Chamber and committees

Just to get this right, there are people who had body-worn cameras but who no longer have them. What has been the feedback from the officers about that? Are they happy about that removal or are they upset about it? Do they feel less safe?

My questions are slightly different, convener, so if Graham Simpson wants to go first, that is fine.

There is no right or wrong answer.

You have more prisoners and fewer staff. That does not sound like a good mix.

I am using that as example of new investment, new money, new build and the model that might accompany that scenario.

Natural termination is the direction of travel, at least in your directorate?

That would be helpful. I know that we said that the focus is on money but it is important to bear in mind that we are dealing with people.

My final question is about an issue that came up towards the end of last year. When Serco left the prison, did it take all the body-worn cameras away, or do the staff there at the moment still have them?

I will shrink my questions into two. Mr Rennick, you will be aware of the constraints on the Government’s capital investment. A number of infrastructure projects have been paused and there will be no investment in them. Much of that decision will have direct consequences for your portfolio and new schools and prisons, for example. Other portfolios across the health sector, housing and so on will feel the same.

In the scenario in which the Government is saying that it does not have the cash to build this stuff up front, is there now an expectation that a shift to a different financing model will be inevitable? In other words, the private sector will stump up the cash up front and the Government will simply pay them back over a very long period of time. I appreciate that might not be the political thing to do in terms of the ministerial direction of travel, but from a value for money point of view, should that be considered?

Just to be clear, it was not a performance-related issue. There were no operational issues. It was solely, as you said, a policy decision. I will not use the word “political”, as that would not be fair on you, but it was certainly a ministerial decision that the Government wanted to go in that direction of travel, irrespective of the cost.

In your previous appearance before the committee, which I will not revisit, we talked quite extensively about the pressures on the prison population. Where is HMP Kilmarnock in that regard? Is it one of the ones in the red? Is it nearing capacity? Do we have any issues there?