Chamber and committees

I am conscious of the time, and we still have a number of agenda items to work through. We will circle back to the section on the misuse of drugs, which starts on page 17. There are no particular updates or additions to that, so I move us swiftly on to the next section, which starts on page 23 and is on violence against women and girls. If there is nothing that members wish to highlight on that, the next section is on victims’ rights and victim support, which begins on page 28.

I totally agree with that. Quite a lot is coming out of our discussion, so the clerks will update the action plan accordingly on our behalf. If members want to make any technical additions to the action plan, I am happy for them to contact the clerks direct with those updates.

The next section is on reducing youth offending. It begins at page 32.

Thanks, Katy. I am happy with that, and we have taken a note of that suggestion.

Where did we get to? We were on page 32. The final section, which is on page 36, is on legal aid.

I agree. I think that it is really important that, alongside whatever we decide to do, we support clear arrangements around data collection, because that is fundamental to tracking progress on the range of issues that we have highlighted.

I agree 100 per cent with those comments. I think that it is for the reasons that you have just set out and I think that you are right that this cannot be mandated practice. We referred earlier to the practice note, which informs people about what is expected but does not have a role in mandating practice, which makes it more difficult.

Good morning, and welcome to the sixth meeting in 2023 of the Criminal Justice Committee. There are no apologies this morning. Our first item of business is consideration of the Scottish Prison Service’s urgent case review and the housing of transgender prisoners. I refer members to paper 1.

I intend to allow around 45 minutes for this session, after any opening statements. I welcome Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, Mr Neil Rennick, director of justice at the Scottish Government, and Ms Teresa Medhurst, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service.

I invite Ms Medhurst to make some brief opening remarks, followed by the cabinet secretary.

You can do so if it is your final question, because other members are waiting to come in.

We can note that and insert it at the relevant part of the action plan.

I will open the floor to questions. I will bring in Katy Clark, to be followed by Russell Findlay.

Do members agree with the actions that are in the paper in relation to the SPA? Those actions have an important role. Despite some of our comments and views on the SPA in our scrutiny, are we nonetheless happy to accept the proposed actions?

Members indicated agreement.