Chamber and committees

Thank you. I will stick with the issue around staffing because I know that other members want to come in on that.

I would like to open with some questions on the back of your opening statement, Lord Advocate. First, you raised the issue of recruitment in your statement, and casework complexity has been highlighted in previous submissions. We know that 70 per cent of the cases that are being dealt with in the High Court are serious sexual offence cases, the number of serious and organised crime cases has increased and the number of petitions in homicide cases increased by around 31 per cent in the past financial year. This morning, and in previous submissions, you have helpfully set out your plans for recruitment and increasing overall staff numbers, but I wonder whether you can provide a wee bit more detail on the matter, particularly given the growing specialist nature of casework and the high tariffs that are associated with the cases that are being dealt with.

Secondly, what budgetary challenges might you face with regard to recruitment, especially in the short to medium term?

We are coming to the end of this evidence-taking session, but I think that Collette Stevenson wanted to ask about outturn figures.

I will hand over to Rona Mackay to look at issues around secure care, and then to Collette Stevenson.

That would be helpful.

I will hand over to other members who are interested in staffing issues.

Thank you. I will ask a question while we are considering prison estates and modernisation. We have spoken a fair bit about the capital commitment that is required. I am more interested in looking at the conditions in prisons and the practical, possibly short-term, measures and actions that can be put in place to adapt and improve prison conditions for certain parts of the population. I am thinking in particular of older people, individuals with disabilities and so on, and measures such as widening cell doors or improving access to showers.

I know that that is difficult, given that we are aiming to get to a point at which the prison population consists of those people who pose the greatest risk of harm to society. However, I know that there can be challenges with that mix of population. From a budgetary perspective, I am interested in what short to medium-term actions can be taken to improve general conditions in prisons, particularly those in Dumfries and Greenock, which Jamie Greene highlighted.

We have about 15 minutes left, and I am aware that Rona Mackay has to leave slightly early. I will move back to Pauline McNeill in relation to issues around drugs, and then come on to Rona Mackay.

I suggest that, in relation to the question on projected population numbers, you could perhaps follow up in writing for us.

As there are no further questions, I thank the witnesses for their time and their attendance this morning. If you have any additional information that you wish to share with the committee, we will of course be keen to see it.

We will have a five-minute break to allow a changeover of witnesses.

Welcome back. The next witnesses are Ms Teresa Medhurst, interim chief executive, and Mr Gerry O’Donnell, interim director of finance, for the Scottish Prison Service. Thank you both for attending and for your written submissions, which are available online. I intend to allow an hour and 15 minutes for questions and discussion and I invite Teresa Medhurst to make a short opening statement.