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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 19 August 2025
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Displaying 1673 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 November 2023

Russell Findlay

To recap, the workshops that you mentioned are not specific to this legislation.

Criminal Justice Committee

Policing and Mental Health

Meeting date: 15 November 2023

Russell Findlay

There is another line in the report, on page 59, which really jumped out at me. It says:

“Police Scotland does not yet have a clear purpose, vision or strategy for its continued provision of mental health-related policing services”.

That begs the question: why on earth not, given that it has been such a big issue for such a long time?

However, instead of asking that question, I will ask one final question about what the report does not cover. It is 80 pages long and it is all about the policing of mental health in the community, but it does not address the mental health of officers. That is not a criticism, but we have been working with police officers who have had often life-changing, career-ending mental health problems, and the families of officers who have died from suicide. There is a sense that the report should have at least attempted to address some of those issues, but it does not. Is HMICS intending to do that as a standalone piece of work at some point?

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 8 November 2023

Russell Findlay

Right. Thank you. SPS has known about it for four years. It is four months away and we still do not know the numbers. Moving on to HMP Glasgow, in your earlier answer, Mr O’Donnell, you said that—

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 8 November 2023

Russell Findlay

Can I quickly interrupt? Are you familiar with the £400 million figure? Did that come from the SPS as a guide price?

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 8 November 2023

Russell Findlay

The background to that is that the governor of HMP Barlinnie said over the summer that a catastrophic incident in the prison is a question of when, not if. HMP Glasgow, the replacement prison, was due to open in 2026, yet here we are now saying that it will be another 12 months before we even know the cost of it and nobody knows what the opening date might be. Is that a fair representation?

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 8 November 2023

Russell Findlay

The FBU’s “Firestorm” report is sobering and deeply concerning. Of course, inflationary issues have contributed to the capital backlog, but there has been a decade of accumulated underspend. The most recent figure put forward by the FBU is more than £800 million, and the SFRS does not disagree with that. Firefighters say that they and the public are being put at risk because of the situation, and that firefighters do not have the required decontamination facilities. Given the scale of the backlog, are you now having critical discussions in the Scottish Government about additional funding, over and above what might be committed in the budget? Is there perhaps an argument for the issue to be subject to a royal commission?

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 8 November 2023

Russell Findlay

You do not think that there is a need for that.

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 8 November 2023

Russell Findlay

Is that the beginning of the process?

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 8 November 2023

Russell Findlay

When is completion likely?

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 8 November 2023

Russell Findlay

I was not expecting that. I can certainly try to come up with a question but, if someone else has one, they might want to come in. I had a general question that might fit for courts.