 The next item of business is this statement by John Swinney on Scotland's redress scheme. The Deputy First Minister will take questions at the end of his statement. Therefore, there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Mr Swinney for around 10 minutes, Deputy First Minister. As a Parliament, we have pledged to keep the promise that all of Scotland's children grow up loved, safe and respected. But a rightly ambitious future ddechrau'r bwysig i gaelio i ddweud yn y tfyniadau diwyllu yn y past. Yn 11 maen nhw'n gyllidiaeth, rydyn ni'n gwybod, rydyn ni'n ddim yn ei ddweud y dyfodol yn cymryd gyda'r Sgolton Cair 2021. Rydyn ni'n gwybod i'r sgolton yw ymddangos i gaelio i ddim yn ei ddweud i gaelio i ddweud i'r pethau sydd yn ei ddweud, ac yn ddweud i'r sgolton y rydyn ni'n gyd yn ei ddweud i'r sgolton datblygu o'r y cyntaf ar y peth hynny. Felly, cim�u bach eu caleon, a oedden nhw i mewn cwmysgol, a chwsdo gy乎eimniol hwn hynny o fod o gyllid ein bod yn cymrydol iawn. Mae Faherdoddau yn cychwyn dair i'r ddweud agor dess i allu o'r ystod yn dweud i'r cyfrifiad aír cael ei dweud, oedda i dweud i ddweud, a i ddwy o ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud a ddweud i ddweud.—nid o'r cyfan menthau. Mae'ch angen i ddechrau i wneud â nifer o blynig ni. Ych ymdweud armaiol wedi bod ni wedi bwysig i gadegau'r broses yn gorffs ac yn y ddych chi'n ffordd o y ddefnyddio'r gwneud ysgol. Fy gennymai bwysig i gael am gweld, ac mae gennymai'n gweithio'r ffordd o'r cael ei g dingflaenau ond rhai. Maen nhw'n fawr i gydag rydych chi'n mynd i gael i'r rhai amlaen i gael i gael i'r rhai amgylchedd by offering redress to survivors through Scotland's redress scheme. As a nation, we are taking the step together to acknowledge and address the injustices of the past. I hope that survivors and the families of those who are no longer with us, whose tenacity and determination have led us to this milestone, can feel a sense of justice today. Out of the horror that they endured, the silence that they were forced to keep in childhood and beyond, they fought for recognition. Part of that recognition is delivered today by this scheme. In September this year, Lady Smith, chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, said that, for far too long, survivors' voices were not listened to nor heard. They were treated as if their views did not matter, and as if they were not worth listening to, just as they were when they were abused in care. We accept that the steps taken by Government to respond to survivors between 2002 and 2014 are periods in which spanned different administrations happened too slowly and did not go far enough. During that period, a significant number of survivors of childhood abuse in care in Scotland died. Lady Smith said that, for them, justice delayed was justice denied. Today, the Scottish Government apologises unreservedly that it did not respond more appropriately and sooner to the concerns of survivors of abuse in care who called for a public inquiry. We apologise to the families of those survivors who died before the inquiry began its work and before the redress scheme opened. We know that many survivors are advancing in age and see their health decline. That is why we launched the advance payment scheme in April 2019, which has now made payments to more than 700 survivors. That, too, is why we have worked as hard as we could to open the scheme as soon as possible after the legislation passed. The scheme will be delivered by the Scottish Government, which will be the main point of contact for applicants, and by Redress Scotland, the new independent body that will make decisions on eligibility and levels of redress payments to be offered to applicants. Everyone involved in both organisations carries with them a commitment to ensuring those who apply to the scheme will be treated with dignity, respect and compassion. Those three principles will be the hallmark of Scotland's redress scheme. I invite all survivors who are eligible for the scheme to consider applying if it is the right choice for them. There is a personal choice and there is funding for independent legal advice to help survivors to make the right choice for them. Support is available at every stage of the application process. Caseworkers in the Scottish Government have been carefully recruited and understand that applying for redress is not an administrative task. It will, for some, be deeply emotional as they come to terms with their childhood and navigate the sensitivity in disclosing to others what they endured. Caseworkers will offer help on how to obtain supporting documents, they will give advice on completing the application form and answer any questions that applicants may have. We recognise that some people may decide that they need additional emotional support or feel that they would benefit from additional practical support, such as specialist help to access records. In those circumstances, caseworkers will be able to refer applicants to the redress support service, a new bespoke service that can provide access to external specialist services using existing networks developed by the In-Care Survivors Alliance. We also recognise that some applicants will want the independent support of a solicitor of their choosing. The redress scheme will pay fees for a solicitor to support applicants with their application. There has been a strong survivor voice throughout the process of designing and developing the scheme. I extend my sincere thanks to all survivors who have contributed their time, commitment and insight. Their input has been crucial in so many aspects, in developing the service, testing application forms and other materials, and in helping in the selection of panel members for redress Scotland. The first 20 panel members for redress Scotland have been appointed through the public appointments process