Chamber and committees

That is really helpful. Lynne, would you like to provide some input?

I take a more straightforward view: I completely and utterly oppose the bill. There are two sides to it. There is the mission creep into our competencies and judicial system, which is quite blatant. The other side is the content of the bill. I really do not understand why the UK Government is trying to introduce this. I am not sure what its objective is. In relation to the commission, people say that it is good to investigate things, but if you look at the detail, you see that, even if it investigates, nothing can happen. There is a block on any access to justice for victims.

I cannot see any good in the bill. I realise that I might be outvoted, but I do not think that there is any purpose in delaying our decision. There should be a flat rejection of the bill. I am not sure of the worth of getting further information, because the bill, as it stands, is clear cut. I would oppose it completely right now.

I broadly agree with what Jamie Greene has said. The response to our letter was a wee bit defensive. It did not show much in the way of actual understanding of the issues that we presented, even in the case of the part in the notes about the employee assistance line. Somebody called it and was told to phone back later, but when he phoned back, he was told that they could not help him because he did not meet the specific criteria.

David Page described the trauma risk management model as a proactive model of support that officers and staff are expected to access by self-referral. We heard that that was not working, but he has not really addressed that in his responses. Those are just a couple of examples. We need to dig deeper. I agree with Jamie Greene: we need some recognition that there are problems and that we need to fix them. We have not really had that.

Thank you. I know that my colleagues will have further questions on that.

I am just struggling to understand why it would be in the Government’s interests to do its own thing and not listen to you. I do not think that that is what is intended. It does not make sense that the Government would not take into account what you are saying. I come back to the issue of timing, which is something that we cannot really do anything about just now.

Anyway, thank you. You have made good points.

For what it is worth, I think that your idea of holding workshops is a good one.

Great. That is good to know.

I have one more question, and I suspect that my colleagues will have further questions in the same area. I understand that the replacements for HMP Greenock and HMP Dumfries are not currently a priority in the capital budget. Will they be added anytime soon? I know that that is like asking, “How long is a piece of string?”, but are they still in the pipeline?

Good morning. His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, told us that she thought there could be a time slip on delivery of the HMP Glasgow project because of budget restraints. Will you comment on that? Would the gap be filled, and do you have guarantees that the new prison will be ready for 2026?

My question relates to the courts and prosecution services. Before I ask it, I note that it is interesting and important that Conservative committee members have been asking overtly political questions—and, when the cabinet secretary responds with straightforward and honest answers, they do not like it.

Cabinet secretary, I will be interested to know about something that you touched on in your opening statement: the priority for funding to be given to Lady Dorrian’s review, the prosecution of rape and sex offences, and the work of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Covid unit. I turn first to Lady Dorrian’s review. Will budgetary implications affect that?

It is good to know that it is still very much on track.

I turn to the effect of court backlogs on the victims of domestic abuse. I understand that, because of the specific nature of those cases, they will take priority when it comes to clearing the backlog.