 The next item of business is a statement by Keith Brown on policing in Scotland 10 years on from reform. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement and therefore there should be no interventions or interruptions and I call on the cabinet secretary for around 10 minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As we approach, in fact, the 10th anniversary of our national police service, I am pleased to make this statement to the chamber with my reflections on the continuing police reform journey since 2013. I will also offer my thoughts on Serene Livingstone's recent announcement that he intends to attire as chief constable of Scotland later this year. Serene will be greatly missed of that. There is no doubt his contribution to the success of policing in Scotland has been immense but he leaves Scottish policing in excellent health with the service having been completely transformed over the last 10 years. Eight local legacy forces have been replaced by one national service providing a more strategic and consistent approach to policing than under the previous system, one of the most significant public sector reforms since devolution. It has been a success and one I believe that is recognised across the chamber if not in every part of this chamber. In 2019, the then justice committee stated its belief that the police intention, the policy intention rather, to create more equal access to national capacity had been met and should be considered a success story for policing in Scotland. That was the criminal justice committee. That success has been demonstrated by the successful policing of COP26 in 2021, Operation Unicorn in 2022 and by the policing of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since reform in 2013, £11.6 billion has been invested in policing and this continues. In the most recent budget the Scottish Government has recognised the importance of policing by investing £1.45 billion in 2023-24. That is an increase of 6.3 per cent, around £80 million to the Scottish Police Authority resource budget. It also provides a stable basis from which to improve the delivery of policing and to enhance the safety and security of communities across Scotland. Despite the UK Government making cuts to the Scottish Government capital budget, we have maintained the police capital budget, which has more than doubled since 2017-18, supporting investment in police assets, estate, fleet, specialist equipment and ICT. The money that we put into the police continues to be invested in the workforce. Our officers are the best-paid police officers in the UK, with starting salaries for constables around £5,000 per year more than in England and Wales, and there are more officers too. As of 30 September, there were 30 officers per 10,000 population in Scotland compared to 24 officers in England and Wales. Our investment has also paid dividends in terms of crime. Surin has rightly highlighted Police Scotland's murder clear-up rate as one of the strengths of the service in recent years. I would also point to Police Scotland's significant role in ensuring this week's statistics that show that Scotland is one of the lowest levels of recorded crime seen for any 12-month period since comparable records began in 1974. I believe that those statistics are a credit to the hard-working officers and staff of Police Scotland. Before I look to the future, it is worth reflecting on the legacy of the longest serving chief constable of the UK's second-biggest force. No operation was bigger than COP26 when the eyes of the world were on Glasgow. We hosted hundreds of world leaders and dignitaries among thousands of delegates that descended upon the city. Under Surin's leadership, demonstrations were policed in the traditions of Scotland's policing, ensuring that legitimate protest could be undertaken fully and safely. Scotland's rights-based system of policing, coupled with Police Scotland's engagement with activist groups, and an overriding common sense approach resulted in under 100 arrests linked with the event, staggering numbers given the scale of COP26. More recently, the sensitive and effective operation put in place following the death of Queen Elizabeth is something Surin can be rightly proud of. Perhaps above all, it is Police Scotland's response to the Covid-19 pandemic that has been rightly praised as officers took a measured and proportionate rights-based approach to their handling of an unprecedented crisis. As with our health professionals, places were at the forefront in keeping us all safe and we owe them our gratitude. I also sincerely hope that the chamber will join me in paying tribute to Surin's legacy. I was grateful to Surin for his agreement to extend his contract when his initial period of appointment concluded last year. That ensured continuity and stability as we emerged from the pandemic. I think that it has always been clear that, at some point, he would decide to step away from his role. As he himself said last week, he will have been an officer for 31 years by the time he retires. While last week's news is obviously disappointing, it was not necessarily unexpected. It will be for the Scottish Police Authority to conduct the process of finding Surin's replacement, but ministers will, of course, be asked to approve the appointment of his successor. Sitting at Surin's side has been an executive team that is brimming with talent. Just a few weeks ago, Deputy Chief Constable Jane Connors took up post, bringing a wealth of experience with her from the Metropolitan Police. Several new assistant chief constables have also been appointed as the team continues to evolve. Surin has paid tribute to the stability and leadership of his senior team. I would also like to express my confidence in that continuity as we move towards the final months of Surin's time in office. Surin will continue in the meantime to set Police Scotland's strategic direction. Last week, the Scottish Police Authority considered a draft revised joint strategy for policing. That builds on the principles in the existing 2020 strategy, while