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The committee is being asked to consider and agree the approach to possible pre-legislative scrutiny of the Executive's antisocial behaviour strategy, and to bid for funding for that approach from the Conveners Group.
The paper mentions that the clerks know some of the things that the Executive has been doing in its consultation. Would it be possible to have a fuller description of what the Executive consultation has done so that we do not duplicate that work?
It would be useful for us to get that information from the Executive officials. I am sure they will be happy to tell us because I understand that the work that has been done is quite substantial.
It is a big subject that covers the more immediate side of people misbehaving and what to do about it now, as well as the longer-term aim of reducing such behaviour in future. The latter might involve sport, the arts, education and all sorts of community organisations. Do we have any idea about how to approach them? I hope that we will cast the net as widely as possible.
There are obvious national key stakeholders that will be doing that kind of work and will be able to offer comment. We will also be trying to do that work at a local level. I am always struck by the people in local communities who are compassionate as well as concerned and who are involved in working with the community. It would be quite interesting to hear about the barriers and hindrances to the effectiveness of that work.
If we agree the paper today, will the clerks then approach the groups and people whom we want to approach or will a list come back to the committee for agreement? If the committee is not to agree that, I would like to make a couple of points.
We have to let the clerks get on and organise matters. If you have particular individuals, groups or organisations that you would like to be approached, that might be an easier way to get started. I am entirely comfortable with a come-all-ye approach. There are no groups that we do not want to talk to, but we might have positive ideas about groups that it would be worth speaking to. You can see the range of organisations outlined in the paper. However, that list might not necessarily tap into all the folk who have something to say and it would be unrealistic to expect that. We are trying to get a flavour from throughout Scotland of the issues that people are wrestling with locally.
That clarifies matters and I agree that the clerks have a job to do.
The paper just says, "Young people".
No, it talks about
I cannot imagine any set of circumstances in which we would want to listen to older people saying what they think young people's views are. The strong intention is to speak to young people's organisations and groups. There certainly would not be any point in hearing from others speaking on their behalf.
I am glad that you clarified that. Would poverty groups such as the Child Poverty Action Group be included to help us to tease out some of the root causes of antisocial behaviour in relation to poverty and equality? There tend to be more problems with antisocial behaviour in deprived communities than there are in more affluent communities. It is important to tease out some of the issues to do with that.
If members think of particular groups that it would be useful for us to speak to, either in communities or as part of our evidence taking, it would be helpful if they would let the clerks know. We have to acknowledge that there are logistical considerations to do with how we manage our time. There is no inhibition to anyone submitting written evidence on these issues. There is a genuine attempt to speak to communities in all their shapes, forms and diversities. In the part of the paper that identifies the areas to visit, the obvious difficulty is that Dundee City Council is not in Mid Scotland and Fife, but if there is general agreement on the areas that the committee has flagged up, that will allow the clerks to proceed.
The suggestions that the clerks have made are acceptable. The experience that I have had so far through the consultation process is that ordinary people who are victims of antisocial behaviour and just want civic pride to be brought back to their communities are willing to participate. In the past couple of months, I have consulted people in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and have found that people representing themselves or tenants organisations, the police and housing departments are more than willing to work together as a group to find solutions. I have been thinking about how the committee could reach those ordinary people. The paper suggests a way to do that, but I wonder whether Jim Johnston has any thoughts on how we can engage collectively with ordinary people—the voice of Scotland.
Our Scottish Parliament information centre researchers are considering a number of ways of doing that for the groups we visit. The suggestion is to split members into reporter groups. If members agree the approach, the clerks could liaise with each reporter group to identify groups in each area that members would be interested in meeting. We can certainly provide an initial suggestion with regard to those groups once the committee has identified specific areas, as Johann Lamont pointed out.
The formal consultation period ends tomorrow. Do we have any idea how long it will take the Executive to draw together responses and when we can expect to see something in black and white?
I understand that the Executive has commissioned an analysis of the responses from the University of Glasgow. I am not entirely clear about the timetable for that but, given the proposed timetable for the introduction of the bill, I expect it to come out some time in October.
Do we agree that we will use the model identified in annex B of reporter groups covering various areas and that the clerks will liaise with individual groups on specific visits?
Members indicated agreement.
Thank you. That is helpful.
I have a query about the questions that will be put on the website. There is a lot of emphasis on analysing antisocial behaviour and considering the causes and what is being done to address the problem. I understand that if there is best practice, we should all learn from it. I would like there to be a question asking people what they think should be done about antisocial behaviour, rather than simply asking what is antisocial behaviour, what is the scale of the problem, what are the causes and what is being done now.
That makes sense. We can add that question. Do we agree to what the paper suggests?
Members indicated agreement.
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