Is taking HMP Kilmarnock back into the public sector best value for money for the public purse? Have you considered taking any current best practices at Kilmarnock and implementing them in the SPS system?

I do not know whether you could tell me a better figure, but I have heard that extra on-going costs, not including the £1.4 million just for the transfer from Serco to SPS, could be £3 million to £5 million. Have you taken any best practice learnings from Serco?

But will the transfer of HMP Kilmarnock from Serco to the SPS not have a big impact on this year’s budget?

Is £1.4 million the cost just to transfer the prison from Serco to the SPS?

I have one final question. The retained duty system, which provides the primary fire cover for around 80 per cent of the geography in Scotland, is losing one tenth of its on-call firefighters every year and the service cannot recruit or retain enough replacements. What additional funding could you provide to address the vacancy level and ensure that terms and conditions are standardised for retained firefighters?

Mr Brown and Ms Clark have been in the justice section for a lot longer than I have, so I would want to see more detail on that. At present, all the moneys from the proceeds of crime in Scotland do come back to Scotland, so I would want to look at the matter in more detail first.

Organised crime gangs have managed to hold on to a great deal of the money that they have accumulated while committing crimes. They exploit loopholes in the system and hide money effectively. Most of us could point to examples in our communities of where a crime gang continues to control major businesses, even after the police have got convictions.

Experts on crime, especially front-line officers, can point out large homes and expensive properties that are owned by individuals who have clear connections to organised crime. We believe that Scotland’s police force needs more resources so that it can target operations at the worst gangsters who reap the rewards of their offences. Front-line officers want to go after those criminals but, as things stand, they simply do not have the funding and support from the Government to do so.

The Scottish National Party’s planned cuts to Police Scotland will undoubtedly make the situation worse. It is unacceptable for the Government to come to the chamber today and speak about the benefits of organised crime while not mentioning police cuts.

Today’s debate has been interesting and worth while. This Parliament does not spend enough time debating the justice system or how to tackle the crime that is rife in so many communities, so I welcome any opportunity that we get to focus on those important issues.

Today’s motion raises the positives of the cashback for communities scheme. I would like to use this opportunity to discuss some issues with the scheme and the wider justice system, which have also been highlighted in some of the contributions that we have heard today.

We agree with the motion. The Scottish Conservatives want to thank all those involved in the cashback for communities scheme for their commitment and hard work. It is a successful programme that delivers benefits for many young people and families across the country, as we have heard in many of the speeches this afternoon.

We firmly believe that the money that criminals gain by inflicting pain on communities and on vulnerable people should be reinvested into communities, so that it can finally do some good. We welcome the fact that £130 million has been reinvested from the proceeds of crime so far, and we believe that the vast majority of that funding has gone towards great projects and causes that help those communities that are most affected by crime.

However, while we all support the principle behind the scheme, we would do communities a disservice if we did not look at improving it, and it is clear that the scheme could be stronger. We would support a review of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002—as Roz McCall mentioned—so that more dirty money can be recovered from organised crime gangs. The law needs more teeth in order to go after illegally obtained money, in particular given that nearly £5 million that has been ordered to be confiscated over the past five years is still outstanding.

I will make some more progress, because I want to get through a lot of contributions from members.

Crime gangs have already been emboldened by weaknesses in the SNP’s justice system, which so often puts the rights of criminals before those of victims. If the SNP continues with its plans to cut more of police budgets, criminals will get away with even more, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 will recoup less money, the cashback for communities programme will not be as successful as it has been, and more young vulnerable people will be preyed on by criminals. It is a vicious circle that the SNP Government can prevent. Our police force needs investment.

To go even further, this Government needs to give organised crime the attention that it deserves. At present, the Government spends too much time and resources on its own political priorities and not enough on the issues that really matter to working people, such as how we stop the damage that is caused to communities by drug dealers and criminals, and how we prevent disgusting attacks on emergency workers such as those that we saw this week in Edinburgh. Officers have made it clear that, although those attacks were carried out by young people, police believe that they were encouraged by adults with a violent history.

The Government talks the talk on organised crime. The foreword to its most recent “Serious Organised Crime Strategy” says:

“Organised crime remains a serious threat to us all and we pay for it every day, either directly as victims or indirectly by paying for the services—such as police, prosecution, the health services—that are required to respond to it.”

We, in the Scottish Conservatives, could not agree more, but the SNP does not back up those words with action. Its weak approach to justice lets criminals away with crimes.

I will touch on some of the contributions from members. Russell Findlay highlighted the case of a single drug dealer who made nearly the same amount as the entire 15-year spend on cashback for communities. I reiterate that we need to look at the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to see how we can get more money from the people who are committing those crimes.

Roz McCall also touched on that. Meghan Gallacher spoke about how the National Autistic Society’s moving forward+ project is helping people to get on a path and making them more resilient.

Katy Clark mentioned the need for greater clarity on the matrix for evaluating the scheme. It is unclear how organisations are chosen for the scheme, and we all want better outcomes for young people. I agree with Katy Clark that more support and clarity on how the scheme is measured would be welcome.

There have been lots of good contributions from other members, but I am afraid that I am going to run out of time to mention them all.

Finally, although we do not always agree on the Government’s overall approach to justice, I thank the minister for bringing forward the debate, so that we can look at how to improve the system. I hope that she will keep an open mind about improvements. If we want the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to continue taking money from criminals and we want the cashback for communities programme to continue to help good local projects, the justice system must be tougher.

On the point about a lack of transparency, is it a political choice—the minister’s choice—not to share that information with us, or is it because the accountable officers havenae got a hold of their accounts?

Are we ever going to be able to track the £11.1 billion that is unaccounted for?

That is fine. In paragraph 11 and 12, you set out the Scottish Government’s oversight arrangements for infrastructure investment and estate management for the administrative buildings of the Scottish Government and its public bodies. However, no similar oversight arrangements are in place for operational buildings. Should that be reviewed by the Scottish Government?