Official Report 119KB pdf
Item 4 on the agenda concerns our youth justice inquiry. We have had a lengthy response from the Minister for Justice, which is helpful. The procedure is that we have made a request for early chamber time for a committee debate on our report and I do not anticipate a difficulty with that being granted. I am not sure that there is much competition for slots from other committees and I think there will be sympathy for our request for time for the debate. However, if there are issues that we want to raise with the Executive, we should do so before the debate. It would be helpful to have the Executive view on those matters at that point. Indeed, the committee may wish to seek the views of groups or bodies on the Executive response.
There would be no great purpose in entering into debate with the Executive at this stage. We put our views forward in our report and the Executive has come back with its answers. I know where I stand and where the Executive stands.
The facility exists and can be used by any member who wants to clarify a factual point before the debate.
I agree with Stewart Maxwell. I welcome the comprehensive and detailed reply that the minister and her team have given us. The issues can be fully aired in the debating chamber. That is the way to proceed.
Are we all agreed?
Okay. We will proceed on the basis that we will try to secure a debate as quickly as we can.