Chamber and committees

I will bring Kate Wallace in first.

Collette Stevenson has been waiting patiently online. I will hand over to her, then I will go round the table and ask members whether they have questions.

Who would you like to address that question to, Collette?

I call Jamie Greene, to be followed by Rona Mackay, who will ask about the early release of prisoners.

Good morning, and welcome to the seventh meeting in 2022 of the Criminal Justice Committee. No apologies have been received.

The first agenda item is a decision on whether to take in private item 4, which is discussion of the evidence that we are about to hear on the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill. I also seek agreement that consideration of the evidence that is heard and of draft reports on the bill should be taken in private at future meetings. Do we agree to take those items of business in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Before I bring in Russell Findlay, Pauline McNeill has a follow-up question.

If we have got through all the questions that members would like to ask on the bill, I would like to thank—

That concludes the evidence session. I thank witnesses for attending. If you want to share any outstanding points with the committee in writing, please feel free to do so and we will take them into account. We will pause briefly to allow you to leave the committee room.

Our next item of business is consideration of correspondence on photocopying of prisoners’ mail. I refer members to paper 4. Members will recall that in January we considered a statutory instrument to change prison rules to allow for photocopying of prisoners’ mail in order to mitigate the risk of illicit substances being introduced via the mail system. We subsequently wrote to Police Scotland, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service requesting additional information. Responses have been received and have been circulated with this week’s committee papers.

The committee is invited to consider what, if any, follow-up action is required. Members will recall that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, Keith Brown, indicated that he would update the committee on on-going review of the regulations after three months.

I am happy to hear members’ views on the matter.

Finally, I hand over to Pauline McNeill. I am afraid that we will then have to bring the session to a close.