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At the moment, the VNS is formed of three schemes.

The victims of offenders who have been sentenced to more than 18 months of imprisonment have the right to receive information about the release of the offender, and some of those victims have the right to make recommendations when decisions are being made about release. That is referred to as the criminal justice VNS. As of 2 December, there are 3,057 victims on that VNS.

The second scheme involves victims of patients in the forensic mental health system who are subject to a compulsion order and restriction order. Those victims are similarly entitled to rights of information and the making of recommendations. That scheme is referred to as the CORO VNS. As of 2 December, 34 victims are registered on that.

Victims of offenders who are sentenced to fewer than 18 months are entitled, on request, to more limited information about the offender’s release. That is known as the victim information scheme—the VIS. Currently, 58 people are registered on that scheme.

A lot of organisations are involved in the VNS. It is complex, so I will give you some background: the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service plays a role at the start of the process by distributing registration packs to victims; the Scottish Prison Service sends written information to victims; the Parole Board for Scotland and the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland facilitate victim representations; and the Scottish Government sends written information to victims of mentally disordered offenders and also provides release information to the registered victims of offenders detained in secure accommodation. In addition, victim support organisations provide support and assistance to victims registered on the VNS and to victims who can request information under the VIS. Some victim support organisations also now have proxy rights to information.

I hope that that gives you some background in relation to all the organisations that are involved and with which the victim contact team will need to engage.

To go back to your original question, as we move to stage 2, we are not only considering underpinning the victim contact team. We are looking at including the CORO VNS in the standards of service, as set out in recommendation 2 of the review. We are looking at applying discretion to the list of relatives eligible to register for the scheme, as set out in recommendation 11, with that discretion applying across the three schemes. We are looking at children over the age of 12 being able to authorise an adult to receive information on their behalf, which would be done on a case-by-case basis, according to the child’s capacity and choice, as set out in recommendation 14, and that would also apply to all three schemes. We are looking at taking a power to expand the information available under the victim information scheme, as set out in recommendation 15. The power to amend the VIS would bring that scheme more generally into line with what is happening with the VNS. We are also looking at data sharing and a duty to co-operate in order to establish the victim contact team, which covers recommendations 17, 20 and 21 and would apply across all schemes.

In my opening answer to the convener, I had to explain how complex the system is, with all the different agencies that we must deal with and have conversations with. Whereas the report was published back in May 2023, the landscape in October 2024 was very different, due to the policy of early release of prisoners throughout the United Kingdom. We needed to engage with all the multiple organisations involved, but we also wanted to look at the policy landscape, which had changed significantly since March last year, and ensure that it was as up to date as possible. That is why we took our time and made our announcement in October.

I am not in a position to give you an exact figure for a victim contact team today. Indeed, as the work is on-going, it would be disingenuous even to give a ballpark figure to you today. Ultimately, the victim contact team will be budgeted for and it will be costed through the justice budget. If there are any costs arising from the amendments or the victim contact team as we reach stage 2, we will be providing a financial memorandum.

We deal with many victim support organisations, and we will be in discussion with them. I cannot confirm exactly who will be on the team; it is a work in progress. At stage 2, I will be giving you amendments with the full details.

In relation to how it is set up?

The main recommendation was about the victim contact team, which is why the amendments that will come in at stage 2—which are dry and technical—will be for the underpinning of the establishment of such a team; they will not themselves create the actual victim contact team.

There were other recommendations. I cannot share the exact amendments at the moment, but we are looking at including the compulsion order and restriction order victim notification schemes in the standards of service, as set out in recommendation 2 of the review report.

Convener, this is all quite detailed. Would you like me to go through it to give you a bit of an overview before returning to your question?

I have got the information, although it will be very technical and boring.

I am not sure where the 25 per cent figure comes from.

Yes. Those are the figures that I have. Domestic abuse and sexual offences were not included in the early release scheme—not that they were ever going to be—so there was a low number of people on the VNS. That is where the cabinet secretary at the time was trying to open up other avenues for anybody who needed them. In the end, there were only five, even though victim organisations and the Scottish Prison Service were open to people contacting them.

I cannot answer that question at the moment. I am looking at reform of the VNS and the independent review has set out what it would like the service to look like. Every victim would be contacted and would be given their options. They might not be in a position at the time to want to take those up, as they might be going through something traumatic. The team could say, “Look, I’m going to give you a call in a month or two month to tell you what your options are. Would you like to come on board?” They may then be in a different frame of mind. Moving forward, I would like there to be an increase in people taking up the VNS, which we would all want.