Chamber and committees

Will the member give way?

I am very pleased that my colleague Kevin Stewart secured a debate that celebrates and highlights the return of the tall ships races to Aberdeen. As we have heard, the tall ships races are a wonderful opportunity for the city, the wider north-east and Scotland, and I believe that parliamentary recognition of them is fitting. I extend my thanks to Kevin Stewart for the debate—I wish him well—and I thank Jackie Dunbar for stepping in today.

As we have heard, in 57 days, the tall ships races will visit Aberdeen’s shores for the third time between 19 and 22 July. During that time, the Port of Aberdeen and a whole host of other businesses and organisations will welcome at least 50 tall ships that will be visiting from all over the world.

Like my colleague Jackie Dunbar, I extend my sympathies to the families of the two cadets who lost their lives earlier this week in the tragic incident involving a Mexican tall ship that was due to participate in the event.

As part of the tall ships races, 240 young people living in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire will be offered the life-changing experience of joining the crew of a tall ship that will sail from Dunkirk to Aberdeen or from Aberdeen to Kristiansand. I am sure that the rest of the chamber will join me in wishing good luck to the young cadets who will be embarking on their first voyage.

As we have heard, the tall ships races will bring a significant economic opportunity. Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce anticipates that it will inject tens of millions of pounds into the city and region’s economy. To capitalise on that opportunity, local business and charities will participate in activities such as Charlie House’s “Curated on the Quayside” initiative, which will allow the north-east to further showcase local culture and produce in a wonderful open-air market event that will be held across the city, including in the area of the harbour.

In addition to the economic benefits, the tall ships races provide a platform to showcase Scottish and Doric culture. Local musicians, artwork, and vibrant street performances will be displayed throughout the city. Aberdeen’s history and maritime contributions will also be highlighted in free informative events. As we have heard, Aberdeen art gallery has a stunning range of tall ship-themed souvenirs that have been created by local creators and makers that reflects the maritime history and sheer spectacle of the tall ships. We have also heard that there will be a programme of open-air gigs, which will see our very own Deacon Blue, Kaiser Chiefs and Tide Lines entertain visitors.

It certainly goes without saying that this year’s tall ships races will greatly benefit Aberdeen city and the surrounding region. With that in mind, I reflect on the impact of the previous tall ships races in Aberdeen. As we have heard, the tall ships races first visited Aberdeen in 1991. Crowds of more than 300,000 flocked to the granite city to witness the great sailing ships and to enjoy a variety of performances. Aberdeen welcomed the tall ships races for a second time in 1997, coinciding with the bicentenary of the renowned Aberdeen Line, a shipping company known for its excellence and efficiency. That event proved to be even more popular, with more than 500,000 people attending. The races are a cherished memory for all those who attended, as well as for the city itself. As a result, they have left a truly lasting legacy.

In closing, I congratulate everyone involved in the organisation and running of the 2025 tall ships races in Aberdeen, including all the volunteers who will support the event. With their hard work, the tall ships races will remain a cherished part of Aberdeen’s legacy. I again thank Kevin Stewart for securing the debate and I invite anyone and everyone to visit the tall ships races in July.

I agree. It is the responsibility of each member to consider their own lines of questioning. However, one of the advantages of having prepared questions is that it ensures that we take evidence across a broad spectrum of provisions, particularly when we scrutinise bills.

Even as a member of the Government party, I have always taken the view that our committee is a critical friend of that Government. By that I mean that we are not frightened to criticise when improvements are needed, but we do so constructively by working with ministers and others on as much of a shared agenda as we can, across the parties. Our committee’s record demonstrates that.

In no small part, that is due to all committee members being prepared—most of the time—to set aside party politics and seek to attain real change. That is so whether it be through our scrutiny of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, which could make fundamental changes to our justice system, through seeking to improve the ways in which the mental wellbeing of our police officers is supported or through supporting calls to end Friday releases from prison. As its convener, I have been keen that our committee is one that, when possible, seeks consensus across political parties and that, regardless of its members’ political affiliations, considers matters in a fair way, with a focus on improving Scotland’s criminal justice system. I believe that we have done that.

I believe, too, that, in addition to working collaboratively, effective committees have excellent relationships and dialogue with the stakeholders and individuals who are relevant to their remit, and that they respond to them by tackling their concerns. By being fleet of foot and creative, our committee has always been willing to find a way to make progress on an issue by considering evidence and, when appropriate, encouraging ministers to take action.

I cannot talk about our committee’s work programme without commending our clerking team, without whom I would certainly be lost. Nothing is too much trouble for them, and the huge workload that the team carries to make our committee work so well is not lost on any of our members. The support that we receive from our Scottish Parliament information centre, communications, and participation and communities team—PACT—colleagues is second to none, and we are indebted to them all. It is worth noting the sensitivity of some of our committee’s work, which has involved our taking evidence from highly vulnerable witnesses. The complex and detailed support that the PACT team provides to make such evidence sessions happen ensures that we get the best evidence from all our witnesses.

In this parliamentary session, the Criminal Justice Committee has seen relatively few membership changes. Continuity with our members, clerks and researchers has meant that we have built up a good understanding of our remit and what needs to be done. Richard Leonard articulated that point well in his contribution.

We have also been innovative in working with two other committees to scrutinise the Scottish Government’s response to tackling drug harm and reducing the number of drug deaths, and in supporting the work of its national mission on drugs. That cross-committee work supported a people’s panel process that brought together members of the public to consider what Scotland should do differently to reduce the number of drug deaths.

I firmly believe that our committees are at their most effective when we work collectively, without fear or favour towards the Government, and when we are creative and persistent about achieving real change within our remits.

Convening a committee is an utter privilege. It is also not without its pressures and demands, but they are made so much easier by the support that is provided by all our members. For that support, I extend my grateful thanks.

I am pleased to welcome our second panel of witnesses. Dr Emma Forbes is national lead for domestic abuse at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service; Liliana Torres Jiménez is criminal policy executive and secretary of the criminal law committee of the Law Society of Scotland; and Detective Superintendent Adam Brown is from Police Scotland. We also have Detective Superintendent Lindsay Fisher, of the public protection branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, who joins us remotely from Belfast. I extend a warm welcome to you all and thank you very much for your time this morning. I intend to allow about 75 minutes for this panel, although we may have to make it slightly shorter.

I am aware that we have one or two technical issues so, to answer my first question, I will bring in Detective Superintendent Fisher first and then come back to the witnesses in the room. I open with the same question that I asked the first panel. How should we best tackle non-fatal strangulation in Scotland? Are the legal framework and the powers that are available to the police adequate?

Before I hand over to Liam Kerr, I give the usual reminder to keep questions and answers succinct, because there is a great deal of interest in the issue.

Fulton MacGregor, do you want to come in or are you happy with what you have heard?

Thank you. That is really helpful.

Good morning, and welcome to the 16th meeting in 2025 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have received no apologies this morning.

Under our first item of business, do we agree to take item 3 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you. Before I bring in other members, I have a follow-on question for Professor White. You have described some of the impacts very powerfully. Would there be some value in considering aspects of that as part of more consistent and more effective data recording on non-fatal strangulation? We are aware that there is currently an issue with a lack of data and data recording, and I think that we all agree that improvements are needed in that area. How important is it to incorporate into that data collection process some of the impacts of non-fatal strangulation that you have described?

Thank you. We have about 25 minutes left, as we will have to close the session at 12.20. As a number of members still want to come in, I ask for succinct questions and answers so that everyone can ask their questions.