I thank the committee for inviting me to speak in support of this affirmative instrument, which will place appropriate adult services in Scotland on a statutory footing.
As the committee will be aware, the role of an appropriate adult is to facilitate communication between the police and vulnerable adults during police procedures. Appropriate adult services in Scotland have been delivered on a non-statutory basis since the early 1990s and they perform an essential function in the criminal justice system.
To ensure that those vital services remain sustainable, the Scottish Government included provisions relating to appropriate adults in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, including enabling powers that have resulted in the regulations that the committee is considering today. Those regulations confer duties on local authorities to deliver appropriate adult services and provide training for practitioners. Local authorities currently carry out such functions on a non-statutory basis and so will be well placed to undertake them as part of the statutory service. The regulations also place a duty on the Care Inspectorate to assess the quality of provision of appropriate adult services. That will create a new level of quality assurance and ensure that appropriate adult support in every part of the country will be of a high standard.
The regulations will be underpinned by detailed guidance, to which local authorities must have regard. The Government has shared a draft of that guidance with the committee to assist it in its consideration of the regulations. The guidance will ensure that every local authority has a clear understanding of what is expected of it in discharging its functions. It will also help to ensure consistency in key aspects of provision across all local authority areas.
To support the introduction of the statutory duties, the Government is providing additional funding of £1 million per annum for local authorities. We have already allocated £500,000 in this financial year to assist local authorities in preparation for providing the statutory service. We have agreed additional funding of £180,000 per annum to assist the Care Inspectorate in undertaking the quality assessment function.
Appropriate adults play an important role in helping to safeguard the rights of vulnerable individuals in the criminal justice system. By supporting the regulations, the committee would ensure that this vital service continued to be delivered to a consistently high standard right across Scotland.