Chamber and committees

Good morning to the witnesses. I will focus my questions on the role of corporate social responsibility. It may tie in a little bit with what you outlined, Professor Stevenson.

My constituency of Aberdeen South and North Kincardine is up in the north-east. I was interested to hear Professor Miles’s contribution about the Peterculter project, which is in my constituency. Historically, the north-east has benefited from a buoyant energy sector, and we know that that sector—and, I am sure, others—has been very supportive of arts and culture. It has supported everything from a local knitting club to, for example, the BP portrait award. It is right across the span. With regard to place, access to space and the democratisation of culture, I am interested in your comments about the role of corporate social responsibility and the provision, whether that is of funding or a venue, to support culture in communities.

I have nothing to declare, convener.

I, too, welcome the opportunity to participate in the debate this afternoon, and I am very happy to support the motion. I thank the University of Edinburgh for its briefing and I extend my thanks to Angela Mathis, chief executive officer of ThinkTank Maths, for the time that she has spent engaging with me and for her commitment to Scotland’s place in the space sector. I also commend Space Scotland and the many other organisations and talented individuals working in Scotland’s space sector.

As I prepared for today, I reflected on a presentation that I attended at which Professor Maggie Aderin-Pocock, who is a well-known space scientist in the UK, described how her career in space was inspired by “The Clangers”. “The Clangers” was a children’s television show in the 1970s, which I remember, although many members here today will not, about a family of creatures living in peace and harmony on a planet. I will return to the importance of encouraging talent into our space sector later.

It is remarkable to think that this is the first space debate that has been held in the Scottish Parliament since the session began, and I am sure that that is courtesy of our colleague Ivan McKee, who has been quietly laying the foundations for us to reach this point. However, space is fundamental to our modern-day existence and to the future of our planet. As Professor Brian Cox said,

“The best way to protect the Earth is to look down from space.”

As the motion outlines, the Scottish space sector is an exciting area of growth, accounting for about 18 per cent of all jobs in the UK space sector, which is significant, given that Scotland is home to around 10 per cent of the UK population. We are punching above our weight. We have well over 100 companies, from start-ups to SMEs and larger companies, which are involved not only in manufacturing but in space applications that benefit other sectors and areas of the economy. Of course, that work is underpinned by the Scottish space strategy, which sets out our collective ambition for Scotland to become a world-leading European space nation. The strategy aligns to the UK space strategy, but it also outlines areas where Scotland has an advantage. For example, for the development of spaceports and vertical launch projects, which we have already heard about, our geography and location place at us some advantage.

An important aspect of our growing space sector, as we have already heard, is sustainability and the space sustainability road map. It sets out three areas: making manufacturing and launch as sustainable as possible; tackling space debris; and using space data to benefit planet earth.

The north-east currently hosts around 11 companies that support the sector. One company in my constituency provides high-accuracy global navigation satellite system services. I note that the just transition of Scotland’s energy sector review highlights potential employment opportunities for certain oil and gas roles, which is welcome. However, the relationship between the energy and space sectors is not new. Today, space has a key role in monitoring gas emissions and its climate impact, with around half of all essential climate variables that help us to understand and predict the evolution of climate being measured by satellite.

Although the space sector continues to underpin the collection of data about planet earth, space itself remains a domain in which we do not yet know everything. We do not understand all the dynamics, and we do not fully know how things move; therefore, we have to move with cautious steps while holding on to our dream.

We look into space and see something clean and untouched. However, the orbital paths around our planet already contain a lot of debris and junk, and when satellites come to the end of their lives, they can break up into small pieces and collide with other satellites. As such, in growing our space sector, we also have a duty to keep space clean, safe and accessible to future generations. Therefore, I ask the Scottish Government to outline what it intends to do to ensure that Scotland plays its part in keeping space clean.

As we have heard, underpinning our space sector is talent. I note that the Labour amendment sets out the need to ensure that employers

“have access to the skills and expertise”

required to ensure the longevity of the space sector in Scotland, with a focus on the delivery of STEM subjects in school. I am particularly in interested in that area, and I agree that it is critical that STEM learning, and mathematics in particular, is supported at the earliest point in our tertiary education system.