and come from a range of diverse backgrounds. Each panel member has undergone training to build on their experience and to apply it to redress. A huge volume of work has been undertaken at pace to open for applications today. As the scheme becomes established in the weeks and months ahead, we will continue to work with survivors, listening and responding to the experience of applications and refining and improving how the scheme operates. A new survivor forum will be established early next year to ensure that applicants have a mechanism through which to continue to provide feedback and to make recommendations for improvements. There have been a number of opportunities for survivors to contribute their thoughts and ideas on shaping the survivor forum, including through workshops and a questionnaire. Everyone who applies to the redress scheme can, if they wish, become a member of the survivor forum. It will be inclusive and accessible to all, offering a range of ways to participate. The scheme will be open for at least five years, and we will ensure that we raise awareness among survivors and their families so that as many as possible who are eligible have the opportunity to apply. That will build on the work that we have done to involve and engage survivors so far, and on the learning gained and connections that are established with relevant organisations and survivors through the advance payment scheme. As of today, the advance payment scheme will close to new applications. Applications that are already received to the advance payment scheme will continue to be processed. Organisations that were responsible for the care of children at the time of the abuse have been asked to participate in Scotland's redress scheme and to make fair and meaningful financial contributions to redress payments for survivors. That is what survivors have told us in successive consultations that they want. Those with a responsibility for the failings of the past have a responsibility to do the right thing today. That is a national endeavour, and it is morally imperative that collectively we join together to believe and support those who were not believed and not supported in the past. The statement of principles according to which fair and meaningful contributions are assessed was published last week in preparation for launch. I welcome those organisations on the list of scheme contributors, which is published on the Government website today, and those who are finalising participation and will join imminently. Discussions with other organisations continue. I am confident more will follow in addressing their legacy by joining our collective response in the days and the weeks ahead. The redress scheme is now open. Those who want to find out more can find application forms and guidance online at mygov.scot.com. From 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, phone lines will open for those who would like hard copy application packs posted to them. They can call 0808-175-0808 for survivor applications or 0808-281-7777 for next-of-kin applications. A team of specially trained caseworkers working on behalf of the Scottish Government stand ready to help all applicants at each stage of the application process. The lines will be open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday up until 21 December, when we will close the lines for the Christmas and New Year break and reopen on 5 January. Finally, when I announced in the Scottish Parliament that there would be a financial redress scheme, I also offered an unreserved apology on behalf of the Scottish Government to everyone who suffered abuse in care in Scotland. Today, I reiterate that apology to survivors and their families. While we know that we cannot fully make up for the harm that was done and for our failure to take action sooner, we hope that this acknowledgement goes some way to redressing those wrongs. Survivors of childhood abuse have had to endure unbearable pain. Today, as a country, by opening the redress scheme, we take a further step in addressing that suffering in the hope that our actions now begin to address the failings of the past. Thank you very much, Deputy First Minister. The Deputy First Minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions after which we are willing to move to the next item of business. I would be grateful if members who wish to ask a question could press their request-to-speak buttons or, as soon as possible, a place and hour in the chat function. I thank the Deputy First Minister for advance sight of the statement and add my absolute support that we, as he mentioned, on a cross-party basis remain committed to the on-going success of the redress scheme as it opens, an issue that rightly brought us together as a Parliament and legislation that I am proud to have played my own small part in, meaningfully. There is much to welcome in the statement, which I think reflects the calls and asks of the survivor community. Next is kin payments, funding independent legal advice, the promise of the survivor's forum and a commitment to those underlying principles of dignity, respect and compassion, but more importantly, a reiteration of that apology, one that I add the voice of those benches to as well. Let me ask a few specific questions to the Deputy First Minister, which I feel we are not addressed today. What forecasting has taken place regarding the potential scale and volume of the levels of financial redress that may be sought and paid out, given that the Government will underwrite the majority of the low-band payments? Of those who have committed those organisations, who rightly should participate, what level of funding has been committed by them to ensure that they pay a fair and meaningful share of redress? May I ask who, or indeed how many, have failed to rise to the occasion and shamefully refuse to participate