1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to support victims and witnesses, particularly in domestic abuse cases. (S6O-03224)

We are investing record levels of funding to support victims through a range of front-line specialist services. Our victim centred approach fund will provide £48 million to 23 organisations between 2022 and 2025, including £18.5 million for specialist advocacy support for survivors of gender-based violence.

Of the annual £19 million in the delivering equally safe fund, £7,719,700 is provided to women’s aid groups, and we will help to fund the domestic abuse and forced marriage helpline to offer free confidential support.

Fourteen organisations, including Victim Support Scotland and women’s aid organisations, have also shared more than £1.3 million of grant funding from the victim surcharge fund to provide practical help to people who are impacted by domestic abuse.

Can the Minister outline what discussions the Scottish Government has had with partners including the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Police Scotland and third sector organisations such as Scottish Women’s Aid, about whether a trauma-informed approach, particularly in domestic abuse cases, could include ensuring that survivors have a single key point of contact in order to minimise the need for them to repeat and relive certain time periods through the process from reporting domestic abuse to a sentence being served?

Can the minister also provide information on the ability for people to find out about prior domestic abuse convictions of a partner?

The Cabinet secretary is currently taking through Parliament the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, which will put victims and witnesses at the heart of the justice system, and will include their need for a trauma-informed approach. The victims task force has commissioned work to explore models of a victim-centred approach to justice, with the goal of providing a single point of contact for delivery of criminal justice services.

In relation to domestic abuse convictions, the disclosure scheme for domestic abuse Scotland enables individuals to obtain, from Police Scotland, information on previous convictions for offences related to domestic abuse, information that might not have led to a domestic abuse conviction, and information on any other convictions linked to coercive control or on patterns of potentially abusive behaviour being displayed.

The power to share or to disclose that information is considered case by case by Police Scotland, which uses a three-point test—whether disclosure is lawful, necessary and proportionate. That is about disclosure to the applicant being necessary to protect the individual from being the victim of domestic abuse.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Thank you.

I will need slightly shorter answers if I am to get all the questions in.

My proposed domestic abuse prevention bill would offer more support to domestic abuse victims. I hope that the Government will soon come on board and support my proposal.

In light of the recent news that domestic abuse victims in the rest of the United Kingdom will be able to receive cash payments of £2,500 in order to leave a violent home, will the Scottish Government expand its leavers fund to cover all of Scotland, and will it consider—

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Minister.

I am aware of Pam Gosal’s proposed bill. I am happy to work with you. We have not seen the final stages of the proposal, but I am happy to have a meeting with you.

I note what you said about what is happening in England and Wales. At the moment, Scotland is leading with a £500,000 pilot of its fund to leave. The pilot is being supported across local authorities to help women to flee domestic abuse situations.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Please make c omments through the chair.

Domestic abuse courts have operated in some sheriff courts. What work has the Scottish Government done to analyse and evaluate the success of those courts? Will the Minister share any of that work with the Parliament?

The expansion to Glasgow of the domestic abuse courts will mean that many more victims and witnesses benefit from cases being resolved at an early stage, and from the reduction in unnecessary citations and hearings.

As Katy Clark knows, a pilot court has already demonstrated a significant reduction in the volume of witness citations being issued. It is an on-going pilot; I am happy to keep the member updated on progress.