Chamber and committees

Thank you very much.

Our next agenda item is formal consideration of a motion to annul a negative instrument, the Parole Board (Scotland) Rules 2022. I refer members to paper 2 and invite Jamie Greene to comment on whether he wishes to press or withdraw the motion.

That concludes the public part of our meeting.

The next agenda item is consideration of correspondence from Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Scottish Police Federation and the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents on policing and mental health. I refer members to paper 4 and invite comments on the correspondence, any suggested follow-up that members wish to see and the proposed actions set out in paragraphs 24 and 25.

Before members come in, for the record, I say that I am pleased that we have had the opportunity to consider this important issue and that there is support for the work on policing and mental health, and support for it to continue and develop. As such, the proposed actions in the paper are, I feel, a way to ensure that the work continues. Indeed, I know that the SPA is keen to have a role in that.

With that, I am happy to open up the discussion to members.

We have taken some notes on that, so we will come back to it.

That is a fair point to raise. The action plan is almost a chronology of developments, so I am not overly worried about the fact that the sentence does not seem to fit—things fluctuate and change as time goes on. However, if you would prefer an update, that is absolutely fine.

Does anyone else want to come in quickly?

That is a helpful update. Thanks for that.

Before we conclude the item, I place on record the committee’s thanks to David Hamilton, chair of the Scottish Police Federation, for bringing the issue to our attention. As we know, David is moving on from that role, so on behalf of the committee, I wish him well in his future endeavours and whatever challenges he moves on to.

Our next item is consideration of correspondence from the Lord Justice General, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government on virtual trials. I refer members to paper 5 and open it up to members for comment.

Thank you very much. We will now move to questions. I intend to allow 45 minutes for members to ask questions.

You are asking the same question. I ask you to ask another question.