Sarah Boyack
Scottish Labour · Scotland
“It must ensure that people get support to make their homes warm and energy efficient; support on solar, heat pumps and heat networks; affordable and accessible buses that they can rely on, with links to our railways; investment in our land to restore our peatlands; and a joined-up approach to food production and biodiversity.”
“Referring to what Ariane Burgess said, I have also been campaigning on the need to urgently address our climate and nature emergencies and to create decent jobs and empower local communities at the same time. For me, being in here is about delivering change that will benefit my constituents.”
“That taught me that constructive hard work and using the powers of our Parliament could deliver real change. For me, it was about investing in our railways—Airdrie to Bathgate, Larkhall to Milngavie and Stirling to Alloa, and supporting work on the Borders railway—as well as new CalMac ferries, improving island airports and tackling potho…”
“I hope that it is okay that I borrow a minute from my colleague. In the run-up to the 2016 election, I worked on a member’s bill to introduce a transient visitor levy.”
“In the climate change plan, we also set out greater detail on our methodology in order to provide greater transparency on the key assumptions and dependencies. However, Sarah Boyack is absolutely right, and that is where constructive criticism comes in— constructive criticism that recognises all the things in the plan that we need to do.”
“We need an urgent focus on implementation. Does the cabinet secretary agree that a key message from those who gave evidence to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee and other parliamentary committees was that it is all about delivery and that the draft plan did not go far enough?”
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“Supporting the most vulnerable people in our society at the early stage of their lives is vital if we are going to improve the wellbeing and living standards of people across Scotland, so I thank Michael Marra for bringing the debate to the chamber. Unfortunately, children with additional support needs are paying the price for a lack of funding by the Scottish National Party Government. Our councils have faced a decade of underfunding, which means that there is massive pressure on education and on local support services in the third sector. Parents have raised the issue with me directly, and I heard from them at an Inspiring Scotland event about the pressures that local charities, our services and parents face.”
“You had only four minutes, Ms Boyack. Sarah Boyack: Okay. I welcome the action on Labour’s call for the abolition of peak rail fares, but we need joined-up transport planning and delivery for trains and buses, and we are not getting it. There are new homes in places such as Winchburgh, which should have had a railway station, for example, so if we do not get that joined-up planning, we are not getting the action that people urgently need after 18 years of failure. It is simply not good enough. 16:18”
“The issue is about more than public health; it is also about the climate emergency. The failure to act has left Scotland repeatedly missing our climate targets. Disruption to plans in relation to heat in buildings has affected supply chains and caused a lack of confidence among those who could be recruiting, expanding and investing in infrastructure to deliver the jobs right across Scotland that our communities urgently need. The First Minister highlighted Grangemouth, but, as we argued last week, people knew for years that action was needed to save the jobs in that refinery. We need to learn lessons from other countries and deliver the jobs that are now highlighted in the willow review. Kate Forbes: Will the member take an intervention? Sarah Boyack: I will, briefly, yes. The Deputy Presiding Officer: No, the member is concluding.”
“That leaves highly vulnerable constituents with nowhere to turn, some of whom have been on waiting lists for referrals for well over a year. That will cost us all, because, if people’s mental health deteriorates, they will not be able to work. I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to acknowledge those challenges and to commit to working with NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council so that those essential services, which people rely on, are not lost. We are not seeing the approach of investing in prevention that was highlighted by the Christie commission, and we are not getting the joined-up thinking that our constituents urgently need and deserve. That is really what motivates my member’s bill—the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill.”
“I raised that issue during oral questions last week and I got a disappointing answer from the minister. Our councils provided core funding for third sector groups, but really important services are now under threat, with services being reduced by £100 million in value in the past three years, partly through underfunding and partly because of unfunded increases in demand. Those services are not nice to have; they are essential in keeping people healthy. Yesterday, I visited the Scottish Action for Mental Health Redhall walled garden, a therapeutic horticultural project for people who are struggling with mental health problems. It is now at risk of closure because there are plans to cancel the contract due to cuts in Government funding.”
“There is a lack of support for solar panels, there has not been action to fix the incredibly complicated process to enable people to get new heating options and there is a lack of action on affordable heat networks. Those failures are bad for people’s health and wellbeing. Those repeated failures to tackle the climate emergency mean that we are missing out on the thousands of green jobs that could be created right across our communities. We have particular problems in the Lothians. Jackie Baillie made a powerful speech about the Scottish Government’s failures in the NHS. The Lothians will have 84 per cent of Scotland’s population growth over the next five years but NHS Lothian and the councils are underfunded. The integration joint board cuts that are being made now mean that essential services that keep people healthy are under threat.”
