Kate Nevens
Scottish Green Party · Scotland
“We should be building a justice system that is focused on harm prevention, safety and accountability rather than on punishment. For me, that still means a system in which people who pose a violent threat to communities are removed for our safety, but that system can and should look very different from our current, broken prison system.”
“It is a problem that is further exacerbated by the huge issue of overcrowding, which, as the cabinet secretary mentioned, makes it difficult for prisons to engage everyone in activities that help with rehabilitation, such as exercise, education, employment and training. We urgently need to rethink our approach.”
“Stephen Kerr: I am grateful to Kate Nevens for giving way on that point. Fairly or unfairly, a view has been attributed to her about the future of prisons.”
“Almost half of people arriving to prisons in 2024-25 were from the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland. According to the Prison Reform Trust, 70 per cent of women prisoners in Scotland report that they have been a victim of domestic abuse or violence from their partner. I thank Carol Mochan for bringing up women in prison.”
“I am really grateful that we are having this discussion. Although we may all have slightly different approaches on exactly what needs to happen to address the problems with our current prison system— Mark Simpson: Will the member take an intervention? Kate Nevens: I will make some progress, but thank you.”
“If someone goes into prison experiencing housing insecurity, they are far more likely to become homeless again on their release, and they are likely to have lost the community support networks that they had before entering prison.”
The complete record
Every one of 51 lines we hold for Kate Nevens, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 2.
“Amendment agreed to. The Presiding Officer: The next question is, that amendment S7M-00469.1, in the name of Amanda Bland, be agreed to. Are we agreed? Members: No. The Presiding Officer: There will be a division. The vote is closed.”
“On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My technology did not work. I would have voted yes. The Presiding Officer: Thank you. Your vote is recorded. For Adams, James (North East Scotland) (Con) Ahmed, Irshad (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Lab) Baillie, Jackie (Dumbarton) (Lab) Baker, Claire (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) Bannerman, Max (Highlands and Islands) (Reform) Baxter, Andrew (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (LD) Beresford, Senga (South Scotland) (Reform) Bibby, Neil (West Scotland) (Lab) Bland, Amanda (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Reform) Briggs, Miles (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Con) Bruce, Holly (Glasgow Southside) (Green) Burgess, Ariane (Highlands and Islands) (Green) Burnett, Alexander (Aberdeenshire West) (Con) Chapman, Maggie (North East Scotland) (Green) Chou Turvey, Yi-pei (North East Scotland) (LD) Clark, Katy (West Scotland) (Lab) Cole-Hamilton, Alex (Edinburgh North Western) (LD) Currie, Victor (Highlands and Islands) (Reform) Dijkstra-Downie, Sanne (Edinburgh Northern) (LD) Duane, Iris (Glasgow) (Green) Dunlop, Duncan (South Scotland) (LD) Eagle, Tim (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Fagan, Joe (South Scotland) (Lab) Fraser, Murdo (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Gallacher, Meghan (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Con) Green, David (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (LD) Greer, Ross (West Scotland) (Green) Griffin, Mark (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Lab) Hamilton, Rachael (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con) Harley, Adam (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (LD) Harvie, Patrick (Glasgow) (Green) Johnson, Daniel (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab) Kerr, Stephen (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Kerr, Thomas (Glasgow) (Reform) Kinross-O’Neill, Kayleigh (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Green) Kirkwood, David (South Scotland) (Reform) Langan, Jamie (South Scotland) (Reform) Leask, Kristopher (Highlands and Islands) (Green) Lindsay, Amanda (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Reform) Long, Joe (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) Mackay, Gillian (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Green) MacKinnon, Donald (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (Lab) Manivannan, Q (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Green) Marra, Michael (North East Scotland) (Lab) Massey, Duncan (North East Scotland) (Reform) McArthur, Liam (Orkney Islands) (LD) McDade, Helen (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Reform) McKee, Cara (West Scotland) (Green) McNeill, Pauline (Glasgow) (Lab) Mochan, Carol (South Scotland) (Lab) Moodie, Laura (South Scotland) (Green) Nevens, Kate (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Green) Offord, Malcolm (West Scotland) (Reform) Rennie, Willie (Fife North East) (LD) Ross, Angela (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Reform) Ruskell, Mark (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green) Sangster, Katherine (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Lab) Sarwar, Anas (Glasgow) (Lab) Schmulian, Kim (Glasgow) (Reform) Simpson, Graham (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Reform) Simpson, Mark (North East Scotland) (Reform) Slater, Lorna (Edinburgh Central) (Green) Smith, David (West Scotland) (Reform) Sweeney, Paul (Glasgow) (Lab) Young, Jenny (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Lab) Against Adam, George (Paisley) (SNP) Adam, Karen (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP) Adamson, Clare (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP) Anderson, Heather (Dundee City West) (SNP) Arthur, Tom (Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley) (SNP) Barratt, David (Cowdenbeath) (SNP) Beattie, Colin (Midlothian North) (SNP) Black, Dawn (Angus North and Mearns) (SNP) Bonnar, Steven (Uddingston and Bellshill) (SNP) Bouse, Gary (Falkirk West) (SNP) Brown, Alan (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP) Brown, Keith (Clackmannanshire and Dunblane) (SNP) Brown, Siobhian (Ayr) (SNP) Campbell, Kate (Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent) (SNP) Campbell, Michelle (Renfrewshire North and Cardonald) (SNP) Constance, Angela (Almond Valley) (SNP) Day, Martyn (Falkirk East and Linlithgow) (SNP) Doris, Bob (Glasgow Kelvin and Maryhill) (SNP) Dunbar, Jackie (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP) Fairlie, Jim (Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) (SNP) Gethins, Stephen (Dundee City East) (SNP) Ghani, Zen (Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok) (SNP) Gibson, Patricia (Cunninghame South) (SNP) Gilruth, Jenny (Mid Fife and Glenrothes) (SNP) Goodlad, Hannah Mary (Shetland Islands) (SNP) Gray, Neil (Airdrie) (SNP) Hagmann, Katie (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (SNP) Haughey, Clare (Rutherglen and Cambuslang) (SNP) Hepburn, Jamie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP) Kerr, Alex (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (SNP) Kerr, Calum (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) Kumar, Simita (Edinburgh South Western) (SNP) Linden, David (Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston) (SNP) MacGregor, Fulton (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP) Macpherson, Ben (Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith) (SNP) Martin, Gillian (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP) McAllan, Màiri (Clydesdale) (SNP) McKee, Ivan (Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn) (SNP) McLennan, Paul (East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs) (SNP) McMillan, Stuart (Inverclyde) (SNP) McNair, Marie (Clydebank and Milngavie) (SNP) Melville, Lloyd (Angus South) (SNP) Merrick, Colm (Glasgow Anniesland) (SNP) Middleton, Jack (Aberdeen Central) (SNP) Minto, Jenni (Argyll and Bute) (SNP) Mitchell, Laura (Moray) (SNP) Oswald, Kirsten (Eastwood) (SNP) Smith, Alyn (Stirling) (SNP) Somerville, Shirley-Anne (Dunfermline) (SNP) Stafford, Pauline (Bathgate) (SNP) Stevenson, Collette (East Kilbride) (SNP) Swinney, John (Perthshire North) (SNP) Thewliss, Alison (Glasgow Central) (SNP) The Presiding Officer: The result of the division on amendment S7M-00469.2, in the name of Pauline McNeill, is: For 65, Against 53, Abstentions 0.”
“If someone goes into prison experiencing housing insecurity, they are far more likely to become homeless again on their release, and they are likely to have lost the community support networks that they had before entering prison. That is why the Greens have called for all prison leavers to go into housing first on discharge, with safe accommodation packaged together with appropriate support, making sure that everyone has access to—”
“Almost half of people arriving to prisons in 2024-25 were from the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland. According to the Prison Reform Trust, 70 per cent of women prisoners in Scotland report that they have been a victim of domestic abuse or violence from their partner. I thank Carol Mochan for bringing up women in prison. Women are also far more likely to be imprisoned for shoplifting than men. Vast inequalities are reflected in the system. If people go into prison vulnerable, they are likely to come out the other side with those vulnerabilities multiplied. UK-wide statistics suggest that, if someone goes into prison with a substance misuse problem, they are seven times more likely to experience an overdose when they come out.”
“We should be building a justice system that is focused on harm prevention, safety and accountability rather than on punishment. For me, that still means a system in which people who pose a violent threat to communities are removed for our safety, but that system can and should look very different from our current, broken prison system. In too many cases, our prisons house people who are already experiencing vulnerabilities such as poverty and substance misuse. Janey Starling from Level Up, which is a feminist organisation that campaigns for an end to the imprisonment of pregnant women and mothers, has described prisons as “just warehouses for people who have fallen through all of the holes in our welfare safety net.” The evidence that we have proves her point. Sixty- three per cent of people in prison have an alcohol use disorder.”
