Decision on Taking Business in Private, Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (Service Delivery Review)

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27, Subordinate Legislation

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

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Work of the Committee: Reports

Committee reports

Summary of Evidence of the Withdrawn Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill

Published: 13 February 2026

This report summarises evidence on the withdrawn Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill, covering proposed offender notification requirements, rehabilitation assessments, enhanced data collection, and domestic abuse education in schools. Stakeholders highlighted safety concerns, resource pressures, limited effectiveness of proposed measures, and the need to strengthen existing systems rather than create parallel structures.

Stage 1 Report on the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill

Published: 23 January 2026

A report by the Criminal Justice Committee on its Stage 1 scrutiny of the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill.

Inquiry into the harm caused by substance misuse in Scottish Prisons

Published: 16 January 2026

This report presents the findings of the Criminal Justice Committee’s inquiry into substance misuse in Scotland’s prisons, established in response to sustained concern over drug-related deaths in custody, rising health needs among the prison population, and evidence that existing approaches are not adequately reducing harm. Drawing on six formal evidence sessions, 32 written submissions, prison visits, and extensive engagement with people with lived and living experience of imprisonment and addiction, the inquiry adopts an explicitly evidence-based and human-centred approach.The report finds that substance misuse in custody is not an isolated behavioural issue but a manifestation of wider systemic failures across health, social care and justice systems. High levels of trauma, poverty, mental ill-health and unmet clinical need shape both vulnerability to substance use and the prison experience itself. Overcrowding, workforce pressures, inconsistent healthcare provision and limited access to purposeful activity are shown to intensify harm and undermine recovery. The Committee heard compelling evidence that enforcement-led approaches alone are insufficient, particularly given evolving drug supply methods involving synthetic substances, drones and organised crime networks.A strong consensus emerged across witnesses that substance misuse in prisons should be addressed primarily as a public-health issue, requiring parity of healthcare with the community, integrated mental-health and addiction services, trauma-informed practice, and continuity of care on release. The report highlights promising practice in some establishments but identifies unacceptable variation across the prison estate. It concludes that meaningful progress will depend on coordinated reform across justice, health and community systems, with people with lived experience embedded as partners in design, delivery and evaluation of services.

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Work of the Committee: Committee Remit

To consider and report on matters relating to criminal justice falling within the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, and functions of the Lord Advocate other than as head of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths in Scotland.