Chamber and committees

The issue now moves to the chamber for all members to decide on, based on our report.

I thank the minister and her officials for joining us this morning. We will have a short pause to allow the minister to leave.

Thanks very much for raising that issue. When we were scrutinising the original LCM, there was quite a lot of good communication at that time. I would not like to say how that has continued as regards what we are considering today and in relation to amendments, but there was some pretty robust communication previously.

Our next item of business is consideration of a supplementary legislative consent memorandum on the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. I am pleased to welcome the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, Tom Arthur, and his officials: Sian Ledger, land reform policy and legislation team leader; George Dickson, detect and disrupt team leader; Michael Paparakis, civil law policy manager; and Patrick Down, criminal law practice and licensing unit team leader, all from the Scottish Government.

I refer members to paper 5.

I invite the minister to make his opening remarks on the supplementary LCM, after which we will move to questions.

We have a lot on the agenda today.

No worries at all. We are getting near summer recess—that is fine.

Is the committee in agreement that the Scottish Parliament should give its consent to the relevant provisions in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, as set out in the Scottish Government’s draft motion?

Members indicated agreement.

Thanks. As you know, the committee has been looking at the broader issue of online child sexual exploitation and the escalating incidence of it. Our discussions have obviously incorporated the bill and its progress. We hope that we will remain sighted on the Government’s position on the bill, in particular, because the committee is very interested in that issue.

Where there is on-going dialogue between the two Governments in relation to how legislation is being developed in bills, it is not clear to me that the Scottish Parliament is aware of what those discussions might involve. It might be helpful for us to have some understanding of that process and the issues that are being raised.

Would our clerk like to add anything to that, or does that pretty much cover the position?

Thank you very much, minister. That was a very helpful overview.

We will now move to questions. I will ask the first one. Do we understand what the scale of the problem is at the moment in the UK, but also with reference to Scotland? I imagine that it is quite difficult to measure it, although we know that it is escalating. Are there any indicators of the scale of the problem?

Secondly, will you say a wee bit about the challenges that we might face in applying the new legislation?

I appreciate that those are quite big questions, but I would be interested to know the answers to them, given the online sphere that we are looking at.

A number of members want to come in. Jamie Greene will be first.

The importance of well-planned support for people on release from prison was a theme that the Criminal Justice Committee heard about at length during our scrutiny of the bill. In my constituency MSP role, I have engaged with a number of stakeholders on release planning and on how provision around the process of release could be improved. That is why I welcome sections 9 and 10, which seek to start that release planning at an early point and will drive consistency in the provision of throughcare support for people leaving prison. I am also clear that that will contribute to keeping victims and people leaving prison safe. In our stage 1 report, the committee broadly welcomed those sections, and we will be watching their implementation with great interest.

Another theme that was raised during the scrutiny, and which I feel very strongly about, is the importance of supporting people who are released direct from court, usually following a period of remand. I understand that, in those circumstances, release is difficult to anticipate and plan for, which makes accessing services extremely difficult for those individuals, rendering them on occasion extremely vulnerable.

I recognise that section 9, as drafted, would cover that scenario, as it covers release planning for remand and sentenced prisoners. However, I want to ensure that the Scottish ministers and, indeed, Parliament have additional levers if further action is considered necessary to make improvements in this area. I therefore consider that the Scottish ministers should have the power to make further provision in the area if they need to, particularly in relation to supporting people who are released directly from court following a period of remand, given all that we now know about how challenging that is.

My amendments 46 and 47 would hence provide ministers with regulation-making powers to make further provision in this area, should they need to. My amendments specifically reference the issue of release direct from court, following time on remand. I believe that Parliament must have a role in scrutinising any future use of the powers, so my amendments require that they be subject to the affirmative procedure.

I hope that those powers are not needed and that sections 9 and 10 work as intended. However, I feel that the additional powers would be helpful to ensure that the outcomes that we all seek—reductions in reoffending and better outcomes for people leaving prison—are achieved.

I move amendment 46.