Chamber and committees

::Given that you have been in your current role for, I think, four years and you have extensive experience beyond that, were you surprised that there had not been that level of work prior to November and prior to pulling together those proposals, which seemed quite quick and rushed to some of us? Were you surprised that that work had not been on-going among the four inspectorates?

::Thanks, Mr Naylor. That is useful for the committee’s consideration. I do not want to do a disservice to the work that has been done because we are making progress, which is important, and you have clearly done work previously.

I will pivot to Bill Kidd’s line of questioning. We heard that there are cross-border issues that the various agencies are working on. Will you expand on where the interaction is happening? Is there a particular issue in terms of large urban centres? In the city of Glasgow, for example, there are known issues around the transport network in and around Central station. What interaction is happening on that?

I heard Professor Jay mention that there was a particular cross-border issue between Ireland and the north of England at one point. I am interested to know whether there is a similar issue with the proximity of Northern Ireland to Scotland in relation to trafficking and other such issues. What interaction would Police Scotland have with the port of Cairnryan, for example, which is the major link? What does the issue look like in a Scottish context? Is it a predominantly urban issue in and around transport hubs?

::At the outset, I remind the committee that my husband is a registered social worker and a service manager in children and families social work.

Good morning to the panel. Professor Jay, the last time that you were with us, you and I had an exchange about the progress of the review and some of the complexities and confusions. We are a number of months on. I have heard some of this already this morning, but is it your view that things are progressing well? Will the review be able to pull together many of the themes that we discussed when you were with us before Christmas and those that we have discussed this morning?

11:15

::That is a useful overview.

I will ask a final question—I was going to put the same point to Police Scotland. I appreciate that there will be limitations on what you can say about any operational matters or on-going investigations. There is sometimes, from some quarters, a sense that we in Scotland do not have the type of county lines problem that exists in other parts of the UK, so it would be good to get a sense of the situation from you. I represent the west coast outwith Glasgow, and I see evidence of some of those issues in some of our coastal communities in particular. It would be useful to hear any reflections from Police Scotland on that.

::I have listened to what you said there and to your exchanges with other committee members. Professor Jay’s work has been going on for some time and we know from examples in England that there are issues with some discrete groups. I entirely appreciate what you said about the role of the inspectorates and the high standard of work that they are doing on behalf of us all, but is there a sense that this came to a head and became a clear issue just before Christmas, and that the response has been to pull the inspectorates together? Should that have happened much sooner? Would you have welcomed an impetus from the Government or from Parliament to do that sooner so that there was a longer lead-in time for such important work? I am heartened to hear that Professor Jay thinks that the work is progressing well, but should that have happened sooner?

::Although I take your point that members did not respond directly to your call for views, I respectfully suggest that that was being raised in other ways, including in the chamber and in committees. Do you accept that there has been a debate for at least a year or two?

::That is a helpful update, Professor Jay.

I will ask Mr Naylor a question, because he was not here before Christmas when we discussed the issue of the confusion about when inspectorates were asked to do this work and who had a level of knowledge of what they were being asked to do by the cabinet secretary and others. Does Mr Naylor want to offer a reflection on his knowledge of when the inspectorate was asked to do this work and what the terms of reference and those sorts of things were going to be?

::I am grateful for that insight. Professor Jay, I apologise if this has been reported on and I have missed it, but in the work that you did in England, did you see a strong correlation between county lines and drugs and child sexual exploitation in terms of the young people who got involved in that sort of activity? That goes to the point about moving out from the urban centres to different locations. Did you see a correlation there?

Do you accept that a comparison can be made between individual schools in England and Scotland—for example, that the fees that are charged per term at Eton and Gordonstoun would be similar?

You spoke about the history around bequests. There is a history around bequests in schools such as Gordonstoun and Fettes. For example, Gordonstoun can run a summer camp to the tune of £6,750 per person attending, to supplement its income.