“I start by drawing members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests. The SNP has now been in power for 18 years, and my constituents are being failed every day, whether that is failures in the NHS or the deepening housing emergency in Edinburgh. It is unacceptable that the First Minister was in complete denial about the housing emergency when we have 10,000 children who are homeless, as Mark Griffin pointed out. We are also seeing a lack of action on the climate emergency. We need more investment to support the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to tackle forest fires, and we need to support people to make their homes energy efficient and affordable.”
“I move amendment S6M-17399.3, to insert at end “; further calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that clear, strategic plans for hydrogen infrastructure are included in its long-awaited energy strategy, and calls on the Scottish Government to deliver joined-up thinking on how to maximise the low-carbon opportunities and efficient usage of hydrogen.” 15:29”
“It aims to be constructive and to ensure that we have a joined-up approach to production, supply and use of hydrogen where it makes most sense, which potentially ticks our climate boxes, creates new jobs and supports our economy. If there were to be support across the chamber I hope that that would give confidence to new investors. It might not be 100 per cent—that would be impossible to achieve in here—but at least there could be positive support for ensuring that we maximise the opportunities in Scotland and get on with them.”
“If we are to meet our climate targets, support new jobs and see economic development across the country, we need a strategy that maximises the use of our natural resources but also develops industrial sites that could deliver on those opportunities. By investing in cutting-edge technology, we can drive innovation, foster economic growth and protect our planet for future generations. We all need to work together across the parties, but we must also see our Governments doing so. By that I mean not only our UK and Scottish Governments; we need to bring local government in, and think about planning, the supply chains and transport connectivity. I hope that members will support Scottish Labour’s amendment.”
“Earlier in the debate, members discussed where we can do that, but we must also do it for our industrial and transport sectors. I mentioned buses, transport, rail and heavy goods vehicles. We must decide the locations across the country where the best opportunities sit. The Scottish Government needs to do some work on thinking strategically about locations, and we must consider how we prioritise the opportunities. As we look to the future, it is clear that green hydrogen will be a cornerstone of Scotland’s renewable energy strategy, which just needs to be joined up. We have had a long history of project commitments, but we have not always seen them being delivered.”
“We are already seeing the development of pumped hydro storage and battery storage, so factoring in how we will supply electricity to deliver green hydrogen will be key. Last year, constraint payments made to wind farm operators reached the level of £380 million for curtailing 4.3 terawatt hours of wind energy. That is bonkers, and it is why I am articulating the need for a joined-up approach. Hydrogen production could use that extra electricity, lead to lower network costs and help to bring down bills for individuals and businesses. However, we must also ensure that we have the grid capacity to supply that electricity where it is needed. Where sites are due to be developed for green hydrogen, we must ensure that they have electricity supplies.”
“The key factor about the situation at Grangemouth is that it is not just about increasing the supply of green hydrogen; we also need the demand and the market to supply it to. That involves encouraging industry growth in the private sector, as well as exploring how public investment could unlock existing opportunities, and linking them with our key renewable energy sources. I am keen to see our Governments working together. I noted the positive aspects of the cabinet secretary’s speech. We need a clear approach to new onshore and offshore wind resources to ensure that the electricity that we will generate across our homes, our transport and our economy will be used where we need it.”
“We must form links to potential opportunities for using green hydrogen and to sustainable aviation fuel, which takes us back to transport. We must examine the various types of transport and decide where the various fuel types could be used most appropriately as changes emerge over the next couple of decades. The RWE project at Grangemouth is really important, so we must ensure that its work, together with that on project willow and the Just Transition Commission’s report from two years ago, will be acted on. Our approach should not be to wait until something bad happens but to plan ahead. Gillian Martin: Will the member give way? Sarah Boyack: Can I just keep going on this point?”
“Our strategy must address how we intend to use the green hydrogen that we will produce in Scotland. Reference has already been made to transport. We can potentially use green hydrogen for various types of transport. Buses do so already. There are also opportunities in the rail and heavy goods vehicles sectors, but those would need a joined-up approach. We must consider which sectors we can work with, and we need to get the regulations right for private companies. There are huge numbers of opportunities. As I flagged in my response to yesterday’s statement on Grangemouth, sustainable aviation fuel must be part of the mix, too. Given what is happening at Grangemouth, we should consider the implementation of the project willow report, which highlights the need for action and investment now.”
