Justice Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Official Report 584KB pdf

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Justice Sub-Committee on Policing (Report Back)

Item 3 is feedback from the meeting on 4 April of the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing. Following the verbal report, there will be an opportunity for members to make brief comments or ask questions. I refer members to paper 1, which is a note by the clerk, and invite John Finnie to provide that feedback.

Thank you, convener. The committee has a feedback note on the most recent meeting of the sub-committee, which was a private meeting on Thursday 4 April.

The sub-committee considered and agreed a report on Police Scotland’s proposal to introduce use of cyberkiosks throughout Scotland. That report was published on Monday 8 April and a copy was provided to members of the Justice Committee, for information.

The sub-committee also agreed its work programme up to the summer recess. It agreed to invite Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority to give evidence on the cyberkiosks report at its next meeting on Thursday 9 May, and to invite the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to give evidence in early June.

Finally, the sub-committee agreed to begin its pre-budget scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s 2020-21 draft budget by taking evidence in late May on the policing capital budget.

Thank you. Do members have any questions? The report is an important piece of work. The sub-committee has excelled itself in scrutinising the matter and potentially avoiding all sorts of problems.

I agree. At the outset, it was not entirely clear where we were going to end up, but the sub-committee has demonstrated its value in recent months.

The recent headlines about some of the questions that are being raised about use of similar technology south of the border perhaps give the sub-committee an opportunity to share with our counterparts in the House of Commons work that we have been doing. It would, I am sure, be of interest to colleagues there.

That is an excellent idea. As convener of the sub-committee, does John Finnie want to add anything to that?

No. It is an excellent proposal. Many such issues are dealt with United Kingdom wide, so referring the work to the House of Commons would be helpful.

That concludes the public part of today’s meeting. The committee will undertake a fact-finding visit to Kilmarnock prison next week, so our next meeting is on Tuesday 14 May.

11:32 Meeting continued in private until 12:01.