Chamber and committees

I pay tribute to Police Scotland for its considerable efforts in the planning and delivery of operation unicorn, which was an operation without precedent in scale, complexity and sensitivity. However, it is the fundamental right of anyone who lives in a democracy to protest peacefully. As demonstrated during the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—Police Scotland protects people’s right to protest while balancing the rights of the wider community and upholding public safety. The member will appreciate that operational decisions are a matter for the chief constable, with scrutiny and oversight provided by the Scottish Police Authority, and that it is not appropriate for me to comment on specific cases. Any complaint about the actions of officers should be made directly to Police Scotland in the first instance.

That was clearly a regrettable incident. However, it is important to stress that the issue only affected non-urgent messages that do not require immediate police attendance. In an emergency situation, 999 should always be called.

Police Scotland has confirmed that the issue was related to a third party supplier’s platform that stopped around 215 emails being processed. I am grateful to Police Scotland for its swift action to inform the public and for its moves to review current service provision to ensure that processes are robust against any possible recurrence.

Some reassurance can be taken from the immediate action that Police Scotland took and from the fact that for the three weeks since the incident occurred the same system has worked continuously and without fault.

I have also been given reassurances from Police Scotland that work is being done to ensure that there is no recurrence of that issue. Further reassurance can be taken from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s report on Police Scotland’s contact assessment model, which makes it very clear that the contribution of CAM is a significant step forward for Police Scotland. It was independently assessed.

HMICS also highlighted that the roll-out of CAM enabled Police Scotland to maintain an appropriate level of service throughout the pandemic. Figures published by the Home Office for July 2022 show that Police Scotland was well above the United Kingdom average for 999 call answer times, which the member mentioned, with 79.9 per cent of calls answered in under 10 seconds compared with 68.3 per cent in the rest of the UK.

In relation to the budget, as far as I know, the member has made no call on the UK Government to reverse the 5.2 per cent cut to this year’s budget. Also, given the cost of living crisis, the huge costs associated with pay claims and the very high levels of inflation, you would have thought that if the member was concerned about Police Scotland’s budget he would have made representations about that, but he made none at all.

As far as I can remember, there has never been an amendment from the Tories to say that they want an increase in police spending. In fact, in times past, I remember at least one occasion on which they asked for less money than the Scottish Government gave. If they are serious about it, perhaps they can make some calls on the UK Government for help to bolster some of the increased costs, whether that is through the cost of living crisis or the energy crisis that the Scottish Government and Police Scotland face because of their Government’s ineptitude.

Policing is one of the most accountable and highly scrutinised services in Scotland. An entire organisation, the Scottish Police Authority, is in place to hold the chief constable to account. In addition, several other organisations have a key statutory role in the oversight of policing, such as His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland and the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner. The Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and Audit Scotland also take a keen interest in matters of accountability, as demonstrated by the member’s question.

I meet the chair of the SPA regularly, as I do the chief constable and Her Majesty’s—pardon me, I mean His Majesty’s—chief inspector of constabulary. The subjects discussed are relevant to policing issues at the time.

Our report, “The Vision for Justice in Scotland”, sets out that justice services must be person centred and trauma informed. I understand that those are almost buzzwords these days, but if they are properly realised, they can be transformative for people’s experience.

It is recognised that people in the criminal justice system can be affected by psychological trauma in many different ways, and that the system can be retraumatising. As set out in the strategic workforce plan, Police Scotland is committed to working with a wide range of partners, recognising that the majority of police demand is rooted in complex social need with the aim of protecting vulnerable individuals. To support that, all officers and staff within Police Scotland’s partnerships, prevention and community wellbeing division are trained in trauma-informed policing. Additionally, we are funding trauma specialists to develop a knowledge and skills framework to create a more trauma-informed and trauma-responsive justice system. That framework will be published later this year.

I assure the member that further steps are being taken to shift the balance towards a greater use of community-based disposals. A delivery plan to support implementation of the revised national community justice strategy is being developed with partner organisations; its publication will drive actions at national and local levels. In addition, we introduced the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill to Parliament in June. We are supporting effective use of new powers to electronically monitor the use of bail. We are continuing to invest in community justice services within the parameters that were set out in the resource spending review. That includes sustaining additional investment of £15 million in justice social work services this year. Of course, public protection remains paramount as we work to reduce reoffending and assist with rehabilitation, which leads to fewer victims and safer communities.

Will the member take an intervention?

For the purpose of rule 9.11 of the standing orders of the Parliament, I advise the Parliament that Her Majesty, having been informed of the purport of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill, has consented to place her prerogative and interests, in so far as they are affected by the bill, at the disposal of the Parliament for the purposes of the bill.

During stage 2, I tried as best I could to provide the committee with scrutiny assistance on various aspects of different amendments, including offering to write to the Lord Advocate in support of the committee’s requests and, in a number of other regards, to increase the information flow. I will only give a general commitment that, in addition to the evidence that the committee seeks, if it requests information from the court service or elsewhere, I will try to assist with that.

On the questions about why extensions are being sought and their extent, that is based on the evidence that we have heard from the court service and the Crown Office about what they require to deal with the backlog. It is not just that Covid is still here but that the backlog is still here, and that is what we are trying to deal with.

Amendment 25 is a technical amendment that is consequential to Pauline McNeill’s stage 2 amendment to section 201 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. It ensures that the full policy intent of the amendment, which was agreed to at stage 2, is met. I invite members to support amendment 25.

In addition to what I have said to Pauline McNeill, Liam McArthur will be aware that the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill has been introduced. It specifically seeks to address our high levels of remand, based on the general concern among members about that, so it might present an opportunity for further scrutiny.