A Safer and Stronger Scotland

We believe that Scottish families and communities can be safer.

That is why we are focused as never before on improving housing and neighbourhoods, fighting crime, reducing the fear of crime and on making Scotland's communities safer.

We want to create safe physical environments with better quality housing and cohesive communities that look out for one another. We want communities to be supported by a more visible police presence to help reassure communities and deter criminals. We also want to see a justice system that tackles crime and brings perpetrators to justice quickly and effectively; provides punishments that fit the crime; has mechanisms for reducing re-offending while protecting the rest of society; and properly supports victims and witnesses.

However, having a swift and effective justice system is not enough. We know that children who are born into some of our more deprived areas and into unsupportive families stand a much greater chance of offending in later life.

We must also take responsibility for all our communities and seriously address the issues that are too often the driving force behind, but never a justification for, crime and anti-social behaviour - drink, drugs and deprivation. Our most disadvantaged communities suffer disproportionately the impacts of crime and disorder.

We must work with others, including the voluntary or third sector which plays a vital role in so many areas of Scotland, to reduce poverty and inequality, regenerate communities and encourage opportunities for all.

The first year

During our first year in government, we demonstrated progress across a number of these areas. 

• Major investment in two new prisons publicly-run prisons at Bishopbriggs and in the Peterhead area.  The prison in the North East  will replace Victorian establishments in Aberdeen and Peterhead and end a decade of indecision.
• Undertook a review of community penalties, which is now being progressed
• Introduced Mandatory Supervised Attendance Orders from 1 September, to reduce number of those imprisoned for not paying their fines
• Taken measures to deliver more visible police presence and an additional 1,000 police officers in our communities. 
• 150 additional police officers recruited, the first of 1,000 officers Government is directly funding. 
• Ended speculation surrounding future of Scotland’s eight fire control rooms,
• £6.8 million funding package for new fire and rescue capital projects. 
• Firearms summit hosted by First Minister on 7 May and attended by police, local authorities and other key interests   Negotiations with Westminster continue on the need for reform of firearms legislation.  
• CashBack for Communities scheme, which invests the proceeds of crime back into communities, will benefit young people in Scotland, including £1.4m for rugby and £3m for grass roots community projects used to fund free football coaching and playing opportunities
• Implementation of Vulnerable Witnesses completed to time providing extra support in court for hundreds more witnesses

The year ahead

In the year ahead, we will continue to make positive progress by taking forward a number of proposals, combining both legislation and non-legislative approaches, for discussion and debate to make Scotland safer and stronger. For example:

• We will introduce legislation to improve the justice system by modernising the arrangements for the judiciary, and strengthening their role through greater authority over the Court Service;
• We will introduce legislation to reform the law on rape and sexual offences in the light of the Scottish Law Commission's review;
• We will continue building a national consensus around a new drugs strategy. We are committed to extending the most successful elements of drug treatment and testing orders to lower level offenders to help break the link between addictions and crime;
• We will continue to take forward proposals on a cross-party basis to strengthen controls on sex offenders, including greater protection for communities through implementation of the National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders;
• We will continue to develop a coherent policy on punishment and prisons. As part of this, we will work in partnership to develop tougher community penalties. Tough and effective community penalties will help to reduce the number of petty criminals in our prisons and help to divert them from getting started on a life of crime. Should primary legislation be required to enact these plans, we will present a Criminal Justice Bill at the appropriate time.
• We will consult on proposals to broaden the range of options to resolve disputes, and develop a modern arbitration system in Scotland;
• We will introduce legislation to reform the current flood prevention laws, which date from 1961. The primary focus on building large-scale flood prevention schemes is no longer flexible enough to address the situations we face in Scotland today. More sustainable measures are now available which can help reduce water flows. The new legislation, on which we will consult widely, will allow for a more modern and sustainable approach that will help to provide longer-term solutions to reduce flooding threats; and
• We will also continue our efforts to give people a greater say about issues which impact upon them and to give them more responsibility for decisions which affect their local communities.

Some highlights from the Budget

To help achieve a safer and stronger Scotland, the Budget will allow us to:

• take targeted action to help regenerate the most disadvantaged communities and ensure that they are fully engaged in the regeneration process, including support of £145 million each year to tackle poverty and deprivation and to help more people overcome barriers and get back into work;
• invest £430.0m/£507.8m/£533.2m in new and better housing across Scotland, including in our most deprived communities;
• challenge Scotland's local authorities, developers and builders to increase the rate of new housing supply in Scotland to at least 35,000 a year by the middle of the next decade, as part of our wide-ranging consultation on the future of housing in Scotland;
• invest £13.5m/£18.0m/£22.5m to make an additional 1,000 police officers available in our communities through increased recruitment, improved retention and redeployment of police officers;
• tackle organised crime through the newly-created Serious Organised Crime Taskforce;
• reform the summary justice system to make it more effective and to help reduce re-offending, helping more of us to lead full and productive lives;
• develop a coherent policy on punishment and prisons, including a shift away from short custodial sentences to tougher community penalties, backed by additional funding of £1.2m/£3.3m/£3.3m;
• invest significantly in replacing and modernising prison capacity, with extra investment of £12.8m/£21.0m/£29.2m;
• reduce drugs misuse and help lower-level offenders to break the link between addictions and crime;
• develop proposals, building on the Gill Review which is due to report in 2009, for the radical modernisation of our civil legal system, making it more efficient and improving access to justice; and support young people in making positive choices through increased opportunities and respond quickly and effectively to problem