Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 (Amendment of Police (Scotland) Act 1967) Order 2005 (Draft)
Good morning and welcome to the 20th meeting of the Justice 1 Committee in 2005. We have a short agenda this morning. I have received no apologies, so I presume that Margaret Mitchell will join us shortly.
I have a sense of exhilaration and freedom this morning, because I have no officials to constrain me, which is a—[Interruption.] Sorry—God, just when I thought I had absolute freedom to say what I wanted, I realise that I now have a minder with me.
We now move to the debate, during which we can put questions to the minister for clarification.
I have one question. The Executive note states:
There are two points. One is that at present no one is designated in that way, so there is no one in the system on whom the draft order will impact. We are trying to anticipate conflict that may arise in future. Secondly, should there be a need for the draft order's provisions to apply, that will be built into any plans for someone to move and then come back. That will all be properly catered for at the time. The short answer is that no one is affected just now, so there is no immediate financial impact, and any future impact will be planned for in any secondment out of and return to a force.
That is helpful. Thank you.
When a deputy chief constable carries out service outwith their force, would someone else normally take on an acting deputy chief constable role until the person returned, or would there be two deputy chief constables?
It would depend on the length of the deputy chief constable's secondment to another service. If it was for a lengthy period of two or three years, for example, it would not be entirely reasonable for someone to act up for that period. The exigencies of the service would determine whether the person who took over did so in an acting capacity or was permanently appointed.
But there could be two deputy chief constables in the same force once the secondee returns. Is there any prescription on how long such a situation could last?
That is what we are trying to cater for. Existing legislation does not allow for two deputy chief constables. For the sake of argument, someone at deputy chief constable level could be acting in a common service capacity elsewhere for a lengthy period of time, for example in the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency—I am not sure where else. The legislation does not allow for there to be two deputy chief constables when that person returns and someone else is already acting in a deputy chief constable capacity. The draft order seeks to resolve a potential anomaly. We are not prescribing that forces will have to appoint more than one deputy chief constable; we are trying to ensure that there is no conflict if someone has been out of the force for some time.
I understood that. However, when a secondee returns from the SDEA, for example, and there are two deputy chief constables, will it be up to the force to determine how long it will maintain those two positions?
Yes.
Are there any other questions?
I have a point of clarification. While two people may have deputy chief constable status, only one will have operational powers. However, in terms of pay and conditions, both will preserve their rights as deputy chief constables.
As there are no other comments or questions, do you have anything to say in winding up, minister?
No.
In that case, the question is, that motion S2M-2942 be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
That the Justice 1 Committee recommends that the draft Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 (Amendment of Police (Scotland) Act 1967) Order 2005 be approved.
We have to report to Parliament on the draft order. We will do the usual and base any comments that we wish to make on the Official Report.
Meeting continued in private until 12:55.