ensuring that policing in Scotland keeps pace with the challenges and opportunities of modern society. It is right that, ten years on, we continue to reflect on what the next steps in the reform journey should look like. In the last decade, we have seen significant changes in the profile of crime and demand, including increasing cybercrime and greater vulnerability. At the same time, there has been an increasing focus on how police respond to important societal issues, such as violence against women and girls. We have also seen significant changes in digital technology and public expectations about how they access services. Those trends are likely to continue and, indeed, to accelerate. We need to plan for the future and ensure that policing reflects those trends and changes and that it is able to respond to future challenges. Our national vision for justice in Scotland, published last year, sets out our transformative vision of the future justice system for Scotland, and Police Scotland will play a vital role in that. However, I recognise that the public sector faces a challenging budgetary environment combined with the cost of living crisis and the resultant impact on communities, which is hardly surprising after 13 years of austerity budgeting from the UK Government. Our plan for the future must therefore demonstrate the efficiency and value for money that is necessary while continuing to keep the people of Scotland safe and secure. For policing, that will mean an even greater emphasis on collaboration with other criminal justice agencies, and in particular where possible with the other blue-light services, to ensure that the public receives the most effective and efficient care and protection. It will also require a relentless focus on making sure that police are deployed where they add most value and work efficiently with other agencies. In setting the budget for the upcoming financial year, the Deputy First Minister was clear on the challenges that lie ahead and that further efficiencies and savings are still required to ensure that Scotland has financially sustainable person-centred public services. It will be a time for change, of course, but it also has a number of constants. As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of our national police service, and as we look forward in the coming months to welcome a new chief council of Scotland, we can be sure that the fundamental values of policing—fairness, integrity, respect and human rights—will remain. The purpose of policing set-out in the 2012 act remains paramount to improve the safety and wellbeing of people, places and communities in Scotland. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes after which we will need to move on to the next item of business and encourage members who wish to ask a question to press their request-to-peak buttons. Now, as soon as possible, I will call Jamie Greene. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank the cabinet secretary for advanced copy of his statement today. I, too, would like to place on record my best wishes from those benches to Chief Constable Sir Ian Limiston on his retirement. I thank not just him for his three decades of service to the police, but all those who have served under him over the years. It is no coincidence that, on the same day he announced his departure, his own jointly penned report into the future of policing stated a damning truth that many of us have known for some time. His parting shot of warning to the Government is that policing in its current form is, I quote, unsustainable. Why is that, cabinet secretary? Because everybody knows that policing in its current form is picking up the pieces of far too many other broken services. It is responding to an ever-increasing volume of mental health problems and situations problems, which are someone else's responsibility. However, the problem is that there is no someone else to deal with these issues. They are taking up so much of their time, and it is taking time away from other vital policing, and that includes fighting crime. I have to ask the cabinet secretary when will he, too, admit that the status quo is simply unsustainable? It cannot continue that too much is being asked of too few today in Police Scotland. Does he think that Sir Ian is right that the current direction of travel in policing in Scotland is unsustainable? I should say that my answer, which I am about to give, is informed by a number of quite lengthy conversations with the chief constable on some of the issues that Jamie Greene has just raised. I would say that it is made more sustainable if, for example, we have the best-paid police officers in the UK, if we have more police officers per head of population in Scotland than elsewhere. I did hear at the committee a number of times from Jamie Greene and others that we were about to see perhaps a reduction in police numbers down to below 14,000, but the only way that would happen is if we tried to match the numbers of police officers that the Tories have in England and Wales. We would be down over 2,500 police officers, although you have the answer that I am giving you, Mr Greene, if you could listen to it please. That would be the same courtesy when you spoke. It is, of course, the case that there are challenges that should be made. The chief constable has been clear. I have mentioned two areas in relation to violence against women and girls and cybercrime. It is not sustainable to have the same approach that we have had before, and that has to change. The police and the chief constable are well aware of that. Another factor that will have to change and that the chief constable is very much behind is what I mentioned in my statement in relation to the reform of blue-right services. Of course, things have to change. Existing challenges have to be met, but we also have to anticipate future challenges. The last point that Jamie Greene mentioned is fighting crime. I have never heard once any word of congratulations from the Tory benches on the fantastic track record of fighting crime of our police forces. Down to 1974 levels this week, a further reduction of 2 per cent in the court of crime. Not once have a Tory stock to congratulate either the chief constable or our police services on that record. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I associate my party with the tributes to chief constable Ian Livingston and, indeed, to the work of the whole of Police Scotland. As has been said, chief constable Ian Livingston has also warned that the cuts being proposed to Police Scotland are unsustainable. The cabinet secretary has referred to 14,000 police officers. Last year, the criminal justice committee were given projections of police officer and civilian staff numbers with a frozen budget. More money has now been made available, but we do not know what proposed police numbers are. Could the cabinet secretary confirm his understanding of proposed numbers of both police officers and civilian staff for the coming year and outline his strategy to recruit and retain both police officers and civilian staff, given that we know that officers leaving the service is a significant problem? I thank Katie Clark for her questions. First of all, there are no cuts to the police budget. It is a 6.3 per cent increase that we are proposing for the police in the forthcoming budget. The budget was not frozen—I realise why that discussion happened because of the RSR—but the budget was not frozen and the money was found. On recruiting and retaining police officers, if you pay police officers in Scotland on average £5,000 more per year when they start to work in the police, you have a better opportunity for both recruiting and retaining police officers. I think that there is more to do beyond that. One challenge that I would acknowledge is in relation to diversity in the police force. We are seeing increasing diversity at the senior levels. In terms of gender diversity, we are not yet seeing that at the levels that should be in terms of ethnic diversity, and there is more work to be done there. That is not just in terms of recruiting but retaining people who have joined the police force from ethnic diverse backgrounds. I would not pretend that this is all done and dusted by any means. There are challenges that should remain. That is why I talk to people involved in the issues in the police service and why we have other bodies that do monitoring and checking of the police's progress in this area. There is more to do in terms of recruiting more broadly and retaining more broadly, but in terms of the basic package that is offered to police officers, I think that the fact that they have such a tremendous track record in fighting crime is testament to the fact that we are recruiting and retaining some excellent police officers at this current time. Despite Westminster austerity, the Scottish Government has increased police funding year on year since 2016-17, and I welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has further increased the policing budget by £80 million in the next financial year. I ask the cabinet secretary how the budget will help the Scotland responding to the changing nature of crime. It has been mentioned that it is an increase of around £80 million in 23-24, a 6.3 per cent increase. In my view, that will help to improve the delivery of policing and support the safety and security of communities across Scotland, but it will also enable further collaboration and co-location opportunities with blue-like services across Scotland. We are ensuring that Police Scotland is sustainable, adaptable and prepared for future challenges. The point that was made by Jamie Greene at the start of his question was about other services and how they can pick up some of the work in relation to them. Of course, that is also a challenge, not least in relation to health services. By expressing the need and sharing that view with the police that there has to be reform within the police and blue-like services as well, we will ensure that the service has improved to the people of Scotland and will continue to fund the demands on the police service through Government grant. If Keith Brown has never heard praise of policing from Jamie Greene or my colleagues, he clearly has not been listening. On the SNP's watch, the health and careers of innocent whistleblowers have been destroyed. Millions of pounds of compensation has been paid out, but victims silenced with non-disclosure agreements. Officers on the grip of a suffocating complaints process have even been driven to suicide. For the sake of Scotland's police officers, will the SNP Government fix the system that it created? I cannot bring to mind any point at which anybody in the Conservative benches said well done to the policing and getting cleaned down to the levels that it has had. Good on the Scottish Government for making sure that police officers paid £5,000 more a year. Good on the Scottish Government for making sure that we have higher numbers of policing in Scotland. I have never heard that. I have heard constant denigration of the police service from the Tory benches. I can tell him from talking to police officers on a regular basis that the police know that just because you tag on SNP government to the end of it, they know what the target is and know the way that you have denigrated the police forces. They understand that point. Russell Finlay is also aware that one of the things that we are doing in relation to the police complaints bill that is coming forward to the Parliament is to address some of the historic issues about how complaints, whether it is whistleblowing complaints or other complaints, are dealt with. That will be in addition to the current means of address through the perk and so on. We take those issues seriously, we understand that there is need for reform and that reform is coming. I was very pleased to hear that Police Scotland reflects and represents the diversity of Scotland's population. Can the cabinet secretary say that, if he thinks that there is sufficient strategy within Police Scotland for that to continue and to continue to improve? I would say to