Tories have claimed there is a “real risk” Scotland could fall behind England in dealing with child sexual abuse after MSPs voted down a bid to force research into grooming gangs.
Scottish Conservative justice spokesperson Liam Kerr had tabled amendments to the justice reforms brought forward by the SNP administration at Holyrood.
With the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill including the the establishment of a new Victims Commissioner for Scotland as one of its measures, Mr Kerr’s amendment would have required this new commissioner carry out research in relation to group-based child sexual exploitation in Scotland within three years of taking up the job.
The Conservative said this would see a “similar investigation” carried out to one ordered by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for England in January of this year.
He told MSPs the work would “would build a national picture of what is known about grooming gangs in Scotland” and would “crucially require recommendations to be made on how to prevent this most vicious, this most heinous of practices from occurring and to make a recommendation on whether a full public inquiry needs to be commissioned”.
Mr Kerr told MSPs: “There is currently a worrying lack of information about the true scale of the issue, who the victims are, who is conducting these crimes in Scotland.
“We cannot bury our heads in the sand while England tackles this.
“If we were so to do there is a real risk of Scotland falling behind in dealing with child sexual abuse.”
However, Scottish Justice Secretary Angela Constance told MSPs work in this area was already being carried out by both Police Scotland and the specialist body the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group, which was established in 2024.
Speaking about the work of this “expert group” she insisted it was “best placed to assess and make recommendations for the additional action to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation,” rather than the new Victims Commissioner, who still has to be recruited and will have a “variety of duties to deliver”.
Ms Constance added that officers from Police Scotland are also “reviewing historical and current cases of this nature”, as she argued if the Conservative amendment were passed it would “risk unnecessary duplication”.
The Justice Secretary said: “I stress that the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group and Police Scotland are active in this area now.”
After hearing from her, MSPs voted against Mr Kerr’s amendment by 51 votes to 62 – with the Tory hitting out afterwards, saying: “It is simply outrageous that the SNP have chosen to vote against setting up a Scottish grooming gangs inquiry.”
He insisted: “This is an abject betrayal of victims. We know that grooming gangs operate in Scotland, which begs the question why the SNP are choosing to ignore this when they should be learning vital lessons in order to prevent future abuse.
“We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this. Scottish grooming gang victims deserve an inquiry, just like those south of the border.”
He spoke out as MSPs debated amendments to the Bill, which will make a series of changes to Scotland’s justice system.
If passed in its final vote at Holyrood on Wednesday, the legislation will scrap Scotland’s unique and centuries old not proven verdict.
In addition to this it aims to reform the jury process, requiring at least two thirds of jurors to support a conviction before someone can be found guilty.
The legislation will also create a specialist sexual offences court, while also promising to give victims of such offences a lifelong right to anonymity.
Other changes will see the Parole Board required to consider if killers have provided information on the whereabouts of their victims remains when considering if they should be freed from prison, a move known as Suzanne’s Law after Suzanne Pilley, who was murdered in 2010 but whose killer has never revealed the location of her body.
With more than 160 amendments due to be debated at Holyrood on Tuesday, MSPs will sit late to consider these, before the final vote on Wednesday.