“Stephen Kerr: I am grateful to Kate Nevens for giving way on that point. Fairly or unfairly, a view has been attributed to her about the future of prisons. Given the rightful claim that the cabinet secretary made about our ability to imprison bad people, hardened criminals, serious criminals, people who commit sexual crimes and people who are involved in organised crime, does she agree that there is a very important place for prisons within the justice system? Kate Nevens: I thank Stephen Kerr for that question—it was not unexpected. I want there to be a complete overhaul of the prison system, including radically reducing, over time, the number of people that we incarcerate. Mark Simpson: Will the member take an intervention? Kate Nevens: I am responding to an intervention.”
“It is a problem that is further exacerbated by the huge issue of overcrowding, which, as the cabinet secretary mentioned, makes it difficult for prisons to engage everyone in activities that help with rehabilitation, such as exercise, education, employment and training. We urgently need to rethink our approach. We need to move away from a costly and failing system that is focused on punishment and towards one that is focused on harm prevention and public safety, by investing in alternative, victim-focused, restorative and community justice systems for those who do not pose an immediate threat to society—many of which have been mentioned by colleagues. We also need to focus much more on prevention, including addressing the inequalities that mean people from some communities are far more likely to end up in prison than others.”
“I am really grateful that we are having this discussion. Although we may all have slightly different approaches on exactly what needs to happen to address the problems with our current prison system— Mark Simpson: Will the member take an intervention? Kate Nevens: I will make some progress, but thank you. We may have different approaches, but it seems clear from the debate that the prison system in Scotland is not working—that it is broken. As we have heard, we have one of the highest imprisonment rates in western Europe. We have also heard about how our prison system is failing to rehabilitate people and prevent reoffending. In fact, around 43 per cent of people released from custody in Scotland go on to reoffend.”
“To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to provide sanitation facilities for the Traveller community living on land that it owns in Granton, Edinburgh. (S7O-00134)”
“On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My apologies. My technology did not work. I would have voted yes. The Presiding Officer: Thank you. Your vote is recorded.”
“We need universities that are democratic, transparent and accountable, with staff and students at their heart, where we are not paying the bosses inappropriately high salaries, where fair work and decent working conditions for staff mean good outcomes for students and where professional autonomy and academic freedom are respected and promoted. We need to work together to find a sustainable model that considers the wider social good that education provides. 16:48”
“I also pay tribute to the staff at Edinburgh Napier University, who have been striking against compulsory redundancies and for job security at a university that has been notorious for using zero- hours contracts. Higher education is transformative for the individuals participating and for society more widely. As UCU members tell us, learning and education broadens horizons, improves wellbeing and increases opportunities. In order to support our higher education sector, our whole approach needs to change. We need to stop treating staff and students like commodities for making profit and actively oppose the marketisation of higher education.”
“Earlier this year, I joined the Heriot-Watt UCU picket line, where staff of the languages and intercultural studies department and the team at Scholar face the threat of compulsory redundancies. Those redundancies would basically be equivalent to dismantling those incredibly important programmes. Scholar would be a huge loss, given the incredible work that it has done through its online learning platform to help more than a million young people with their school studies, and losing language and cultural courses at a time of world crisis in which the nation needs to be as outward looking as it can be seems incredibly short sighted.”
“As workloads become unsustainable, more staff are taking sick leave. The devastating cuts that are proposed by the University of Edinburgh are from one of the richest universities in the United Kingdom, and its finances are far healthier than is being made out. The university has around £2.7 billion in assets, its endowment is the third largest in the UK and its 2025 accounts showed an annual surplus of £96 million. It certainly has enough funds to continue to invest in Israel and the genocide in Gaza. During close to 18 months of meetings with the unions on the cuts, management have been unwilling to negotiate even one penny of reduction to the cuts targets, and they have been relying heavily on advice from management consultancies and paying large sums for that advice.”
“Many universities have ignored academic regulations by awarding degrees without the necessary marks, which hugely undermines legitimate strike action and academic standards. It has led to a massive and likely long-lasting decline in staff good will. The cuts that are being proposed by the University of Edinburgh, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Dundee, Glasgow Caledonian University, Heriot-Watt University, the University of Strathclyde and others will be disastrous for both staff and students. They are already making people insecure and anxious about their futures. When staff numbers are cut, workloads rise, courses disappear and students lose out. Management often make a show of fair work, but they continue to replace secure contracts with insecure, short-term, underpaid work.”
“I start by expressing my full support for the strike actions that are being taken by University of Edinburgh staff and University and College Union members across the country. As I raised with the First Minister last week, the University of Edinburgh’s academic staff are currently participating in a marking and assessment boycott. Even though marking and assessment are rarely a staff member’s entire workload, the university is removing all pay from striking staff. Further, the university is now requiring those not striking to take on the workload of those who are, which is adding to their huge workloads. That is a wildly punitive approach and a totally unacceptable attempt to undermine solidarity between academic staff. University of Edinburgh management are not alone in their aggressive strike-breaking action.”
