Victims Taskforce minutes: November 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Justice & Home Affairs (Co-Chair)
• Dorothy Bain KC, Lord Advocate (Co-Chair)
• Anna Donald, Scottish Government (SG)
• Vicki Bell, Law Society of Scotland (LSS)
• Ann Fehilly, ASSIST
• Louise Hill, Children First
• Marsha Scott, Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA)
• Lynn Burns, Victims’ Voices representative
• Kate Wallace, Victim Support Scotland (VSS)
• Karyn McCluskey, Community Justice Scotland
• Sandy Brindley, Rape Crisis Scotland
• Kasia Sadaj, Cairn Service
• Kevin Quinn, Action Against Stalking
• Graham Malcolm, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS)
• Elaine Tomlinson, Police Scotland
• Steve Johnson, Police Scotland
• Laura Stewart, Police Scotland
• Liz McNamee, Scottish Prison Service (SPS)
• Stephen Coyle, Scottish Prison Service (SPS)
• Oona Brooks, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR)
• Colin Spivey, Parole Board for Scotland
• Sharon Stirrat, Social Work Scotland
• Christopher Mochan, Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)
• Andy Shanks, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)
• Tony Lenehan, Faculty of Advocates

Apologies

• Mary Glasgow, Children First
• Emma Forbes, COPFS
• Steven Bertram, Police Scotland
• Caroline Bruce, NHS Education for Scotland (NES)
• John Logue, COPFS
• Lynne Henderson, CICA
• Alistair Hogg, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration

Other attendees

• Sandra Ferguson, NES
• Tirion Seymour, VSS
• Debbie Adams, VSS
• Muna Ali, Women’s Aid Scotland
• Catherine Docherty, Journey Associates
• Naomi Gregg, SG
• Brian Taylor, SG
• Jocelyn Hickey, SG
• Carole Robinson, SG

Secretariat – Scottish Government/COPFS

• Laura Buchan, COPFS
• Gertie Wallace, SG
• Rebecca Aitken,  SG
• Lucy Smith, SG
• Claire Johnston, SG
• Kiran Saggu, SG
• Rhianna King, SG
• John Wallace, SG

Items and actions

Chairs’ welcome, minutes and matters arising

The Lord Advocate welcomed members and noted apologies. She offered the chairs’ apologies that the meeting was not being held in-person but noted that the secretariat would look to arrange that for the next meeting.

The Lord Advocate opened the meeting by raising awareness about the forthcoming annual international campaign of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (commencing on 25 November) and requested Taskforce members to join her in reiterating the commitment to working together across the system to eradicate violence against women and girls in Scotland. 

Marsha Scott (Scottish Women’s Aid) reflected on the work of Victim Taskforce, commenting that whilst Taskforce had made progress for victims, but some of the larger issues that were mentioned at its first meeting (including civil justice and children’s rights) still exist. She added that recent reports show that systemic problems persist. She suggested that a future Taskforce meeting should be used to reflect on, and review, the Taskforce’s work. This was agreed to by other Taskforce members. 

Lord Advocate agreed that it was vital to review the work done so far by the Taskforce and consider how it contributes to the wider change required. The Cabinet Secretary agreed with the value of holding a discussion around systemic issues. 

Members were referred to the draft minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2024. It was noted that all actions were complete or ongoing. The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.

 

Workstream 1 update: Victim Centred Approach 

The Cabinet Secretary invited Kate Wallace (Victim Support Scotland), Colin Spivey (Parole Board for Scotland) and Catherine Docherty (Journey Associates) to present the findings and recommendations from the project.

Kate opened by mentioning that the project took the lead from Lesley Thomson’s report in 2017 and that its main aim was to develop implementable solutions that provide a victim centred approach to justice in Scotland.

Colin highlighted that the report is a call for action; that the ask is for Taskforce members to endorse these solutions and recommendations so that implementation work can be taken forward. 

Catherine presented the project report, highlighting the mapping work that presents opportunities for improving the victim/survivor journey through the criminal justice system, and the evidence base used for identifying and developing the solutions. 

The principle recommendations from the report, which were presented in detail, are (1) to introduce an opt-out referral process for victims; (2) to establish a single point of contact as a standard service; (3) to introduce a Victim Passport (Gateway and Journal) to enable streamlined data sharing; and (4) to co-create a shared purpose across all justice agencies, aimed at “humanising” the criminal justice system. 

Louise Hill (Children First),commented that funding and sustainability for victim support organisations should be considered as part of the mapping, as there are issues around uncertain and short-term funding for supporting children who are victim-survivors. 

Kasia Sadaj (Cairn Service), commented on issues around the degree of ownership that a survivor will have over the Journal part of the proposed Victim Passport, whether it could be used by justice agencies against an individual’s will when seeking more evidence. Kate noted that it would be owned by victims and that they would have a choice about the content. She explained that the solutions need to be explored in depth as part of the next phase of the project. 