Rona Mackay that, as I said in response to the points made by Katie Clark, I think that there is more to do in this area. The national service has detailed plans already under way to enhance recruitment, leadership and training to develop a culture that reflects its values. I welcome initiatives such as the policing together strategy that outlines the range of actions that Police Scotland is taking under DCC tailors leadership to mainstream equality, diversity and inclusion within the service and to attract, retain and promote a diverse workforce. The more the police service in Scotland looks like the rest of Scotland, the more trust will be built up between the people of Scotland and their police force. I know that the police take this seriously so does the Scottish Government and will continue to make sure that we have a more diverse and inclusive police force. Can I also wish Sir Ian Livingstone well on his retirement? The cabinet secretary is aware that Dame Eilish Angelini's report highlighted on-going issues with Police Scotland regarding discrimination in the service. His previous answer to Katie Clark suggested that recruitment of ethnic minorities was still a problem, and that gives us all concern, because obviously culture change comes before recruitment. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what specific steps he has taken since the Eilish Angelini's report and what outcomes have been achieved? I am happy to provide a full breakdown of those recommendations from Eilish Angelini that have been implemented, which do not require legislation, but the member will be aware that we will bring forward in addition to that very shortly legislative changes. That will give the member a full account of all the changes that we propose, but on the particular point that she raises in relation to diversity, I meet and have met regularly with, for example, Robin Ifola, who is conducting the review, who somebody I have known for a very long time, and others within the force whose job it is to make sure that there is a more diverse force. I would say that we have a challenge not just in recruiting people from ethnic minorities but in keeping them, and that suggests to me that there is more to be done in making sure that the culture, as the member has mentioned, of the police force has got to change to make sure that those people feel welcomed and valued. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes, but the explicit response to Eilish Angelini's recommendations, which we accepted, I am happy to provide a full account of everything that has been taken forward and what is still to come forward because it requires legislation. Fulton MacGregor, to be followed by Beatrice Wishart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I also put on record my thanks to Sir Ian Livingstone for all the work that he has done. Despite the Tory's politicking on this issue, they surely cannot deny the fact that police officer numbers in Scotland remain well above those in England. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the fact that we have more police officers with higher wages shows the value placed in the vital role that police officers play and that policing and the safety of communities is clearly a priority for this Scottish Government? I agree with Fulton MacGregor. If you are to be objective about this, I am looking in and saying, well, does this Government value this service? The fact that you are paying £5,000 per year for a starting person in the police force, we tell you there is a level of priority attached to it in Scotland, which is not true elsewhere. I agree with that point and also that we have more police per head of population than England and Wales. 30 officers per 10,000 population in Scotland compared, and this is difficult for the Conservatives to hear, but they are going to have to listen to it unfortunately for them. We have 30 officers per 10,000 population in Scotland compared to 24 officers per 10,000 population in England and Wales. We have a tremendously well-funded and well-remunirated police force, although we would always like to pay more, of course. That is the case, and the success of that is shown in the extent to which we now have fewer victims and fewer crimes because of the effectiveness of the police force that we have here in Scotland. Beatrice Wishart, to be followed by Stuart McMillan. I thank the cabinet secretary for advanced sight of the statement and I would like to associate my party with the comments made in tribute to Sir Ian Livingston as he retires. There is a sense in some rural and island areas that centralisation of Scottish police services has meant a loss of tried and tested local policing with the imposition of city-style policing, such as that seen recently during Lerwick's fire festival. What works on the central belt does not necessarily work in island communities, so is the legacy 10 years on from the formation of Police Scotland, not simply millions spent in a merger but a distancing of law enforcers and those who they protect and serve? I think that the point that is made is not just about the money that is spent, I would accept that point that has been made by a member, but I have, and I cannot recount the specific details that we are unfair to do so, but I have got testimony from senior officers served in north of Scotland police forces in the past that are hugely complementary about the capacity that they now have in relation to a national police force. We saw that most recently in order that Stuart McMillan is asking a question in his constituency where the specialist services that can be brought to bear by a national police force can much more easily be done so given the fact that they have the ability to direct them around the country rather than the old eight legacy forces that we have. It should be the case though, of course it should be that it reflects the community in which policing is undertaken and the points that the member has made will be taken on board and I am sure to listen to you by the police service and I am happy to