“The Presiding Officer: Minister, perhaps you could take that on. Maree Todd: I suspect that Kate Nevens was going to ask me about a specific section of the 2016 act, and I will refer her query to officials. We can pick that up offline to ensure that she gets a good answer to her question, which she is right to raise. I, too, have heard concerns from constituents about the length of burial and the changes that have come in, so I am more than happy to pick up those issues and work offline on them.”
“I thank David Linden for his questions. In Edinburgh and Lothians East, there are only 80 spaces left at the Ratho dedicated burial sites for members of the Islamic faith, which is a real and urgent concern. Members of the Muslim community have also raised the issue of funeral support payment rises. Another issue that has been raised is that there has been a change to how long people can be buried for. In the Islamic faith, people need to be buried in perpetuity, not for a set length of time. What assessment has the Government made of whether Muslim communities, mosques, funeral committees, councillors and MSPs were adequately informed before the commencement of sections 14 to 16—[Interruption.] This is the bit that I cannot remember, and I do not know how to get back to it in my notes. I am sorry, everyone.”
“Amendment agreed to. The Presiding Officer: The next question is, that amendment S7M-00367.4, in the name of Craig Hoy, which seeks to amend motion S7M- 00367, in the name of Stephen Flynn, on affordable bus fares, be agreed to. Are we agreed? Members: No. The Presiding Officer: There will be a division. The vote is closed.”
“On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My technology did not work. I would have voted yes. The Presiding Officer: Your vote has been recorded. For Adam, George (Paisley) (SNP) Adamson, Clare (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP) Ahmed, Irshad (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Lab) Anderson, Heather (Dundee City West) (SNP) Arthur, Tom (Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley) (SNP) Baillie, Jackie (Dumbarton) (Lab) Baker, Claire (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) Barratt, David (Cowdenbeath) (SNP) Beattie, Colin (Midlothian North) (SNP) Bibby, Neil (West Scotland) (Lab) Black, Dawn (Angus North and Mearns) (SNP) Bonnar, Steven (Uddingston and Bellshill) (SNP) Bouse, Gary (Falkirk West) (SNP) Brown, Alan (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP) Brown, Siobhian (Ayr) (SNP) Bruce, Holly (Glasgow Southside) (Green) Burgess, Ariane (Highlands and Islands) (Green) Campbell, Kate (Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent) (SNP) Campbell, Michelle (Renfrewshire North and Cardonald) (SNP) Chapman, Maggie (North East Scotland) (Green) Clark, Katy (West Scotland) (Lab) Constance, Angela (Almond Valley) (SNP) Day, Martyn (Falkirk East and Linlithgow) (SNP) Doris, Bob (Glasgow Kelvin and Maryhill) (SNP) Duane, Iris (Glasgow) (Green) Dunbar, Jackie (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP) Fagan, Joe (South Scotland) (Lab) Fairlie, Jim (Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) (SNP) Flynn, Stephen (Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine) (SNP) Gethins, Stephen (Dundee City East) (SNP) Ghani, Zen (Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok) (SNP) Gibson, Patricia (Cunninghame South) (SNP) Gilruth, Jenny (Mid Fife and Glenrothes) (SNP) Goodlad, Hannah Mary (Shetland Islands) (SNP) Gray, Neil (Airdrie) (SNP) Greer, Ross (West Scotland) (Green) Griffin, Mark (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Lab) Hagmann, Katie (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (SNP) Harvie, Patrick (Glasgow) (Green) Haughey, Clare (Rutherglen and Cambuslang) (SNP) Hepburn, Jamie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP) Johnson, Daniel (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab) Kerr, Alex (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (SNP) Kerr, Calum (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) Kinross-O’Neill, Kayleigh (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Green) Kumar, Simita (Edinburgh South Western) (SNP) Leask, Kristopher (Highlands and Islands) (Green) Linden, David (Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston) (SNP) Long, Joe (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) MacGregor, Fulton (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP) Mackay, Gillian (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Green) MacKinnon, Donald (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (Lab) Macpherson, Ben (Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith) (SNP) Manivannan, Q (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Green) Marra, Michael (North East Scotland) (Lab) Martin, Gillian (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP) McAllan, Màiri (Clydesdale) (SNP) McKee, Cara (West Scotland) (Green) McKee, Ivan (Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn) (SNP) McLennan, Paul (East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs) (SNP) McNair, Marie (Clydebank and Milngavie) (SNP) McNeill, Pauline (Glasgow) (Lab) Melville, Lloyd (Angus South) (SNP) Merrick, Colm (Glasgow Anniesland) (SNP) Middleton, Jack (Aberdeen Central) (SNP) Minto, Jenni (Argyll and Bute) (SNP) Mitchell, Laura (Moray) (SNP) Moodie, Laura (South Scotland) (Green) Nevens, Kate (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Green) Oswald, Kirsten (Eastwood) (SNP) Roddick, Emma (Inverness and Nairn) (SNP) Ruskell, Mark (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green) Sangster, Katherine (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Lab) Sarwar, Anas (Glasgow) (Lab) Slater, Lorna (Edinburgh Central) (Green) Smith, Alyn (Stirling) (SNP) Somerville, Shirley-Anne (Dunfermline) (SNP) Stafford, Pauline (Bathgate) (SNP) Stevenson, Collette (East Kilbride) (SNP) Sweeney, Paul (Glasgow) (Lab) Swinney, John (Perthshire North) (SNP) Todd, Maree (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) Torrance, David (Kirkcaldy) (SNP) Young, Jenny (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Lab) Against Bannerman, Max (Highlands and Islands) (Reform) Beresford, Senga (South Scotland) (Reform) Bland, Amanda (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Reform) Briggs, Miles (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Con) Carson, Finlay (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con) Currie, Victor (Highlands and Islands) (Reform) Eagle, Tim (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Findlay, Russell (West Scotland) (Con) Fraser, Murdo (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Gallacher, Meghan (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Con) Hamilton, Rachael (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con) Hoy, Craig (Dumfriesshire) (Con) Kerr, Liam (North East Scotland) (Con) Kerr, Stephen (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Kerr, Thomas (Glasgow) (Reform) Kirkwood, David (South Scotland) (Reform) Langan, Jamie (South Scotland) (Reform) Lindsay, Amanda (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Reform) MacDougall, Julie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Reform) Massey, Duncan (North East Scotland) (Reform) McDade, Helen (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Reform) Ross, Angela (Edinburgh and Lothians East) (Reform) Schmulian, Kim (Glasgow) (Reform) Simpson, Graham (Central Scot and Lothians West) (Reform) Simpson, Mark (North East Scotland) (Reform) Smith, David (West Scotland) (Reform) Abstentions Baxter, Andrew (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (LD) Chou Turvey, Yi-pei (North East Scotland) (LD) Cole-Hamilton, Alex (Edinburgh North Western) (LD) Dijkstra-Downie, Sanne (Edinburgh Northern) (LD) Dunlop, Duncan (South Scotland) (LD) Harley, Adam (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (LD) MacCallum, Morven-May (Highlands and Islands) (LD) McArthur, Liam (Orkney Islands) (LD) Rennie, Willie (Fife North East) (LD) The Presiding Officer: The result of the division on amendment S7M-00367.3, in the name of Daniel Johnson, is: For 84, Against 26, Abstentions 9.”
“Community cohesion and partnership working are vital to how we move forward. On police resources and funding, although deployment is clearly and rightly a matter for the chief constable, this year we have increased police funding to more than £1.7 billion, which is an increase of £81.5 million compared with the 2025- 26 autumn budget revision. That is to allow Police Scotland to deliver on its priorities, including on important front-line service delivery. Firefighters (Scottish Ambulance Service Support) 4.”
“I thank the minister for her thoughtful responses. My supplementary question very much follows on from those. Does the minister agree that the recent pressures on policing are far more a result of the actions of fascist and far-right groups than of the actions of anti-racist groups, which have always had peaceful gatherings? Will she outline the steps that the Government will take to engage with and be led by communities that are affected by racism and abuse by far-right and fascist groups? What additional community protection measures will be put in place? I love the sound of the reassurance cell that was mentioned. Kirsten Oswald: I will try to touch on the various elements of Kate Nevens’s question. There is ongoing work within Government to meet and engage constructively with a range of communities.”
