 We continue this afternoon with portfolio questions, and just before we begin, I would remind members that questions 4, 6 and 8 will be grouped together. Question 1 has been withdrawn, so we begin with question 2, Liam Kerr. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will bring forward measures to improve the input that victims and their families have into the temporary release process. As outlined in a previous written answer to Liam Kerr on 1 March 2019, we are committed to improving the information and the support available to victims and families when prisoners are released. The Scottish Government has established a victims task force, which is considering how victims can receive more timely information and have a stronger voice in decisions that affect them. That includes work by the Scottish Prison Service and Victim Support Scotland, which, from 1 May this year, enables victims of life sentence offenders to make representations in person to a member of the Scottish Prison Service. On the first occasion, the prisoner is considered for temporary release. Prior to that, representations were only able to be made in writing. It has now been over eight months, 36 weeks to the day, in fact, since the justice secretary promised concrete action on temporary release during my member's debate on Michelle's law. In that time, there has been zero action. Indeed, I have a copy of the letter that the Stewart family has written to the justice secretary, saying that, despite his promises, they have had no updates and they are still encountering confusion and miscommunication. Minister, information and support are not enough. I ask the minister when will the cabinet secretary honour his promise to Michelle Stewart's family and deliver a specific requirement for the prison service to take victim welfare into account, publish reasons for release decisions, representations in person for victims and families and more use of exclusion zones. Minister. I thank the member for raising that. I believe that the letter that he has referred to was dated, was it this week, was it the 15th of May, something like that. Obviously, the cabinet secretary will respond to that letter in a timely fashion when he returns from his paternity leave. In terms of the asks that were set out in the Michelle's law campaign, the Government is undertaking a range of actions about improving the support for victims and a number of the things that the member has mentioned. Specifically, on welfare of victims, the parole consultation, which we published on 19 December, focused on proposals to improve the openness and transparency of parole and how to strengthen victims' voices in the parole process. That is in line with the commitment that we made in our programme for government. I also move on to the point that the member made about exclusion zones. As he will no doubt be aware, the management of offenders bill, which has just concluded stage 2 in Parliament, will improve the electronic monitoring capabilities that are available in Scotland. The introduction of GPS tagging will mean that exclusion zones for people being monitored on particular licences and orders will then be able to be monitored in new ways. The Scottish Government has made clear its intention to work very closely with a number of justice partners. That includes the third sector and victims' groups, both in developing these pilots in technology and in improving things such as exclusion zones and welfare of victims, in the case that the member has raised. In the situation that she has outlined and indeed in other situations, can the minister outline what the Scottish Government is doing to support victims of crime over the longer term? The Scottish Government has a positive record in strengthening the rights of victims and witnesses and the support that is available to them. In 2019-20, we are providing £18 million to support victims of crime, including to third sector organisations who provide practical and emotional support to victims and their families. That includes £4.6 million to Victim Support Scotland, which is part of a three-year funding package totaling £13.8 million over the period 2018-21. Victim Support Scotland community-based victim services help people affected by crime to access information, practical help, emotional support and guidance as they go through the criminal justice system. They also provide support to enable victims and witnesses to cope better in the aftermath of a crime and to find the strength to move on with their lives. To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that community payback orders are fully completed. Delivering community payback orders and ensuring completion of those orders is the responsibility of the relevant local authority. Seventy per cent of orders are successfully completed as reported in criminal justice social work statistics for 2017-18, and individuals will have cases reviewed in court if the progress is not satisfactory. Around 7 million hours of unpaid work have been carried out since community payback orders were introduced, delivering real benefits for communities. Updated CPO practice guidance was published in January, and that supports effective practice and reiterates the importance of successful completion. The Scottish Government is working with national and local partners, including Community Justice Scotland, to help to ensure that orders are implemented as effectively as possible. Funding of more than £100 million for justice social work supports effective delivery of community sentences, which have helped to achieve a 19-year low in reconviction rates. The latest facts show that a shocking three-in-ten community payback orders go ignored. Those are real offenders who have committed serious crimes going unpunished in the Scottish National Party's watch. How can the Scottish National Party Government justify its plans to take thousands more criminals on to these orders when they are currently failing to deliver? Community payback orders are not just abandoned. Seventy per cent of orders are successfully completed, and individuals will have cases reviewed in court if progress is not satisfactory. The court will determine the most appropriate next action, including a custodial disposal or another order. We expect local authorities, who are responsible for compliance, to prioritise their completion. Cpo's are a robust option, focused on paying back to communities, and we know that they work. Individuals who are released from a custodial sentence of 12 months or less are reconvicted almost twice as often as those who are given a Cpo. I would say to