Chamber and committees

Thank you—that is a helpful clarification.

Cabinet secretary, am I right in saying that we are still waiting for clarification from the UK Government on the points that we have raised in relation to the proposed power?

Good morning and welcome to the second meeting in session 6 of the Criminal Justice Committee. No apologies have been received.

Under agenda item 1, does the committee agree to take in private item 6, which is consideration of today’s evidence, and item 7, which is consideration of our approach to pre-budget scrutiny?

Members indicated agreement.

Under agenda item 2, we will take evidence from the justice ministers on their priorities for session 6 in the area of criminal justice. I welcome Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans; Ash Denham, Minister for Community Safety; and, from the Scottish Government, Neil Rennick, director of justice, and Donald McGillivray, director of safer communities.

I refer members to papers 1 and 2, and I invite the cabinet secretary to make a short opening statement.

This question might be for Ms Denham, too. Cabinet secretary, in your statement last month, you spoke about the new community justice strategy and, in particular, about legislative options to divert people from prosecution and prison. Police Scotland is reporting that it has a growing population of people to deal with and that the balance is shifting, with 60 per cent of them being vulnerable people for whom Police Scotland has a safeguarding role and the other 40 per cent being individuals who find their way into the criminal justice system. Given that landscape, will you expand on the priorities that you think should be taken forward through the community justice approach, which the committee will be looking at, down the line?

Ms Denham, do you want to come in on that?

That brings this part of the meeting to a close.

Thank you. I thank the cabinet secretary and his officials for attending. We will have a short suspension to allow our witnesses to leave.

If members agree, I propose that we write to the cabinet secretary to ask for clarification around those two points.

Members indicated agreement.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 8 September, when we will hold a round-table evidence session on the current impacts of Covid-19 in the justice sector and our next steps for recovery.

Mr Findlay, would you like to come in on that?