“I am really pleased to see a commitment in the Scottish Government’s motion to the principle of co-design, but I would like a commitment to open government principles and a human-rights approach to participation as part of that. Fundamentally, today’s debate is a question not just of partnership but of power. It is about a willingness on the part of Government to treat the third sector as an equal partner; to meaningfully involve a diverse range of third sector and community voices in decision making and properly resource those conversations; to fund courageously, trust generously and have honest and transparent conversations about funding; to share and redistribute power through processes that we use; and to recognise that every decision has the potential to shape what grows, what survives and what and who remains marginal. 17:08”
“The smaller grass-roots organisations are often those that face the most acute safety and security issues, as they face rising racism and transphobia in an increasingly hostile environment. Many of our community-led organisations are staffed by volunteers and workers who themselves are experiencing multiple overlapping oppressions, trauma and burnout while supporting others. What can we do to better support those organisations with things such as emergency hardship funds and quick access to cash, to allow groups to cover essential costs such as food, transport, security equipment and childcare? Can we support social spaces where groups can organise, create and recuperate, eat together and plan together—spaces run by and for grass-roots groups? Can we properly invest in the broader infrastructure that can support smaller groups to thrive?”
“We will support the Labour amendment, but, in exchange, Labour members must commit to working with us and their Westminster colleagues to find a solution that allows our Parliament to meaningfully budget in a multiyear way. An area that has not been covered in much detail this afternoon—although Carol Mochan mentioned the importance of smaller front-line organisations—is the really important role of small grass-roots organisations in our having a thriving third sector in Scotland, and how we ensure that our funding models are able to support organisations that perhaps do not have the governance structures, banking set-up or history of grant management that are required for certain pots of funding.”
“Edinburgh Green councillor Alys Mumford has helped to secure the continuation of funding for some local organisations who had their funding cut without warning, establishing a new funding stream for those specifically impacted by integration joint board cuts in Edinburgh. However, our councillors and local organisations should not be put in such a position in the first place. We need to move towards stable, multiyear funding in the local government settlement and rebuild the trust that we are losing locally. Although I welcome the support across the parties in the chamber for the importance of multiyear funding, it is extremely telling that we have a Labour Party that is willing to champion multiyear funding for the third sector while denying the same long-term financial sustainability for this very Parliament.”
“As we know and have known for a really long time, we urgently need to move away from the traditional forms of funding and towards easily accessible, multiyear, flexible funding as the default. Such fairer, longer- term models of funding should enable organisations to cover their core costs, which are rising, retain their autonomy and values, set their own priorities and work on their own terms, and be flexible and responsive to the changing needs of their communities, which they know best. We should be looking to get organisations off the hamster wheel of needlessly competitive and onerous funding applications and to move away from the constraints of project-by-project cycles. We must recognise that today’s debate is not just about central Government funding schemes for the third sector; it is about properly funding our local government.”
“The Scottish Huntington’s Association, which provides a nationwide specialist service for families impacted by Huntington’s disease, told me that statutory funding for the service, where it is provided, is typically allocated on a 12-month basis via a complex jigsaw of local funders with different reporting requirements, who often cannot confirm funding until the eve of the new financial year. That causes anxiety and uncertainty for front-line staff and, more importantly, for the extremely vulnerable people living with the condition. I welcome the Government’s commitment to fairer funding, a third sector agreement and responding to the needs of the sector.”
“It is also clear from the debate how precarious things are for the third sector right now, with organisations facing delays to funding decisions and the long-term impacts of underfunding, cuts and the threats of cuts. Far too many organisations are facing the possibility of job losses and closures. We have heard about the funding crisis that Murray’s Initiative in Glasgow is facing. It is not alone in this precarity, as 64 per cent of members of the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland reported financial insecurity at the end of last year, up from 49 per cent in March 2024. The Dumfries and Galloway Citizens Advice Service had its core funding cut by 20 per cent in the most recent council budget, despite the fact that it put £9.8 million back into clients’ pockets and into the local economy—as Stuart McMillan mentioned earlier.”
“I was going to start by saying that I felt that there was overwhelming cross-party respect and support for Scotland’s third sector, but I now feel that that might not be true of all parts of our chamber. However, it feels like there is strong recognition from most of us that our third sector is not only integral to community health and wellbeing and harm prevention but a valued source of expertise and knowledge for most of us, and a vital vehicle for community power. It has been great to hear about meaningful local initiatives such as walking football and the breakfast boxes in the north-east that Dawn Black mentioned, and about the compassionate staff behind the work of health charities such as Lyme Disease UK, which Morven-May MacCallum mentioned.”
“Whenever an organisation appears before a parliamentary committee, it should be required to declare how much funding it has received from the Scottish Government over the previous five years and what proportion of its total income that funding represents. That is not asking too much.”
“They are entitled to know whether supposedly independent voices are, in fact, substantially dependent upon Government support and funding. Too often, the taxpayer is paying for both sides of the argument: they fund the Government and they fund the organisations that tell us how wonderful the SNP Government is. The SNP has spent years building an echo chamber and then presenting the echo as independent evidence. That is not healthy, it is not transparent and it undermines public trust. The solution—[Interruption.] I have a solution. [Interruption.] Yes, I come bearing solutions. The solution is straightforward. Let us start with this.”