relay them to the police service as well in order that we can further improve the service. Stuart McMillan, to be followed by Maggie Chapman. Thank you, Presiding Officer and the Cabinet Secretary, we are aware that I have actually written to him this week about what I am about to raise and one of the welcome outcomes with regards to unify police force was to have flexibility of officers being allocated to areas of need because of specific incidents at that time. Can the Cabinet Secretary provide an assurance that that flexibility continues and that that will be utilised in my constituency present due to recent serious issues? I very much agree with the point that Stuart McMillan is making, not least because he is referring to a number of really quite exceptional incidents that have happened at the same time. If that were the case in a smaller police force and the ability to respond to a number of incidents at the same time, some of which required specialist services, of course, is more difficult. That is one reason why I think the national police service works. I would also say that a number of the very smaller, very much smaller police forces in England and Wales do struggle with this kind of pressure when it comes on a very high profile case, the comms that are required, the specialist nature of some of the expertise. Stuart McMillan has got every right to expect that the full benefits of the national police followers should be brought to bear in relation to the incidents which he has managed. I am sure that once again the police will have heard his message. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I thank the cabinet secretary for advance side of his statement. Scottish Greens believe that an effective police service must be community-based, enjoy public support and reflect the people it is responsible for keeping safe. The cabinet secretary has made some comments about the diversity of the force and the work still to do on this. When considering violence against women and girls, can the cabinet secretary provide more information on how people in Scotland can be confident that police will be part of the solution and never, as we have seen elsewhere, part of the problem? I do not underline the very real concern that Maggie Chapman is expressing here, some of the high-profile cases that we have seen and it has not just been in the met, of course there have been challenges here in Scotland as well. I think there are a number of ways in which that can be tackled. The member knows some of the things in terms of the bills that we are bringing forward in this area. We have mentioned Daily Changelini's recommendations. I am happy to provide the same information to the member that I previously said I would provide to Rhoda Grant. I talk very regularly to senior officers, especially the senior officer team. They are extremely committed to this. I mentioned in my statement that, along with cybercrime, the ability to tackle violence against women and girls is one that is growing. I have mentioned that we had this week another indication of a reduction in crimes, but that also contains a small increase in violence against women and girls. If you look at the comments of the chief constable and what I have said in my statement, it will be a huge priority for the police in terms of violence against women and girls. There have been many good reforms to policing in Scotland in recent years. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update on the roll-out of trauma-informed training within the police and how that will benefit members of the public? In relation to that and a number of previous questions, of course, those decisions are often for the police themselves. We do not have any operational control quite rightly over the police that is written into the legislation. It is for the police in concert with the SBA to take this forward, but the member will know that we have the justice vision, which requires every part, every agency, every body within the justice system that the system can be called to undertake trauma-informed training to make sure that the response that people get has to be more than criminals being captured and the right verdict being delivered in a courtroom. It has to mean that those victims and witnesses and other people affected by crime or who interact with the justice system have to have a trauma-informed approach. It is the case that most people, for example in prison, have a trauma-related background, usually adverse childhood experiences. That commitment is there, but it will be for the police to make sure that it is taken forward right throughout their force to the extent that it has not already been done in many parts of the police force. Police forces elsewhere in the United Kingdom are already on their second generation of body-worn video cameras, but here in Scotland they have not been rolled out routinely, and Police Scotland described the equipment that is already issued as basic. Even supermarket workers now have these body-worn cameras. Why do not all our police officers… I have not always been in this Parliament for a long time, but I am not sure if he is sufficiently aware of the fact that the purchase of capital equipment and any equipment is for the SPA and the police force, the chief constable himself, to undertake, according to the priorities that they see. I do not deny that I would like to see more body-worn cameras amongst the police as well, mainly because they can in the end reduce costs and reduce crime. I have full support for that. It will be a question of resources. It will be a question of how the police and the SPA prioritise that spend as well. Of course, the fundamental point is that, if you start off from a priority of making sure that police officers are well remunerated and well supported by having the right number of police officers, then you start from a good basis. It is something that has been looked at by the SPA currently, and it will certainly have our support in making sure that as many officers as possible have body-worn cameras as we move forward.