“I note and welcome the fact that Sarah Boyack is specifically referencing green hydrogen. I was a little confused by the fact that the Labour amendment talks about “low-carbon opportunities”. Will Sarah Boyack clarify whether she agrees that neither Government should be giving any support to hydrogen production from fossil fuels? Sarah Boyack: There is a hierarchy in maximising the lowest-carbon opportunities for hydrogen. I know that there is an argument for using blue hydrogen, which I will reflect on at the end of my contribution. However, most of my focus will be on green hydrogen. Blue hydrogen potentially has a place, but it is CO2 emitting so the carbon capture and storage aspects would need to be pulled together. The solution will be to pursue the most effective low-carbon opportunities, and that is what I will focus on.”
“The UK Government’s recent announcement of 27 new hydrogen-powered projects across the UK under HAR2 should be celebrated, as 30 per cent of those projects are in Scotland. Projects such as those in Cromarty and Whitelee will produce green hydrogen, which will be used by local industry, transport and distilleries. We know that it can be made to work. Scottish Labour is in full support of the expansion of green hydrogen projects in Scotland, as it is the most sustainable on-going opportunity for hydrogen projects. However, we need a clear strategy that links hydrogen to the green industrial strategy and the long-awaited energy strategy, which is why, in my amendment, I call on the Scottish Government— Patrick Harvie: I am grateful for the opportunity to intervene.”
“We need a constructive debate, because this will affect us right across the country. It is important in terms of our environmental and economic ambitions. It is about ensuring that we can develop opportunities now to deliver jobs and a sustainable and greener future tomorrow. It means action now. In the first two speeches, we have heard that the amount of research and technology development that is happening is an on-going issue. The amendment that I have lodged is an add amendment—I did not do a delete-all-and-insert type of amendment. It is important that we work constructively together, but I wanted to emphasise the need for joined-up thinking, not just about the production of hydrogen but about how we use it. From talking to different sectors, I know that that is absolutely critical.”
“I move, That the Parliament acknowledges that Scotland has the potential to be a leading hydrogen nation and is fully committed to helping the Scottish hydrogen sector to develop and grow as part of a wider European and international network; notes that, following the successful shortlisting of Scottish projects in the recent UK Hydrogen Allocation Round, Scotland is creating a hydrogen economy that will provide economic benefit and a renewable and low-carbon source of energy to help meet its net zero ambitions; supports efforts to ensure that hydrogen is supported via continued investment, and calls on the Scottish Government to continue taking steps to deliver the hydrogen sector export plan. 15:12”
“I hope that we can all agree that there is an opportunity for Scotland to capitalise on the fact that we will produce far more green electricity than we can get into our grid, even with the grid upgrades; that that represents a significant opportunity to show that Scotland is a world leader in hydrogen production; and that we must work with other nations on solutions for decarbonising industry. On my party’s benches, we are being consistent on that. I hope that we can also be consistent as a Parliament in driving that ambition forward.”
“If we get signals that a market in Germany will take on hydrogen as we produce more and more, that will mean that we have confidence in hydrogen being used domestically on a smaller scale in the meantime. I am probably running over my speaking time. I have set out a lot of the things that we are doing. A lot of the challenges are well known. It is important for us not to delay on this. We need to speak with one voice, and I hope that we can do so, putting aside our disagreements about where hydrogen is best used.”
“We need to look at how we can partner with those who want to buy hydrogen that is produced in these isles to get it over there, and Germany is the biggest market for that at the moment. Since the election of the new Government, or in the embers of the previous Government, a great deal of borrowing has been taken on for infrastructure development, and it is critical that the UK Government is in the room with the German Government to talk about how we can improve the infrastructure that is associated with the export of hydrogen. First, however, we need to be very clear that we need to use our hydrogen domestically, particularly to decarbonise our industry.”
“Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention? Gillian Martin: Do I have time, Deputy Presiding Officer? The Deputy Presiding Officer: There is time in hand, cabinet secretary. Sarah Boyack: I will not make my intervention too long. I very much understand the concept of exporting hydrogen, but we have to build the infrastructure. Professor Jim Skea, who leads the Government’s Just Transition Commission, said that he did not see evidence to justify where the export markets are going to be. Have work and research now been done to look at the costs and the opportunities? Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government produced its own hydrogen export plan, which looks into exactly that, but it is not something that Scotland could do alone. We need to be working with the UK Government on it.”