“Will the member take an intervention? Stephen Kerr: When a Government funds organisations to lobby the Government and then points to them as neutral experts in support of their policy, to shut down dissent, surely that cannot be described as anything other than a corruption of our democratic process. Alex Kerr: Will the member take an intervention? Stephen Kerr: I am going to have to press on, as I am being encouraged to do so. Stuart McMillan: [Made a request to intervene.] Stephen Kerr: I would love to have longer to speak. Perhaps members can organise it between themselves so that we have more time to speak. The public are not fools. They are entitled to know who is funding whom. They are entitled to know who is influencing whom.”
“I am not denying the existence of antisocial behaviour or rejecting people’s legitimate concerns. Indeed, the communities that we, as Greens, stand up for most—those experiencing poverty and inequality—are the communities that are most impacted by it, but there are serious problems in the way in which we are currently tackling the issue. Our approach in Scotland is still focused on antisocial behaviour as an individual problem, rather than as an expression of too many parts of our society being left behind, and we should be looking to change that. 17:53”
“People of colour are also often impacted unequally by attempts to tackle perceived antisocial behaviour. As I said at general question time earlier today, the desire for crackdowns on the antisocial use of e-bikes has the potential to further marginalise food delivery riders, as people of colour are overrepresented in that highly exploitative part of our labour market. We also need to better understand how women experience antisocial behaviour. Classing the harassment that women and girls face on our streets, in our schools and on our public transport as antisocial behaviour, with a level of concern similar to that afforded to something such as graffiti, belittles our societal problem of misogyny and the deeply ingrained patterns of violence against women.”
“As the Government’s independent working group on antisocial behaviour has argued, by focusing solely on young people, we risk ignoring root causes and reinforcing harmful cycles of alienation and mistrust between generations, with continuing unhelpful stereotypes of young people having an impact on policy and decision making. The working group found that the loss of community resources, such as sports centres, swimming pools—as Dawn Black mentioned—and youth services, has a negative impact on community resilience, and that, when community resilience is low, the risk of antisocial behaviour increases. It is no coincidence that the communities that experience the most incidences of recorded antisocial behaviour are those that have been most exposed to austerity and face the highest rates of poverty and inequality.”
“As Colin Beattie’s motion notes, we need to think about preventing, not just responding to, the variety of behaviours that are causing harm in our society. We need to properly understand the underlying social and economic causes and consequences of harmful behaviour, how different communities are affected differently by harm and what it means for everyone in a community to feel safe and to thrive. On the perception that antisocial behaviour is caused mostly by young people—which the motion focuses heavily on—the little data that we have tells a very different story. The most recent statistics show that two thirds of those convicted for offences relating to antisocial behaviour were over the age of 30. The erroneous focus on young people has consequences.”
“We sometimes use it to refer to criminal behaviour, including sexual harassment and forms of violence against women and girls, but we often also use it to refer to behaviour that we just do not really like, such as young people hanging out in the streets or in parks when they have limited options for places to go. I also worry about how accusations of antisocial behaviour can be used to demonise certain groups of people, particularly young people and communities of colour, whereas we turn a blind eye to middle-class families who use mosquito noise makers outside their homes. Even though those are actively harmful and painful to young people who are merely walking down the street, they are not necessarily considered to be antisocial.”
“I thank Colin Beattie for securing this members’ business debate. I fully share his belief in the need to support young people and their families. I recognise that, even after more than 20 years of the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004, many people in our communities still feel that antisocial behaviour is a major problem, which makes it an important topic for discussion. Given that we have had 20 years of the 2004 act being in force, we need to look again at how we understand, define and respond to antisocial behaviour and come up with some new ideas and approaches. I have a number of concerns about the way in which we often talk about antisocial behaviour. I worry about how we use the term to lump together a lot of different issues.”
“If anyone has a concern about any kind of illegal activity or if they feel threatened or unsafe, they should absolutely contact the police. The police have specific powers to deal with crime and will do so, including under the Public Order Act 1986. However, the specifics of what Kate Nevens has raised are in a different area of law. I am happy to meet her to discuss that and would welcome a further conversation. The key priority is for people to make the police aware, if they have any concerns, so that the police can act. Early Learning and Childcare 8.”