Marsha expressed her appreciation for the work and reflected that it raised important issues. She raised concerns around the single point of contact solution, specifically that this should not impact the local connections and grassroot level support. Louise agreed with this point, adding that it is vital for national work to support local grassroot services. 

Queries were raised in relation to the scope of the work: was it gender-based and focused on civil justice for women and children’s experience? Louise raised the concern that children were not included in the project, and the risk that children would remain invisible in any system designed within the scope of this project. 

Kate clarified that the scope of the work was limited due to budget and timescales - and with a desire to deliver positive change as soon as possible for victim survivors - and that there is no intention to interrupt/change any local pathways, rather to strengthen the existing systems. 

Sandy Brindley (Rape Crisis Scotland) also reflected on the importance of the single point of contact not being a barrier to existing pathways, noting that RCS have a direct referral pathway from Police Scotland to the advocacy centre. She also highlighted Lady Dorrian’s recommendation that all survivors should have access to advocacy support and  that there needs to be joined-up specialist support across justice agencies. The importance of ensuring a “no wrong front door” approach was noted, and that this did not mean it would be the same front door for all victims and survivors.

Members representing SCTS, Police Scotland and COPFS noted support for the work and expressed a keenness to be involved in leading and supporting next steps. 

Malcolm Graham (SCTS) added that extraordinary levels of co-ordination would be needed and there will be resource considerations.   

Elaine Tomlinson (Police Scotland) noted that the practicalities of the proposals need to be worked out to ensure they  work in practice. She reflected on the need to understand compliance with GDPR to maintain a victim centred approach. 

Sandy  noted concerns with the blanket opt-out referral recommendation, and that different terminology had been considered at the most recent VCA Governance group meeting and may benefit being reflected in the report. 

The Cabinet Secretary reflected that the Taskforce is interested in any further comments on the opt-out option and the potential for using different terminology. 

Kate responded that it had been agreed that victims and survivors should be given choice, and suggested a separate workstream be set up, led by Police Scotland and supported by others, to work through the potential legal and operational issues of a move to an opt-out (or other) referral mechanism. 

Marsha noted that there has been a lot of research done regarding opt-out support for domestic abuse victims which has rigorous safety provisions embedded in it. 

The Cabinet Secretary thanked all participants for their comments. She noted the shared acknowledgement that issues raised during this discussion will require to be worked out, commenting that it is vital for the system to treat people as human beings.

Taskforce members endorsed the recommendations and findings of the report – though noted the need to further explore the issues raised during the discussion and fully understand the legislative and operational implications of what is required to realise the proposed solutions. 

Workstream 2 update: Trauma Informed Workforce 

The Lord Advocate invited the co-chairs of the workstream, Vicki Bell (Law Society) and Lynn Burns (Victims’ Representative) to provide an update on this work. 

Vicki Bell spoke to paper 4 and provided the following update:

• The workstream is currently focussing on implementing the knowledge and skills framework for trauma-informed justice, currently focusing on and monitoring and evaluation. A logic model has been developed and agreed with workstream members, which will inform implementation progress. 
• A monitoring form is currently being developed. Workstream members have agreed on a collective approach to measure the outcomes set out in the logic model. 
• A key milestone was achieved this month with the launch of the e-learning modules developed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). 

Sandra Ferguson (NES) updated the group that 640 individuals have already completed Module 1 since the launch and endeavours are being made to ensure access for Module 2. 

Jocelyn Hickey (Justice Analytical Services) provided an update on the monitoring and evaluation framework and referred to the logic model at paper 4. Feedback from workstream members pointed towards the challenge of measuring progress against outcomes related to the experience of victims and witnesses. Further work will be undertaken on measuring victim experience, exploring ways to collectively improve data and information that better measures progress towards outcomes. Work is ongoing to finalise the monitoring form. 

The Lord Advocate thanked all for the update and referred to the questions in paper 4, suggesting that more time be given for this item at the next meeting because the work touches upon the importance of a victim’s journey through the system being trauma-informed.  

Workstream 3 update: Communications

The Cabinet Secretary referred to paper 5 and invited the workstream chair. Andy Shanks (COPFS), to provide an update.

Andy provided the following update:

• The remit of this workstream is agreed. It includes implementing the People at Heart approach and wider actions to improve communications for victims and witnesses. 
• The workstream is currently developing its implementation plan. 

The workstream had previously collated information on ongoing and planned activities, and had taken forward a high-level mapping exercise. 

• Six strategic aims and eight activity themes were shared with members during the most recent meeting, for feedback and agreement. The workstream is also developing an evidence bank of best practice regarding communication with victims and witnesses. 
• The workstream is actively identifying areas of collaboration, as well as aligning its activities and output with other Taskforce workstreams. 
• The First Word is delivering introductory webinars to justice agencies for the People at Heart approach, and is seeking feedback from members on  a public facing style guide for communications with victim and witnesses. 