the member that we know that the Conservatives, at least, are looking to Scotland at our smart justice model, specifically in terms of the fact that short-term sentences are not effective and community payback orders are smart justice evidence-led alternative to custody. Can I ask members not to have conversations while either other members are asking questions or the minister is responding? Keith Brown? The Scottish Tories claim that Scottish Government prison reforms will mean 10,000 serious criminals are back on the street. I don't know if that came from the Tory minister for a number of say or somebody else, but it's not only a ludicrous false statement being greater than the entire prison population across Scotland. It's at odds with the position of their colleagues in Westminster, so does the minister think that it's important to point out that the justice secretary, David Gawke, is on record supporting our smart justice approach of extending a presumption against ineffective short sentences? I do. I want a smarter justice system that reduces repeat crime by providing robust community alternatives to ineffective short prison sentences supporting offenders to turn away from crime for good. Not my words, but the words of the Conservative justice secretary, David Gawke, which he said in Today's Guardian. Extending their presumption against short sentences in Scotland will help to ensure that prison is only used where the judiciary decided it is necessary, having considered the alternatives available to them. The presumption that we were discussing earlier is not a ban, but it is part of a broader, preventative approach to reducing victimisation, which has contributed to a 19-year low in reconviction rates. To ask the Scottish Government how many divisional police officers there are. The Scottish Government does not publish statistics on the number of divisional police officers in Scotland, but the latest figures published by Police Scotland show that there were 1,495 officers providing national support, 3,157 officers deployed across the three policing regions, and 12,599 officers in our local divisions. Those resources ensure that Police Scotland has a core complement of officers who are always dedicated locally to community and response policing. They can then additionally draw on specialist expertise and resources to support local policing, providing the right people in the right place at the right time to keep people safe and meet the needs of our communities. The latest police officer quarterly strength statistics were published on 7 May, and they show that there are 17,251 police officers in Scotland, and that was on 31 March this year. I thank the minister for her response. The latest figures show that Nicola Sturgeon's Government is continuing to dismantle front-line local policing. Divisional officers, who are the ones patrolling our streets and responding to our calls, have dropped by over 400 since the SNP created Police Scotland. Isn't it time that local policing was restored, rather than the more SNP centralisation? The operational deployment of police officers is a matter for the chief constable and the deputy chief constable, Will Kerr, who leads on local policing, reported to the Scottish Police Authority on 6 May that the 360 police officers in the Brexit national reserve would return to normal duties—I believe that that is the officer that the member is referring to—that they would return to their normal duties, including local policing, by 10 May. That should already have occurred. DCC Kerr highlighted that, in addition to policing Brexit-related events, the national reserve officers had shown significant personal flexibility in assisting with a range of events across our communities, including missing person cases, high-profile football matches and merger inquiries. On the wider point of police numbers, it is quite unbelievable that a Conservative member should come to this chamber and try to score points about police numbers. Since 2007, police numbers have fallen by almost 20,000 in England and Wales, where, of course, the Conservatives are in power. If police numbers in Scotland had been cut at the same rate that the Conservatives have cut police numbers down south, we would have just 14,000 police officers in Scotland. That is 3,000 fewer police officers, 3,000 police officers on our streets and 3,000 police officers in our communities. The SNP Government is investing in police numbers, be that nationally or locally. To ask the Scottish Government how much police numbers have risen over the last year. The Scottish Government has been clear that quarterly strength statistics published on 7 May show that there was an increase to 17,251 police officers in Scotland, and that was of the 30th of March, which is an increase of 81 police officers in the last year. I used to be. Police numbers are up. Crime is at record low. There is a remarkable achievement considering the substantial Tory cuts to the Holyrood's budget. In contrast, police numbers have been slashed in England by the Tories. Will the cabinet secretary join with me in calling for the UK Government to fund fully any policing costs associated with its Brexit omnishambles, particularly fallen reports that up to 400 police officers could be deployed to help to handle the aftermath of crashing out of the EU without a deal? I would. The Scottish Government has been clear that the costs relating to EU exit should not have a detrimental impact on Scotland's public finances. We have written to the Chancellor outlining that any additional costs related to the policing of Brexit should fall to the UK Government. Where additional policing costs have been incurred, wholly due to EU exit-related preparations, we have committed to ensuring that those costs are met. In parallel, we will continue to pursue the costs of EU exit with the UK Government. If I take any supplementaries, they will be after all three questions that are grouped together. To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers are currently deployed in Ayrshire and how that compares with May 2007. The Scottish Government do not publish statistics on the number of police officers deployed in Ayrshire, but the latest figures published by Police Scotland show that there were 826 officers in the Ayrshire division. Supported by 1,512 officers deployed across the west region and 1,495 officers providing support nationally. Those resources ensure that Police Scotland has a core complement of officers who are always dedicated locally to community and response policing, and they can then additionally draw on specialist expertise