“The Workers Observatory has found that delivery riders who use e-bikes in Edinburgh are frequently the target of racially abusive behaviour, but there is very little public discussion of the exploitative employment practices that force gig workers to race around the city. We know that people of colour who are overrepresented in that insecure occupation can be subject to racist patterns of policing. What assurances can the minister give that the use of powers for the police to confiscate e-bikes is subject to equalities impact assessment to guard against further marginalising already highly marginalised delivery riders? Kirsten Oswald: I am grateful to Kate Nevens for that question, which is important and raises a complexity in this area that we need to be mindful of.”
“On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My vote failed to register. I would have noted no. The Presiding Officer: Your vote has been recorded.”
“Striking staff at the University of Edinburgh are having their entire wages removed for participating in a marking and assessment boycott, despite that being just one part of their job. Remaining staff who are already overworked have been told to cover for their striking colleagues or go without pay. Does the First Minister agree with me that that is an unacceptable attempt to undermine solidarity between academic staff and that management must respect the rights of its staff to withdraw their labour?”
“I look forward to the next five years and to working across parties to build wealth in our communities without extracting it from workers or our natural world and to build a fairer and greener society. I hope that together, in the words of Angela Davis, we can “act as if it were possible to radically transform the world.” 16:42”
“I have worked with communities that often experience multiple overlapping inequalities and oppressions, almost always exacerbated by wealth inequality and inadequate service provision. I know how much it would mean for us to be able to start properly addressing some of those inequalities and funding inclusive, high-quality public services. I have also spent much of my career working on similar issues with communities and civil society groups in other areas of the world, particularly in countries such as Yemen, Egypt and Palestine, and I believe that Scotland should be playing a role in addressing global wealth inequality, too. We should be engaging in conversations on global tax justice and debt cancellation, reparations for colonial harm, and feminist economic models that centre on care and wellbeing rather than extraction.”
“It took 18 years for us to use our income tax powers; we cannot afford to be so slow again. We need to urgently consider an Amazon tax to support local businesses, and to scrap the outdated and aggressive council tax in favour of a fairer alternative. In Edinburgh, the Greens were laughed out of the room when we first advocated a tax on hotel rooms, but we did not give up. The tourist tax that is coming into force this summer in Edinburgh will raise around £90 million over three years, and that will allow us to improve our arts spaces and green spaces and provide more housing support during the housing crisis. My background is in working in equalities and human rights in Scotland.”
“The top 10 wealthiest individuals and families in Scotland are worth more than £23 billion combined, which is more than the total amount raised by Scottish income tax in a single year. That is not a natural state of affairs; it is a political choice and it has to change. Some political parties are keen to blame migrants for Scotland’s problems, but it is the presence of billionaires, not migrants and refugees, that shows us that something is wrong with our economy. If some of us have enough money to hoard houses and yachts while others are struggling to feed our families or heat our homes, that is a sign of failure, not success. I, too, welcome the progress that has been made towards a private jet tax and a mansion tax, but we need to be bolder and braver and make the absolute most of our revenue-raising powers in Scotland.”
“If there is one area where that work is most urgently needed, it is this—addressing wealth inequality through a fair taxation system and properly funding our public services. That has to be central to what we do together over the next five years. The vast majority of us in this chamber were elected on manifestos that promised to reduce poverty and inequality. That simply cannot be done without sharing wealth more fairly and asking people who have too much to share more with those who have too little—and the public agree. Research by Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland shows that the vast majority of people in Scotland want the wealthy to pay more tax, not less. As others have mentioned, Scotland’s wealth inequality is huge.”
“I also thank Alison Johnstone, my predecessor on the Lothians list, who has been an inspiring Presiding Officer for the past five years and who has left an incredible green legacy as an MSP. I realise that some members might already be aware of me as the newly elected MSP with some rather radical ideas about the world, so perhaps some folk feel a little trepidatious about me. That is okay—I do not expect everyone here to agree with my world view. In fact, I welcome difficult conversations that will help us to make progress through some complex topics about which, perhaps, none of us alone has the answer. What I hope, and what I believe to be possible, is that we can find areas where we can work together to improve the lives of people in Scotland and to bring care, collaboration and kindness to the heart of this Parliament.”
“It is a privilege to be here and to represent the Edinburgh and Lothians East region. I thank everyone who cast their vote for us in the election, as well as all the incredible activists and supporters who helped by knocking on doors, posting leaflets, putting up posters and sharing gen Z green memes that I mostly did not understand. I am proud of our campaign. It was a campaign that, as Iris Duane mentioned, ran on the energy of hope rather than hate, in which we stood together in solidarity with those most marginalised by the current system and fought together for a fairer, greener and more just future for Scotland. I am excited to carry that energy into Parliament with me.”