Chamber and committees

Thank you, Wendy; that is really interesting.

We are almost at the end of the hour but, if you are happy to bear with us, there are more questions that members would like to ask. I will hand over to Rona Mackay, who will pick up on mental health.

I will test Fulton MacGregor’s patience; I will bring in Rona Mackay, then hand over to Fulton.

Thank you very much indeed. Does anyone else want to come in?

Of course.

Okay. I will bring you in later. I now bring in Russell Findlay, then I will come in with some questions about efficiencies.

Good morning and welcome to the 28th meeting in 2022 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have received no apologies for this morning’s meeting.

Our first item of business is pre-budget scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s forthcoming budget for 2023-24. I refer members to papers 1, 2 and 3. I welcome to the meeting Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, who is His Majesty’s chief inspector of prisons for Scotland.

We will move straight to questions and I will open with a general question. What are your overarching thoughts on the implications of a potential flat cash resource settlement for the next few financial years?

My next question is similarly overarching, but it is specifically about the implications for the capital budget. I am interested to get a general overview from your perspective of current and future budgets for the Prison Service.

I will bring in Katy Clark, who will pick up on the private prisons aspects.

Does Jamie Greene want to come in on that?

Members are indicating agreement. Fulton?