in the scheme? Lastly, I can ask more about the nature of local authority participation, because many will be wondering the effect that that might have on them. What discussions have taken place with local authorities about their participation in the scheme so that they can meaningfully participate in it, but do so without jeopardising their ability to provide vital services to young people today in our communities? I thank Mr Greene for his questions and acknowledge the enormously helpful role he played in the passage of this legislation through Parliament earlier on in the last parliamentary session, which I think was appreciated, certainly by me and by all members of Parliament. In relation to his specific questions on forecasting, we haven't changed our position from the material set out in the financial memorandum for the bill, which gave estimates, which, by their nature, will always be rough estimates of the volume of investment that will be required. However, he is correct that the financial approach is that we will pursue contributions from organisations, but the Government expects to make a substantial contribution over a number of years to the scheme. In relation to the contributions achieved to date, more than £115 million has been committed to the scheme, 100 million of which is coming from Scottish local authorities, and I welcome the contribution that local authorities are prepared to make to the scheme. The list of contributors is published on the Government's website today. We will continue to update that because there are a number of different examples that are specifically being negotiated at this present time, so I expect that list to change and develop over time. I think that some organisations will have waited to see this getting off the ground and to see others being prepared to take the decisions to contribute. I thank those who have made that contribution already and obviously will pursue those further discussions with individual parties. In relation to the impact on local authorities, local authorities have been very constructive about the issue in their discussions, and we have come to an agreement that the local authority contribution will essentially be top-slice from the Government's contribution to local authority funding over a number of years to spread that burden appropriately. Mr Greene makes a very valid point, which he will know from the legislation, was an issue that we wrestled with at length in the legislative process, that we must take care, and that is where the thinking around fair and meaningful contributions comes in, to ensure that, although we pursue legitimate contributions for the past, we do not jeopardise the ability of organisations to provide vital service upon which young people depend today, and that sensitive balance will be applied by the Government. Michael Marra Thank you to the Deputy First Minister for an advanced site of his statement. I would like to associate those benches and the Labour Party with his eloquent and heartfelt words and reiterate the importance of the apology that has just been made. I hope that survivors may now feel, in part even, that they have been listened to and that they have been heard. Today marks welcome progress in redressing the abuse that survivors have suffered and that the scheme is now operational, as welcome news indeed. What actions are being taken by the Government to further publicise the scheme to ensure maximum participation? I thank Mr Marra for his comments. I think that he is right to characterise this in the hope that survivors will feel listened to at this stage. Obviously, I have placed on the record the answer—if my memory serves me correct—to Pauline McNeill when I answered an urgent question on this point some weeks ago. The report from Lady Smith and the paragraph that I quoted is one of the most uncomfortable paragraphs that I have had to respond to in terms of being written about by the Government. I hope that survivors feel that we are now properly addressing the issues that they have raised. In connection with the issue of publicising the scheme, there is an awareness campaign that will be rolled out as part of the launch of the scheme to maximise the understanding and the awareness of the existence of the scheme. I am heartened that we had 700 applications in the advanced payment scheme, but that suggests to me that word was able to get out, because obviously the advanced payment scheme was only available to a limited proportion of the survivor community. The fact that we had 700 applications that were successful gives me hope that we can get the messages out, but obviously we will put a great deal of effort into ensuring that. I would invite members of Parliament to support us in that endeavour as well, because it is vital that individuals are aware of this and that they make applications as appropriately. Clare Adamson, to be followed by Mekin Galla. Thank you, Deputy First Minister, for your statement, not just for its content, marking the milestones in the Redress Scotland applications, but also to reiterate that all-important apology to victims of historic child abuse. What measures and reassurance can you give to historic child abuse victims that they will be treated with dignity, respect and compassion throughout the application process? I am not in any way surprised that that is the question that Clare Adamson puts to me, because it was an amendment from Clare Adamson in her capacity as the convener of the Education and Skills Committee in the last Parliament that inserted the words dignity, respect and compassion into the legislation as part of the founding principles of Redress Scotland and the Redress Scotland scheme. I said at the time that that was an important addition to the bill, because essentially it gets us off an establishment scheme on exactly the right footing, whereby