Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you for the invitation to take part in the committee’s pre-budget scrutiny process and for the opportunity to make a few brief opening remarks.

Before we look ahead to 2026-27, I will reflect on the justice budget position that was reached this year. We are investing almost £4.2 billion across the portfolio, which is an additional £194 million in comparison with last year. That recognises the fundamental importance of the justice system in supporting safe, thriving and inclusive communities and its role in supporting the First Minister’s priorities. That investment is supporting vital front-line justice services, providing support for victims and witnesses and tackling the underlying drivers of offending.

In looking ahead to next year’s budget, we recognise that the current fiscal and economic environment poses considerable challenges to Scotland’s public finances and that those are forecast to continue into the future. We expect to hear more about that from the Chancellor of the Exchequer when she announces the United Kingdom budget later today.

I restate my commitment to securing the best possible budget settlement for the justice portfolio, where we have a good track record to build on. Crime, including violent crime, has fallen under this Government, with recorded crime down by 39 per cent since 2006-07, which means that there are now thousands fewer victims every year in Scotland than there were in 2006-07. However, I recognise that the demands on the justice system continue to increase and I know that the committee has heard some stark statistics while taking evidence in recent weeks.

Alongside that, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is experiencing a shift in demand due to climate-related incidents, wildfires and a number of emerging risks. The justice organisations are all considering how best to deal with those additional operational demands in a challenging financial environment. I recognise the need to continue supporting that system to reform and innovate, putting it into a more sustainable position and making it more able to deal with new and increasing demands while continuing to deliver high-quality public services.

As I said, Scotland’s justice system has a strong track record of reform and innovation, including reform of the police and fire services. I will continue to support our public services and will invest across the justice system in 2026-27 to prevent crime, reduce reoffending and create safer communities with fewer victims of crime. I will continue focusing on ensuring that victims and witnesses are at the heart of our justice system.

I will, of course, work on delivering the justice vision, the First Minister’s priorities and the priorities that are set out in the programme for government, including supporting our front-line organisations to keep people safe. We will continue investing in the prison estate, progressing the next phase of HMP Glasgow and with HMP Highland on track for completion next year.

We will invest in community justice to continue to expand the use of community interventions, and we will continue to invest in third sector organisations to support and bolster social work services to work with other partners. We will support initiatives that target prevention—the key there is to reduce demand. As I said earlier, we will continue to support victims and witnesses of crime.

I will continue to work with our public bodies and my Cabinet colleagues to ensure that we maximise the benefits of our investment, while also supporting on-going reforms and transformation to deliver a more effective and efficient justice system.

I am happy to answer questions.

I can talk about the here and now in relation to what I have outlined to the committee previously about the phased implementation of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025, which was a massive piece of legislation with structural and significant reforms. The implementation will start next year. I have previously shared with the committee our overall implementation plan. You will be aware that much of the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) 2023—parts 1 and 2—has already been implemented, and the focus next year will be the work that is required on throughcare standards, which requires public engagement. The plans for implementation have not changed. Implementation of legislation is an important feature of our budget planning, as it is for our partners. Whether there are any changes, positive or negative, will depend on the overall budget allocation to justice.

By way of action taken by the Scottish Government in relation to the autumn budget revision, as members may have seen, we provided funding of £23.9 million to the justice portfolio. The purpose of that was to fund 60 per cent of the additional employer national insurance contributions. For the Scottish Police Authority, that came to a little over £15 million; for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, it was £3.4 million; for the Scottish Prison Service, it was £3.3 million; for the Courts and Tribunals Service, it was £1.2 million; for the judiciary, it was £500,000; and for other, smaller justice and home affairs public bodies, it was £300,000. That came to a total of around £24 million.

That is 60 per cent of the additional cost, leaving a shortfall of £16 million, which our justice public bodies had to find within the resource that was already allocated to them. I am sure that Mr Hepburn is familiar with the overall cost of £700 million to public services in Scotland, as a result of what I would term a tax on jobs. There is still a shortfall to Scottish public services of £400 million, and there will be pain associated with that.

Not met.

Yes.

Yes—public services in Scotland still face a £400 million shortfall.

Yes.

Yes. For the justice portfolio, it would be £16 million. Our mitigation—as far as we can go, at the 60 per cent threshold—will be baselined into budgets.

I am not in a position to offer any foresight on the UK Government’s budget. I just hope that the Chancellor of the Exchequer does not short-change Scotland or treat us as an afterthought.

The Government as a whole, and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and the First Minister in particular, have been clear that the priorities for the UK budget today should be about growing our economy and investing in public services. Obviously, employer national insurance contributions are a drag on that.

The other priority is the cost of living. We all know about the pain that energy bills cause for households, but the cost of living and the cost of energy also have an impact on public services.

It is really important that we do not conflate the two. The trans community is a very small, minority community. As with all of us, the vast majority of those individuals will be law-abiding citizens. The notification requirement is with respect to people who have committed sexual offences and the range of information that they must provide.

As I said in my opening remarks, I had a meeting with Scottish Trans, which has come to the view that it is reasonable and appropriate for the police to be informed on whether a sex offender is applying for a GRC.