeill.
—what approach to take in tackling organised—
Ms McNeill, I ask you to begin again. We were unable to hear you at first. Thank you.
The Scottish Government is in danger of completely losing its grip over what approach to take in tackling organised child sexual abuse. Last week, the Government would not say whether it had spoken specifically to expert Professor Alexis Jay, after having to apologise to her. Now a respected organisation—the NSPCC—has questioned whether the Scottish Government can provide the leadership that is required, citing a lack of reliable information.
Has the Government now finally spoken to Professor Jay? Will it conduct a case-by-case review so that we can establish the scale of child sexual abuse in Scotland? How will the Government restore confidence among experts, agencies and victims that it has a serious strategy to combat child sexual abuse in this country?
I call the minister.
—take this seriously—
Minister, I ask you to begin again, as we were unable to hear you.
Of course. I have been very clear and outlined the steps that the Government is taking, to assure members that this is an absolute priority and something that the Scottish Government is extremely committed to.
I think that we need to look in full at the quote from the NSPCC, which as I have said, is a very valued member of the national group. It stated that
“the formation of the Scottish Government’s ... Strategic Group has been an important first step”,
and I think that the actions that were then taken speak directly to the asks that the NSPCC has made, which were
“ministerial leadership ... a clearer picture of the problem and greater investment in prevention and recovery.”
Based on the actions that the group announced today that it will take, as well as the work undertaken by Police Scotland that I have already alluded to, I am confident that we are taking the correct approach, and we will be informed by the data and the evidence that we gather from those approaches.
The Scottish National Party’s justice secretary misrepresented the views of Professor Alexis Jay on grooming gangs, so will the minister be very clear in responding to this question? Will she make public any correspondence from Professor Jay on this matter?
I think that I was very clear in the chamber last week, to Mr Findlay’s colleague Mr Kerr, in relation to the misunderstanding and the way that that was appropriately cleared up. I have been very clear that Professor Jay is another valued member of the national group, and I will continue to be informed by the work of that group and those expert voices.
A Scottish Conservative freedom of information request revealed that, on 14 October, the cabinet secretary’s own strategic group corrected the misrepresentation of Professor Jay in the presence of SNP ministers. Shortly after that, officials briefed the justice secretary in writing, yet the Official Report remained uncorrected, Parliament remained uninformed and the cabinet secretary failed to attend for my urgent question, even remotely, to fess up. The public learned the truth only when journalists investigated.
Will the minister explain—or perhaps the cabinet secretary could, as she is sitting in the chamber—why no correction was made for weeks, and why it took a media investigation to reveal the truth?
I think that Mr Kerr is focusing on the wrong areas here. What has been brought to the chamber today is an extremely serious matter. I was in the chamber last week, answering questions in relation to the quote and the way that that has been resolved, and I think that what we need to focus on now are the actions that have been taken to deal with these abhorrent crimes and support the victims who have suffered through them.
I have brought up the issue of grooming gangs several times in the chamber, but, instead of taking real action, the SNP Government has chosen to bury its head in the sand, all in the name of political correctness. Let me give it a news flash. Grooming gangs are a real problem, and not just in England and Wales—they are present in every part of Scotland. Why is the minister afraid of calling for an inquiry?
I think that the way in which people are trying to politicise this issue is awful. The matter that we are discussing is extremely serious. I think that I have been very clear in the responses that I have given today, and the responses that I gave last week, on the action that we are undertaking in Scotland to understand the true scale of child exploitation and child abuse, to support victims who have experienced them, and to move forward in the best way possible for our children and our young people.
Russell Findlay asked the minister a very specific question, which she refused to answer. Without saying the words “I have been very clear”—here in the chamber, it does not feel like she has been—can the minister just tell us whether the Scottish Government will release all correspondence between it and Professor Alexis Jay? Yes or no?
I will have to get back to Douglas Ross on that point, because I do not have the information—[Interruption.]
Let us hear the minister.
—in relation to the correspondence that has been passed back and forth. I will be more than happy to follow up on Mr Ross’s question in writing.
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