I commend the work of Scottish Development International and others to grow our space talent. I welcome workers from Europe and beyond to create a workforce that is rich in skills, experience and, importantly, languages. However, my research for the debate revealed concern among some working in the sector that the UK is not seen as a welcoming place and that it can be challenging to recruit into Scotland. We run the risk of companies being unable to secure contracts and, ultimately, moving to Europe. Therefore, I ask the minister to do all that he can to ensure that those who contemplate coming to Scotland to work in our space sector know that Scotland is a welcoming place to live and work.

I welcome today’s debate highlighting this growing and exciting sector, and I look forward to playing my part in helping it reach its full potential.

Okay—thank you.

To pull together members’ comments, I probably agree with everything that has been said. There is a very challenging financial climate for Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. It has been helpful to hear your comments, in particular on the information that we have received about body-worn cameras, and I will come back to that.

I have just a couple of points. I noted with interest the discussion that took place at the 23 March meeting of the Scottish Police Authority, where it discussed its budget. I have to say it was a comprehensive discussion, with a lot of probing questions for the chief constable and a helpful overview of the approach that Police Scotland will take in extremely challenging circumstances. It certainly acknowledged the hard choices and the prioritisation of resources that will be required.

Obviously, there is the issue of the pressure of pay awards. Jamie Greene is right to point out the additional funding that was provided by the Scottish Government, around 50 per cent of which has gone to pay awards.

The budget was approved. Police Scotland presented a balanced budget, which was approved by the resources committee at that meeting. I was interested in a comment by the chief constable that, to a certain extent, the difficulties and the challenges that the budget presented this year led to the budget almost never having been so informed. I am not at all saying that it is a bed of roses; nonetheless, it is obvious that a lot of work has been undertaken.

As members have pointed out, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is facing very challenging circumstances in relation to property assets, such as vehicles, and pay awards. It is a very difficult environment. I took time to look at the Audit Scotland report that the service referenced in its response and at the challenge that is posed by the legacy of the financial circumstances that the individual fire services faced at the time of their amalgamation. If anything, I would be keen to observe and monitor developments around the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service budget.

As Rona Mackay said, the budget process is now complete, and I am sure that organisations are now thinking about next year’s budget. I am pleased that we have had some helpful contributions on the budget issue, and I am happy to keep budgetary issues under review.

Finally, on body-worn cameras, I always try to strike a balance in progressing work and not getting into ping-pong correspondence. Nonetheless, on this issue, maybe we can do some follow-up work to get a bit more clarity around the context of where we are with timescales and funding. I am happy to take that away and correspond with members on how we can take forward that work, given that we have quite a busy work programme coming down the track.

Jamie, do you want to come back in?

There are a couple of things there. You may recall the correspondence that we received from the Lord Advocate back in January. She said that every death by suicide of a police officer or staff member is fully investigated by the Crown as a matter of course. Obviously, issues around a person’s employment or duties may come into that investigation.

It is also worth noting that we expect to be looking at those issues, when we look at the forthcoming police complaints and misconduct bill, probably in the autumn. That might be the opportunity for us to further probe the issue.

Your points are noted, Mr Greene, and I absolutely agree with them.

The only other thing that I might add is that HMICS is obviously undertaking a review around policing. The review is more around the response to people in communities who are distressed or unwell, as opposed to police trauma, if you like, but there is an overlap within that work.

Okay, we can look at making that a specific piece of work within the on-going work on mental health and policing.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the 12th meeting of the Criminal Justice Committee in 2023. We have received no apologies.

Our first item of business is to consider the responses that we have received relating to our scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s budget for 2023-24. I refer members to paper 1. We have had replies from the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Would members like to raise any issues or points? I am happy for you to come in on any of the pieces of correspondence. I will not take them in any particular order.

Russell and others have certainly raised the issue in the past, but more in relation to the follow-up that is in place in the aftermath of an officer or a member of staff taking their own life than to probing the issue.

I agree with all the points that have been made. Work is under way, which is welcome. We should continue this piece of work. It has gained some traction and I am keen that we support it going forward.

On looking more closely at issues around suicide, I am happy to suggest that we insert something further down the line as part of our continuing work on mental health and policing. As I said earlier, I suspect that, under the forthcoming police complaints and misconduct bill, we will consider some of what we have covered.

I had another point in my head, which I have completely forgotten. [Interruption.] The clerk has reminded me that we can circulate the correspondence from the Lord Advocate on her position. In it, she helpfully outlines the Crown Office’s role and explains fatal accident inquiries regarding police officers and staff.

Are members happy with that proposal?

Members indicated agreement.