Chamber and committees

What more can the Scottish Government do to harness technology to increase the use of electronic monitoring, particularly as an alternative to remand and short jail sentences?

To ask the Scottish Government for its response to the Robert Gordon University report, “Powering up the Workforce”.

What is the cabinet secretary’s response to the latest set of statistics, which show that recorded crime is at one of its lowest levels in 50 years?

The Rosebank project has been given the go-ahead. Although the oil and gas industry continues to make a significant contribution to our economy, it is clear that we must balance our future energy needs with our climate obligations—critically, ensuring a fair and just transition to net zero for our workforce.

The report that was published by the Robert Gordon University outlined that the number of people employed offshore could rise from just over 150,000 in 2023 to 225,000 by 2030, with new renewables jobs outnumbering oil and gas roles if a successful transition is achieved. What action is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that we do not lose that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, particularly in the face of the United Kingdom Government’s disappointing—

I have it now. My apologies.

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with stakeholders in the north-east to discuss its just transition strategy. (S6O-02572)

I will finish this set of questions with another question about the position of an accused person, but in relation to the pilot proposal and whether participation in the pilot scheme would be mandatory for an accused person who fell within the scope of the scheme. Might there be a problematic response to that?

A very good morning, and welcome to the 24th meeting in 2023 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have apologies from Pauline McNeill.

Our first item of business is our first evidence session on the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill. We are joined by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and her Scottish Government officials, whom I welcome. Anna Donald is deputy director of the criminal justice division; Lisa McCloy is head of the criminal justice reform unit; and Nicola Guild is a solicitor in the legal directorate.

I refer members to papers 1 and 2. I intend to allow up to two hours for this session. Before we get under way, I want to say a few words about our forthcoming scrutiny of the bill.

As a committee, we are very aware that the bill is a major piece of legislation that contains a number of significant provisions. We are aware of our responsibility to take the necessary time to scrutinise it properly in a balanced manner and to hear a range of views on it. Furthermore, we want to ensure that all aspects of the bill get proper scrutiny, so we have decided to take a phased approach to our scrutiny in order to protect time for each part of the bill. Further details on that can be found on the Scottish Parliament website.

Today’s session with the cabinet secretary is a chance for us to set the scene on the bill and to hear why the Scottish Government has brought forward the proposals. In future weeks, we will move on to taking detailed evidence on the bill from a range of interested parties.

I acknowledge all the individuals and organisations that took the time to respond to our call for written views. Those responses are now published and available online.

I invite the cabinet secretary to make a short opening statement. We will then move to questions.

Thank you. I will open up the discussion to members.

Yes.

Could I ask you to pause that question? We will come on to that part of the bill.