and resources to support local policing, providing the right people in the right place at the right time to keep people safe and meet the needs of our communities. The latest police officer quarterly strength statistics were published on 7 May, and they show that there are 17,251 police officers in Scotland. I thank the minister for that answer, and it is quite clear that Ayrshire has benefited from the additional police numbers provided by this Government, as opposed to the situation that we have in England, where there are thousands and thousands of fewer police officers. Can the minister say what the impact of the additional officers has been on crime levels in Ayrshire? Between 2008-09 and 2017-18, the volume of crimes recorded by the police in Ayrshire fell by 39 per cent, from 25,641 to 15,696 crimes. That compares with an equivalent fall of 35 per cent across Scotland as a whole during the same period. Focusing on Scotland, as we are supposed to do, local front-line divisional officers are down by more than 400 since last year. Those are Police Scotland's figures. Does she accept that fact? Yes or no? As I explained in a previous answer to one of the member's colleagues, there are 360, or at that point when that information was provided. There were 360 police officers that had been taken from local policing and moved into a national reserve for Brexit, which Scotland did not vote for, which the Conservative Government is imposing on Scotland against our will. In order to be prepared, that had happened. At the point that Brexit preparedness has been stepped down a level, because we are not imminently facing a no-deal scenario, those police officers would then be moved back into their normal rotation, which takes a number of weeks, and that will follow through. Overall, the police numbers in Scotland are up. They are up 81 over the last year. They are the highest number and much and higher than any time during the previous administration, even prior to 2007. Question 5, Richard Lyle. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review how children's interests are best served by family courts. The Scottish Government consulted last year on a review of the Children's Scotland Act 1995. That is the key legislation in relation to parental responsibilities and rights and contact and residence. The programme for government announced that there will be a family law bill. One of the aims of the family law bill will be to ensure that the child's best interests are at the centre of family court cases. Richard Lyle. I welcome the comments made by the cabinet secretary and thank him for that answer. Having to go to family court can be stressful for all. Family courts should try and look at the bigger picture and try to ensure that children's needs are met. Too often, it is lawyer against lawyer with the family in the middle, with legal bills mounting, one party blaming the other. How can we improve that system to make sure that it is less stressful and, most of all, ensure that family contact centres are also regulated? I recognise the seriousness of the issues that Mr Lyle raises and the importance in our response to the type of information that he has raised that we put the child at the centre of all decision making in how those matters are handled. That fits with the wider agenda to put the child at the centre of all of our decision making, whether it is around education, whether it is around the justice system, whether it is around the health and well-being of young people and children into the bargain. I am very much aware of the research that demonstrates that court action in relation to contact and residence can be a stressful experience for children and families. As part of the family justice modernisation strategy, the Minister for Community Safety will look specifically to improve guidance for parties attending court. One of the key aims of the forthcoming family law bill is to ensure that the best interests of the child are always put at the centre of that legislation. We sought views on the regulation of child contact centres as part of the consultation on the review of the Children's Scotland Act 1995. Consultation responses were strongly in favour of regulation, and we will take those views on board when considering the areas that will be included in the forthcoming family law bill. To ask the Scottish Government how its new victim support service will help the families of victims of crime and the families of people involved in fatal accidents and sudden deaths. Victim support Scotland's new service is providing dedicated and continuous support for families bereaved by murder or culpable homicide. We recognise that other victims might benefit from that type of support, and so we are going to work with partners to ensure that lessons learned from the development of the new service will inform any future changes to its scope. In 2019-20, we are providing £18 million to help victims, including to third sector organisations who provide practical, emotional and financial assistance. The victims task force is also considering ways to improve end-to-end support throughout the criminal justice process and beyond. Willie Coffey I thank the minister for that answer. Over the years, I have had many local cases where families have lost a loved one and have said that the level of support provided to them was limited or did not happen at all. Can she give me an assurance that the immediate families who do lose a loved one know exactly what help is available locally, that they can access that support for as long as they might need it and, in so doing, help them in their own journey of recovery? We are taking a range of actions to ensure that victims are at the centre of our justice system, and through our investment, Victim Support Scotland provided free and confidential support to more than 50,000 victims of crime in 2017-18. The new service for families, bereaved by murder and culpable homicide, builds on that support to provide a designated key worker to help the family with a range of issues such as understanding the prosecution process, attending court and so on. I would say to the member that if he has any specific cases that he would like to follow up, either I or the Cabinet Secretary for Justice would be happy to meet him and to take those up with him at that point. Thank you very much, and at that point we will conclude portfolio questions. We will move on to the next item of business, which is a debate on the impact of Brexit on Scotland's food and drink, but we will just take a few moments for the minister and members and others to change seats.