Chamber and committees

So, you are saying that they may not transpire.

Improvement never stops, but I always find that, if there is no deadline for delivery, things drag on and on, and we will still be discussing the same thing this time next year. Frankly, I have found that to be the case in all my years in local government and in the Scottish Parliament.

I like to give everybody that chance.

That concludes our public deliberations.

I think that it is more about perception than reality, but perception is very important. I am just wondering why the Government decided on a victims and witnesses commissioner, because the Criminal Justice Committee was against such a commissioner. One of the reasons for that was the fact that there are already a lot of independent bodies in that area—the committee cited a number of those, including His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland. Therefore, it did not think that there was a gap to be closed. Why is the Government suggesting commissioners in such situations?

Thank you very much, minister.

You touched on the ministerial control framework, and you made it clear how keen you are to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The Government is proposing to introduce a victims and witnesses commissioner, which the Criminal Justice Committee does not seem to be very keen on, and we heard from a couple of former MSPs who put forward proposals for commissioners, one of whom did not think that their proposal for such a commissioner was a good idea any more. Is that something that the Government is looking at, with a view to not taking that forward?

I said that that would be my final question, but I want to ask one more. When is that process likely to conclude?

That is interesting.

In the great scheme of things, it will not be decisive on 4 July. Maybe I am wrong about that—you never know.

We have looked at the commissioner landscape quite extensively. Last week, we took evidence from the SPCB, which seems to be of the view that it does not have the remit or the capacity to hold commissioners properly to account. There was a feeling—I do not know whether my colleagues felt it, but I certainly did; it was palpable—of exasperation among SPCB members, because their responsibilities in this area are growing, and they do not feel that they have the ability to do it justice. Where do you see the SPCB’s role in relation to the commissioner landscape lying in the future?

That is interesting, because it seems to me that, if there is an advocacy commissioner, an organisation basically advocates through them, instead of advocating directly with ministers or the Parliament. Essentially, that post just adds a middleman. Do you think that that is a fair assessment?

I am talking about both.