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I have heard of a number of cases—including some in Fife, which is in the region that I represent—in which it has been difficult to pin down liability because there are contractors, sub-contractors, agents and landowners all passing the buck.
Very much so. We can dance on the head of a pin and talk about specific nuances and so on—that is fair enough—but there is absolutely overwhelming evidence that short sentences simply do not work and that community alternatives are much more effective.
Then we would not be paying lots of lawyers to argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. However, I absolutely agree that we should ask the questions that Mr Balfour suggests.
Just for clarity, in the Equality Network’s submission to the committee, it suggested including trans status, but it said that it did not think that that would pin down the question and that the consultation process was open to further developing that question.
They will be far more subtle, far harder to discern, particularly if employment levels stay relatively high, and far more difficult to pin on the single issue of Brexit, because it is happening over a period of years.
Should the committee look at that area with a view to pinning down what might work better? The system as it stands works, but there are anomalies whereby one divisional commander might have to attend four separate scrutiny committees.