“All of a sudden, people, including the representatives of the Conservative Party at Westminster, are changing their tack on whether we should be trying to get to net zero. However, as Sarah Boyack rightly points out, we are already seeing the impacts of climate change in our communities in Scotland. It is not something that is just happening in the global south or that will just happen in the future—it is happening now. We have had wildfire warnings, we have had water scarcity in Scotland over the summer periods and we have had extreme weather events. It is incumbent on us all to consider all the actions that we can take. As a Parliament, we must recognise that we all voted for the 2045 target and we must now work together to vote for the actions that will get us there. Rosebank and Jackdaw Developments 5.”
“We know that our constituents are already being impacted by extreme weather, such as forest fires and flooding. Will the Scottish Government accept that it needs to up its game to support people and businesses to decarbonise, given the Royal Scottish Geographical Society report, which highlights: “Climate change is already costing Scotland billions a year.” If left unchecked, by 2050, those costs could rise to 5 to 20 per cent of gross domestic product, which is £11 billion to £45 billion a year. Do we not need to take the action that the cabinet secretary talks about now rather than dump our targets? Gillian Martin: Until she said the last phrase— no one is dumping any targets; we are committed to 2045—I was 99 per cent in agreement with everything that Sarah Boyack said. She points to a danger in the discourse around net zero.”
“In Edinburgh, the Labour-led council had to make difficult choices in its budget because of years of underfunding by the SNP Government, but the cross-party council rejected the cuts to pothole funding suggested by the SNP councillors. We need to get that cross-party work right. With better choices, more and more people would actually have a choice of when they use their car, instead of experiencing more congestion and delays. Anyone who has driven on the Edinburgh bypass will know that it regularly grinds to a halt, because there are far too many vehicles on it.”
“One thing that was interesting in Edinburgh was learning from Glasgow’s experience of working with businesses before the LEZ there was introduced. The other thing in Edinburgh— Liam Kerr: Will the member give way? Sarah Boyack: I am down to the last minute of my speech. The SNP has let Scotland’s roads crumble. That is probably one of the few things in Sue Webber’s opening speech that I agreed with. Scotland’s road repair backlog for potholes has now risen to an eye-watering £2.6 billion. That means that the roads are not safe for people who are walking and cycling. It is not good for bikes and vehicles, as potholes damage tyres and increase people’s costs.”
“In many of our rural communities or on the edge of towns, people do not even have transport services at all, and we do not have a connected system between bus and rail. This is not about a war on drivers. The debate should be about how to provide people with real, affordable choices—with more efficient and reliable public transport choices across Scotland— and with opportunities for safer active travel, especially for shorter journeys. Instead of increasing car use, we could reduce car use and have fewer cars on the road, and we could make it easier for people who drive not to get stuck in traffic queues. There has been a lot of debate about low- emission zones. They are reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.”
“As Claire Baker powerfully argued in her opening speech, reintroducing peak rail fares after passenger use had increased by 6 per cent was a mistake, because it will stop people using the trains, and it means that they will have to revert to using a car to get to work. Three price hikes in just over a year disproportionately punished those who chose to use the train instead of driving, and that has meant that roads are more and more congested. People have to use cars even when it is not necessarily their first choice and even when it is not affordable for them, because they simply cannot rely on buses, particularly if they have a bus route but the buses are delayed by traffic congestion. There is a real challenge here.”
“We need to think about how we can have safer roads. I will come back to that point, which has been raised several times. We need to think about people’s health and improving air quality. To pick up on what Mark Ruskell said as he finished his winding-up speech, we do not have the bus and train services that people in Scotland urgently need. That is a key message from young people. They love the idea of the under-22 bus pass but, as one of them said in a meeting that I was at, it is not much use if people do not have a bus to use it on. We have opportunities, but we are not delivering on them.”
“The language that is used in the Tory motion does not reflect reality, and it has been criticised a lot around the chamber. However, some good points have been made. It is clear to a lot of us that the SNP Government dumped its target of a 20 per cent reduction in car use because it knew that it was not going to deliver and it did not have a plan. Several colleagues have talked about the need to lower carbon emissions across the country if we are to address the climate emergency. We are now seeing extreme weather, which is leading to increased flooding and forest fires in Scottish communities. Transport is a key sector where we face a challenge in reducing our emissions, but we need to do that in such a way that people will have better choices and more affordable, accessible and reliable public transport services that they can use.”