Marsha welcomed the idea of a coherent and consistent approach to communications and highlighted the need to look through an intersectional lens, particularly for marginalised groups who face language barriers (e.g. women from ethnic minority group). She suggested that an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) could be carried out to enhance this work further. 

The Cabinet Secretary thanked Andy for the update noting that progress was comprehensive despite the workstream being fairly new. She asked members to provide examples of best practice of communication for the evidence bank.

Presentation by Dr Oona Brooks-Hay (SCCJR): Victim-Survivor Views and Experiences of Sentencing for Rape and Other Sexual Offences

The Lord Advocate invited Dr Oona Brooks-Hay to present her work on victim-survivor views and experiences of sentencing for rape and other sexual offences.

Oona set out that the study was commissioned by the Scottish Sentencing Council to inform the development of sentencing guidelines for rape and other sexual offences. The research was an opportunity to gain insight into experiences of the sentencing process from the perspective of survivors. 

The study comprised in-depth qualitative interviews with 14 adult (female) victim-survivors of rape and/or sexual offences, whose cases resulted in a conviction and a subsequent sentence between 2021–2024. 

Oona gave an overview of the following findings: 

• Meaning and purpose of sentencing - victims/survivors have low expectations of prosecution and conviction. Sentencing should primarily serve the purpose of ensuring individual safety and public protection
• Views on length and type of sentence - there was clear support for custodial sentences to be a default in rape cases, and although many participants stated that a custodial sentence was not the underlying reason for reporting the offence, most believed that the sentence imposed in their case was too lenient.
• Experiences of sentencing - prior to sentencing, most victim/survivors were provided with little or no information about the sentencing process or the sentencing options available to the court.
• Post-sentencing concerns – there seemed to be a lack of support, poor communication, and confusion about who would provide information.  

Oona gave an overview of a number of recommendations that focus on survivor experience, including in relation to provision of information for victim/survivors; improved survivor access to, and attendance at, the sentencing hearing; enhanced protection for victim/survivors; and improved communication of sentencing decisions. 

Karyn McCluskey (Community Justice Scotland) commented that the recommendation around procedural justice is critical and this theme applies across all of the research findings.

Marsha added that more thought is needed into sentencing of domestic abuse cases, especially in relation to non-harassment orders, because of the rehabilitation aspect.

Sandy raised the following issues: 

• The lack of expenses for victims / survivors to attend sentencing hearings. 
• Further updates are needed on the victim impact statement work; this is an issue on the VSAB issues tracker. 
• The lack of support to help complainers understand the information they’re provided with. 

The Lord Advocate thanked Oona for her work. She commented on  recent appeals for sentences in rape and sexual offences cases, which have resulted in the Lord Justice Clerk giving further guidance to judges for sentencing and providing sentencing statements that are more informative for victim/survivors. 

Marsha commented that it will be helpful to know the COPFS/SCTS response to this research.

Laura Buchan (COPFS) responded that COPFS will engage with Scottish Government on this. She also commented that policy on funding for travel expenses comes from the Scottish Government, in line with funding for witnesses and jurors. 

Kasia commented that the single point of contact solution (from workstream 1) could be used here for providing pre-sentencing information to victim/survivors, and also highlighted the need for long term funding for victim support organisations

Victim/Survivor Advisory Board to the Victims Taskforce Update

The Cabinet Secretary mentioned that the Victim-Survivors Advisory Board is taking a thematic approach to their work and invited Tirion Seymour (Victim Support Scotland) to provide an update. 

Tirion referred to papers 6 and 8. She commented that the Advisory Board remains available to participate in any ongoing work with the Taskforce workstreams. 

Tirion also commented that the Advisory Board is embarking on series of thematic workshops based on different crime types and the impact of crime on different communities, including ethnic minority groups. This has taken some time to set up, but will be progressed in early 2025 

Any other Business (AOB)

The Lord Advocate pointed the members to paper 7, which provided an update from the Scottish Government on legislative and non-legislative work. 

Marsha gave her thanks for the SG update paper. She mentioned that Scottish Women’s Aid’s Survivor Reference Group will be hosting an online vigil in memory of women and children who have died as a result of domestic abuse at 7 pm on 6 December. She invited all Taskforce members to join the online vigil.

No other business was raised.

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

Lord Advocate closed the meeting and thanked members for their attendance.

Actions Log

SG Secretariat to schedule a reflection session for discussion on Victim Taskforce’s work so far. Action ongoing

Actions carried forward from last meeting dated 20 June 2024

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 complete

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 complete

SG SecretariatRe-draft terms of reference for Taskforce workstreams to align work of all workstreams. Action ongoing

SG Secretariat to look at co-ordination and linking of work between all three workstreams. Action ongoing

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

Caroline Bruce to liaise with Jodie McVicar / Marsha Scott at Scottish Women's Aid on how we best make links between training in gender competence and in training in trauma as resources are developed. Action ongoing