every individual will be treated with dignity, respect and compassion. I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to meet with the staff who will be administering the scheme. I was making the point to them that, from the first moment, a phone is answered in a Government office, which is a call made by a survivor. That survivor must feel dignity, respect and compassion in the answering of that phone call. I know that, having spoken to the members of staff, I know how committed they are to that work. They view it as an important task. I have set out the importance that the Government attaches to that being done properly, aided by the wording that Clare Adamson inserted into the legislation to ensure that we have the right values and ethos underpinning the scheme, and I am confident that that will be applied by our staff. The Deputy First Minister's previous update on the scheme in June set out that 25 per cent of applications to the advanced payment scheme had been rejected. How will the Government continue to support survivors who struggle to access the appropriate records? Does the Deputy First Minister expect that the rate of rejected applications will continue? The issues that we have wrestled with in the advanced payment scheme are slightly different simply because of the eligibility criteria that were involved in that scheme. I certainly would assure Meghan Gallacher and Parliament that we will be supporting individuals in the accessing of records, because I recognise that to be a significant and potentially very stressful experience for individuals to minimise the risk of records availability being an obstacle to individuals being able to access the scheme. That support will be there. There will also be wider wellbeing support, which is available through a number of channels. I recounted a number in my statement to make sure that we recognise that individuals may need support, which is not financial support, to enable them to navigate their way through what I recognise to be a very challenging period for them. To ask the Deputy First Minister what legal advice will be available to applicants going through the process. Applicants will be able to obtain independent legal advice. We have set out the framework basis in which that will be available to enable individuals to be able to make a judgment about the scheme. As I have indicated in my statement, and it was an issue that we wrestled with at length during the legislative process, that scheme is not for everybody. That scheme may not be appropriate for certain people, but individuals must be able to make an informed judgment about whether that is the case or not. That is an important part of the availability of legal advice. I welcome the statement, and in particular the apologies that have been made by the Scottish Government to survivors. Does the Deputy First Minister agree that, for many, the additional practical and emotional support will be even more important than any financial compensation? Could he outline what work is being done to establish the redress support service, how much it is likely to cost and how we can ensure that it is properly resourced? I accept the point that Katie Clark makes to me. For many individuals it will be the surrounding support, which is just as important in some circumstances possibly more important than the financial support that is available. I hope that the move today is viewed by survivors as another means of helping to try to address their suffering. I do not, for a moment, believe that financial compensation does that. If the wider support can do that, we will have helped people in a way that is meaningful. Those services need to be supported financially or on an on-going basis. The Government has arranged schemes available, but I do not have the sum of money to hand with me, but I will confirm it to Katie Clark in writing. However, we have a range of support schemes that are financially supported, where individuals are able to access that support and they are able to get assistance in coming to terms with their suffering. The Government has given a long-term commitment to those endeavours. To ask the Deputy First Minister what steps the Scottish Government has taken to ensure that the waiver scheme is fair. The waiver scheme is a sensitive part of the scheme, and it was sensitive during the passage of the legislation. However, in the Government's view and ultimately in Parliament's view, the right measure to enable us to secure contributions. We obviously have to make sure that, when individuals are making applications, they are doing so with a full knowledge and a full understanding of the issues with which they have to wrestle. The taking of independent legal advice is crucial in equipping individuals with the ability to make a judgment as to whether the waiver scheme is appropriate for them to sign. I am pleased that the Scotland's redress scheme has been established so quickly since the passing of the historic legislation at the end of last session. I also want to acknowledge the Deputy First Minister's apology, which he has repeated again today. We all agree that applicants should be treated with dignity, respect and compassion, and it is important that survivors have access to the survivor forum. I wonder whether the Deputy First Minister will indicate how redress Scotland will ensure that applicants are not re-traumatised and what plans the Scottish Government has to continue raising awareness among survivors and families of the scheme during its lifetime. There will be an on-going campaign to make sure that awareness is high. We will obviously be monitoring the pattern of applications. We have a good benchmark from the advance payment scheme of what may well be a reasonable expectation of applications to come forward. We have to make sure that the work that surrounds the survivor forum is inclusive and that it gives a platform for survivors to have their input. I hope that what I have said today gives reassurance that the Government is interested in a continual basis to listen to survivors and to understand how we can support the enhancement of the delivery of the scheme to make the maximum impact on individuals who have suffered in the past. James Dornan, who joins us remotely, is followed by Maggie Chapman. