Chamber and committees

Thank you, Mark.

Jim Kerr, do you want to follow up on any points about the risk management and assessment procedures that are in place and any implications of the bill for those?

Thank you very much. Members will probably come back to you with more questions. Jamie Greene, would you like to come in?

Katy Clark and Fulton MacGregor want to come in on that, but I will first pick up on the issue of unexpected release from remand, which has been flagged up to me recently. In that situation, there is potentially little or no provision in place for the person when they walk out of the prison gate. That has implications for them, which we have highlighted this morning. With regard to the bill’s provisions, what needs to be put in place when release from remand is unexpected?

Sorry, I beg your pardon—I was distracted for a moment. I will bring in Fulton MacGregor and then Russell Findlay.

Finally, I will bring in Rona Mackay. I know that some other members want to ask more questions, but time is against us.

We are just coming up to our end time for this panel, and Jamie and Rona want to come in. We will come back to you if we have time, if you do not mind.

It was worth a try.

A very good morning to everybody and welcome to the third meeting in 2023 of the Criminal Justice Committee.

Before we start our meeting today, I want to pay tribute on behalf of the committee to the firefighters who were tackling the blaze earlier this week at the former Jenners store in Edinburgh. I wish all of those who have been injured a speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with them, their families and the staff of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Our first item of business is an oral evidence session on the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill. We have two panels. On our first panel, we have John Watt from the Parole Board for Scotland; Mark McSherry from the Risk Management Authority; and Jim Kerr, interim deputy chief executive, Scottish Prison Service—welcome to you all.

I refer members to papers 1 and 2. I intend to allow up to 60 minutes for this evidence session. As time is tight, I will go straight to questions. As ever, I ask for questions and responses to be fairly succinct.

I will come to Mark McSherry first, on release from prison, which is covered in part 2 of the bill. In respect of certain higher-tariff offenders, risk assessment and risk management are already well established and in place through, for example, multi-agency public protection arrangements. What are your views on how the provisions in the bill may impact on existing risk management and risk assessment arrangements?

Thank you—that is helpful. John Watt, do you have anything to add on that?

Sadly, I will have to bring the session to a close. I thank the witnesses very much indeed. I apologise for my earlier lapse in concentration, which was highly unprofessional, but I will blame it on the late night in the chamber last night. If members have any follow-up questions, we will write to the witnesses.

We will have a short suspension to allow our witnesses to leave.