“There was a discussion at the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee meeting this week on what more the Scottish Government could do to ensure that we have reliable and affordable bus services. Will the minister talk about what the Government will actually do? Jim Fairlie: I will try to come to that as I make my way through my speech. We all accept that we want to have alternatives to car use; as I said, I think that that is what all of us across the chamber want. We need to reduce carbon emissions from transport—especially from car use. The Scottish Government remains committed to reducing Scotland’s reliance on cars and encouraging a shift towards public transport and active travel, alongside a switch to electric vehicles.”
“That is not entirely within my gift, and we need to work collectively with the UK Government on that, but from our perspective, all of that is to be done as quickly as possible.”
“Having attended both project willow briefings, I agree with the need for urgent action. Can the Deputy First Minister give us a timescale for the Scottish Government’s delivery of the regulatory changes to enable the use of Scottish deposit return scheme waste resources, bioresources and agriculture and forestry resources, which are critical for the development of sustainable aviation fuel and the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids—HEFA—process? Kate Forbes: I thank the member for that point, because she is absolutely right that this is not just about funding—it is also about regulatory changes. She will perhaps be aware from previous answers that I have given that that is one of the areas that we are trying to accelerate with the UK Government, by working together to accelerate such changes.”
“We expect councils and the health service to ensure that they are adequately funding local services and third sector organisations, which do a very important job. Employer National Insurance Contributions Increase (Impact on Public Finances) 8.”
“Is the cabinet secretary aware of the cuts that are being made to dozens of vital charities by the Edinburgh integration joint board, which means that the City of Edinburgh Council must now step in to fund those organisations—given the massive pressures that NHS Lothian is under and our growing population—to keep people well and healthy? Shona Robison: I say to Sarah Boyack that, of course, we understand the pressures on public services, which are felt across these islands because of the demographic challenges that we all understand. However, the Government has given record levels of investment—more than £15 billion—to local government and £21 billion to the national health service and social care. Those are record levels of funding.”
“[Interruption.] Well, she is sitting there shaking her head, but £48 million has been stripped out from our universities on—[Interruption.] Ms Boyack cannot escape the truth. That is the reality of what has happened on her Government’s watch. To her point about what the Scottish Government is doing, we are actively engaging with the university sector—Mr Rennie has raised that matter on a number of occasions—to look at developing a sustainable long-term model. That piece of work is in the early stages, but it is under way. The Deputy Presiding Officer: There are a number of supplementary questions, all of which I will try to get in. I ask members to please be reasonably brief.”
“Sarah Boyack: What specific initiatives is the Scottish Government developing to deliver a sustainable higher education model? Staff across the country are worried about their jobs, and there are major concerns about the future of our higher education system, which provides world-leading research, first-class education and vital jobs, particularly in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Staff do not just need meetings—they need action. They are worried because voluntary redundancies are already happening. Graeme Dey: Indeed, but it is a bit rich of Sarah Boyack to stand there and talk about the challenges facing universities and the impacts on them. If she wants to talk about action, perhaps she can persuade her colleagues at Westminster to do something about the impact of ENICs.”
“Although universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own strategic and operational decision making, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council will continue to engage closely with the sector and to offer appropriate support to universities as they develop their own plans to address financial challenges. In line with our fair work principles, I expect universities to engage meaningfully with staff on the potential impact of their plans. My clear expectation is that universities work with staff to make every effort to protect jobs and avoid compulsory redundancies, which should only be considered as a last resort, after all other cost- saving measures have been fully explored.”
“To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to protect Edinburgh’s higher education sector, in light of reports of potential job losses. (S6O-04573) The Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans (Graeme Dey): The Scottish Government is aware of broader financial pressures impacting on the university sector, including the impact of United Kingdom Government migration policies on international student recruitment, and the increase to employer national insurance contributions, which is estimated to cost Scottish universities, including those in the city of Edinburgh, more than £48 million.”
“It is clear that the Scottish Government needs to do more to combat pollution, provide access to green space and ensure that people who are denied those rights have recourse to justice. Our Scottish citizens should be at the forefront of environmental decisions.”