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I would like to start off by thanking the Deputy First Minister for all his hard work in getting us to this place, along with the work of many others, of course. However, can I ask how the newly appointed panel of 20 experts were selected and what steps were taken to ensure a rigorous recruiting vetting process? I thank Mr Dornan for his kind remarks. It prompts me to thank a whole range of civil servants who have worked extraordinarily hard since the passage of the legislation in March to make sure that we are at this moment. There is a huge amount of very complex work that has been undertaken. I gave Mr Dornan a timescale, which I suspect in civil service parlongs was described as heroic. He has risen to the heroic challenge, and I am profoundly grateful to all of him for what he has contributed. In relation to the panel of experts that have been recruited by Redress Scotland, those individuals were recruited through the normal public appointments process of the Scottish Government, so they were subject to a range of scrutiny. I had the pleasure of meeting the first group of the panellists in the course of the last couple of weeks. There is a very broad and diverse range of skills, experience and perspective, including lived experience, which has been brought into the panel. I think that we will be well served by those individuals. Can I thank the Deputy First Minister for sight of his statement and welcome the opening of the scheme this week? I would also like to associate myself with my group with his heartfelt words, and I hope that survivors will continue to feel heard throughout the operation of the scheme. Can I thank him too for the recognition of the importance of providing non-financial redress, such as emotional and therapeutic support? I too would be interested in the information that he has agreed to provide to Katie Clark. Can I ask for further details about the arrangements for reviewing the impacts of the waiver during the first 18 months of operation of the scheme? What I should probably do is write to Katie Clark and I will place that letter in Spice just so that all members can have access to that information. In relation to the review of the waiver, I committed during the legislative process to that being undertaken. Indeed, it is part of the legislation. Over the course of the 18 months, we will be gathering information and evidence to support that review on an on-going basis. We will learn from the experience of individuals about the effect of the waiver and we will be keen to make sure that we understand and apply that in the review that is undertaken. I will be very happy to update Parliament about the progress of that review in due course. Alexander Stewart, to be followed by Cokab Stewart. I welcome the fact that a survivors forum will be established early next year. Can I ask what mechanisms we have put in place to ensure that their views and opinions will be acted on along with any recommendations for improvement? Can the Deputy First Minister provide any further information on when the forum will actually be launched? The forum will be launched very swiftly once we begin to build up the engagement with survivors. I want to assure Mr Stewart that the forum will be able to have access to submit its thoughts and views to Regis Scotland and to the Scottish Government. We have to make sure that, on an on-going basis—we have backed the point of answer to Mr Marat earlier on—we have to make sure that the voice of survivors is heard loud and clear in this process. If we have failed on that in the past, we cannot fail about that in the future. So that is uppermost in my thinking about how we engage survivors to learn of their perspective on those issues. Cokab Stewart, to be followed by Sarah Boyack. Thank you to the Deputy First Minister for the clarification on the selection of the panel. Can I ask the DfFM how the newly appointed panel of 20 experts will aid in delivering the redress scheme? There will be essentially two elements to that. The panelist will be independently determining the applications, independent of government. The Government will do a lot of the work to prepare applications and to support individuals to be application ready, but the decisions will be taken independently of government in redress Scotland. The second area is that I think that they will be able to bring a really fantastic range of expertise to a number of disciplines, social work, clinical psychology, legal services and lived experience to the operation of the scheme, and it is important that we hear and understand those messages. Deputy First Minister, is it possible to outline how constituents can apply for support from caseworkers and independent legal support mentioned in the statement? It would be very helpful so that we could signpost that to our constituents. The contact points that I gave in my statement will be available for individuals, but what I will do is I will write to all members to provide the necessary information that Sarah Boyack requests. It is alongside the point that Mr Marra made about the importance of their being wide awareness of the scheme, so I will write to all members very shortly on all of that detail so that that can be shared widely by members of Parliament in their local interaction. That concludes this item of business, and we will now move on to the next item of business.