Less than three months ago, my party asked the Parliament to instigate a Scottish grooming gangs inquiry. We did so because we knew that it was necessary—we knew it then and we certainly know it now. Our Amendment to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill was the only legal mechanism available to us to do it. However, the Scottish National Party voted the amendment down.

In doing so, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs cited the leading expert, Professor Alexis Jay. Angela Constance said that Professor Jay

“shares my view and has put on the record and stated to the media that she does not support further inquiries into child sexual abuse and exploitation”.—[Official Report, 16 September 2025; c 31.]

Does John Swinney think that the justice secretary’s statement was honest?

Yes, I do. It was a reflection of the general comment that was being made about the issues at the time. As Mr Findlay knows, the Government was looking at a range of different issues in relation to the examination of the issue of childhood sexual abuse—which is building on the work that we have already undertaken in establishing the inquiry into those issues that is chaired by Lady Smith. In the debate on the issue yesterday, the Government set out further steps that we are taking. I welcome the participation of Professor Alexis Jay in the work that the Government is taking forward.

Absolutely incredible. At no point did Professor Jay say that there should be no further inquiries into grooming gangs in Scotland. The justice secretary misrepresented Professor Jay, she misled the Parliament and she misled the public—and then she went absent without leave. On 19 November, she was not here to answer Urgent Questions about her misrepresentation. On 25 November, she put up a junior Minister to answer urgent questions on the lack of knowledge about grooming gangs in Scotland. On 26 November, again, she sat here in silence when we challenged her failure to answer questions. Yesterday, the justice secretary finally broke her silence, but she made no apology and did not accept any wrongdoing whatsoever. The misleading of Parliament must be investigated by the independent advisers on the ministerial code. Will John Swinney support an investigation, and, if it finds against the justice secretary, will he sack her?

I am satisfied with the way in which these matters have been conducted. I am also satisfied with the steps that the Government set out yesterday to the Parliament, which are that there will be an independent national review of the response to group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation in Scotland, led by the Care Inspectorate, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. I welcome the fact that Professor Alexis Jay has been appointed as the independent chair for the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group. All of that work will be drawn together and assessed independently, further advice will come to ministers and the Parliament will be updated.

John Swinney says that he is satisfied, but victims have no faith in this Government and no faith in this justice secretary. The mother of Taylor, who was gang raped as a child in care, told me that there is

“no substance to anything that Angela Constance says”

and that

“she cannot oversee anything.”

I wonder whether the First Minister has concluded the same thing in private. Yesterday’s announcement of a grooming gangs review was made not by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs but by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. It looks as if the responsibility for that inquiry and for the decisions made on its findings will not be held by Angela Constance. Has John Swinney, too, realised that she cannot possibly oversee that review—and does that not show that he, too, has lost confidence in his own justice secretary?

No—that is not the case. The reason why the education secretary made that announcement yesterday is that she carries Cabinet responsibility for child protection issues, of which all that material is comprised. On Tuesday, the education secretary led the discussion at Cabinet, which involved all Cabinet colleagues, including the justice secretary, about the steps that the Government is taking, which I set out to Parliament last week in response to a question from Pam Gosal. All of that is the responsibility of the Government, and it is led by the education secretary. I have set out to Parliament the steps that we are taking.

It sounds as though the justice secretary will not have responsibility for a review into mass organised criminality, but the First Minister suggests that there is nothing unusual about that. The Scottish National Party has been shamed into launching a grooming gangs review, but it is a review that victims believe will mean public bodies marking their own homework and the Government controlling the findings. We still do not know whether the justice secretary, who did not want the review to happen and who dishonestly twisted the words of an academic and misled victims and the Parliament, will be in charge of the review. All of that is why a review simply is not good enough and an independent inquiry is necessary. Victims do not trust Angela Constance, the SNP or the authorities that have already failed them. They deserve answers and justice, and that can be achieved only by a free, fearless and independent inquiry. Why on earth cannot John Swinney see that?

I recognise the significance and seriousness of the issue. It has been treated as such by my Government, which is why we have taken careful steps to do all the explanatory and investigative work and come to the right conclusion about whether an inquiry of the nature that Mr Findlay put to Parliament yesterday is appropriate and necessary.

Mr Findlay said that a collection of different organisations are marking their own homework. The organisations that I referred to were set up by statute and have to operate independently of Government. That is what the law requires of them. They are the Care Inspectorate, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. It is really important that I, as First Minister, make it clear, openly to the public in Scotland, that I have absolute confidence in the independent decision making and scrutiny of those organisations, because that is vital for public confidence.

In recent weeks, we have seen reports from Healthcare Improvement Scotland that have challenged and been very critical of health boards in this country. That is because HIS is exercising independent and fearless scrutiny, as will Professor Alexis Jay as the independent chair of the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group. That gives me confidence that we are going about the process in a serious and detailed fashion, to ensure that the perspective of victims is properly addressed as we consider this significant and serious issue.