“We should be investing in our green spaces, identifying the shared benefits of environmental improvement and raising standards of living in a way that contributes to Scotland’s green, renewable future. Where members of the public are denied the right to a healthy environment, they should have quick, accessible recourse to justice through the courts. I know that protective expenses orders have been introduced, but the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland points out that they are insufficient to reduce the cost of litigation. Although an exemption for court fees for Aarhus cases was introduced, I would like to hear from the Government, in its closing speech, whether the Scottish Government will now extend the exemption to sheriff courts. That is critical to delivering justice.”
“None of the six recommendations that were given to the Scottish Government by the convention’s compliance committee in 2021 has been met, while the October 2024 deadline has passed. The Government is now under investigation for its failure to comply and for its long-standing breach of article 9 of the convention. We have less than a year left in this session of the Parliament. The Scottish Government should have done far more to action those recommendations, because current public access to environmental justice is clearly insufficient. Since the Scottish Government has failed on previous commitments, it has a responsibility to facilitate the requirements that are laid out in the Aarhus convention by entrenching an enforceable right to a healthy environment in Scottish human rights legislation.”
“Members may remember that, just a couple of months ago, people lost power and had no way to heat or power their homes. That is unacceptable. One hundred and sixty countries now uphold the right to a healthy environment in law, through entrenched legislation that gives the public the power to fight for environmental justice and to hold local and national bodies accountable for providing healthy green spaces. Unfortunately, we are not one of those countries. The Scottish Government scrapped its proposed deadline to comply with the convention by 2024. The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland has called the Scottish Government’s lack of progress “an abject failure” to protect access to environmental justice.”
“Green spaces and water sources have been proven to significantly improve mental health in urban areas, according to the European Centre for Environment and Human Health and several mental health organisations. Given that mental health conditions are placing huge pressure on our national health service, we should be acting now to ensure that people have access to green spaces. Douglas Lumsden: It is good that the member recognises the mental health issues that are caused by these sorts of things happening in communities. Why is the Labour Party so strongly in favour of having pylons right across our country? They will have a huge impact on people’s lives. Sarah Boyack: It is for energy security. We need to keep the lights on and ensure that people, especially those in rural communities, do not lose their power.”
“Those who are seeking environmental justice face major delays. Their endeavours are simply too expensive and too time consuming and, ultimately, the process is inaccessible. A massive 40 per cent of Scots believe that the quality of their green space has reduced in the past five years. If the barriers that prevent people from taking environmental cases to court continue to exist, that is not good for our constituents. The Aarhus convention emphasises the negative impacts of environmental degradation on people’s morale. A healthy environment should not be a luxury, which is why the convention entrenches people’s right to access environmental justice.”
“First, I thank the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee and the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee for their work on the issue. I also thank the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland for its excellent briefing. I share the disappointment and frustration of those who gave evidence to the committees that action to deliver the Aarhus convention was not included in the Scottish programme for government, even though it had been promised. People have been let down. They have a right to live in a positive and healthy environment, breathing clean air, drinking safe water and interacting with nature. The UN treaty—the 1998 Aarhus convention—made that a law, and Scotland has breached it. People have the right to seek justice when their access to vital resources is limited, but that right is currently unavailable.”
“The Deputy Presiding Officer: Before calling the next speaker, I advise members that we have a bit of time in hand, so members who take interventions will get that time back. 16:15”
“My vision is that the delivery of legal aid in all its possible forms is shaped by an evidence- informed approach to assessing need, embedding the user voice and designing services to focus on the effective delivery of outcomes. I will carry out a series of engagements to hear views from all those across the justice system on areas of reform, and we will work with the private sector, the third sector and users of legal assistance services, as well as the environmental sector, to develop that system and identify what primary legislation would be required to deliver it. I hope that that gives a flavour of the actions that we are taking forward towards compliance with the Aarhus convention and our absolute commitment to maintaining progress towards achieving that goal.”
“I will bring forward regulations by the end of 2025 to simplify the regulatory framework that governs the eligibility for legal assistance and to improve the application process, reducing the burden on both solicitors and those who need legal services and ensuring that funding is provided as quickly and easily as possible. We will also resume work to conduct research on legal aid fees and implement changes that are informed by that research. Both of those areas of work will make it easier for solicitors to work with legal aid funding and for those who need help to obtain it. In the longer term, we will take forward a review of the whole system to ensure that it is adaptable, flexible, affordable and sustainable for the future. One part of the reform work is looking specifically at diversifying funding and delivery models.”