Chamber and committees

Thank you very much—that is a helpful open door. That response might help us to segue into considering part 2 of the bill, on embedding trauma-informed practice.

We heard some excellent evidence on trauma-informed practice a couple of weeks ago from Dr Caroline Bruce and from Professor Thanos Karatzias of Edinburgh Napier University. Professor Karatzias made a point in response to a question about the whole-system embedding of trauma-informed practice. He said that the principles of trauma-informed practice are quite general and involve

“safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness and empowerment.”—[Official Report, Criminal Justice Committee, 1 November 2023; c 2.]

However, different elements might apply in different parts of the justice sector. For instance, the principles of safety and choice are perhaps more relevant in a court setting, while principles of recovery might be more important and relevant in prisons.

Does the cabinet secretary consider that the provisions of the bill will support a whole-system application of trauma-informed practice—as set out, for example, by Professor Karatzias?

To follow up that point, if the bill is passed and we have a whole-system embedding of trauma-informed practice, will some provision be put in place to support and embed the implementation of a whole-system approach? What early work might be required around that?

Thank you. Sharon Dowey is next.

My final question before we move on to part 3 of the bill is on the role of the Scottish Prison Service with regard to trauma-informed practice. The committee has heard evidence relating to the treatment of prisoners in a trauma-informed way. However, I am interested in how the cabinet secretary envisages the provisions in part 2 of the bill further impacting the role of the Scottish Prison Service with particular reference to victims and witnesses—for example, in and around the victim notification scheme.

Do any other members want to come in on part 3? I will bring in Russell Findlay.

In our constituency and regional roles, we probably all speak to our local police officers and hear about the volume of calls of this nature that police officers are attending. Have you had any discussions with Police Scotland about how it will take forward the recommendations in the review, given the sheer commitment that officers and police staff are having to make to this particular policing challenge?

Thank you. That is most helpful.

Were you referring to psychiatric emergency plans or individual care plans?

I will ask one final question, then we will have to bring the session to a close. It is about where we go now. Many issues that we have discussed require to be addressed across organisations—the third sector, the public sector and, potentially, the Scottish Government. I will come to Craig Naylor first, then to Dr Chopra. How do you see that collaborative work going forward, and should it be done at Government level? You might want to just answer yes or no.

Good morning, and welcome to the 30th meeting in 2023 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have apologies from John Swinney. I welcome Jackie Dunbar to the meeting as a committee substitute.

Our first agenda item is to decide whether to take item 5 in private. Do members agree to do so?

Members indicated agreement.