Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you very much for that helpful statement. I will bring in members who want to ask questions.

I know that the prison population issue is complex and that multiple factors have an impact on it. Do you think that an element of that pressure still derives from the Covid pandemic and will ease in time, or is it not that simple?

I am happy for Ms Medhurst to follow up in writing with any answers that you are seeking, Pauline.

I have to draw this session to a close. I thank our witnesses for attending this morning. We will have a short suspension to allow a changeover of witnesses.

I do not know whether we will have time, because Russell Findlay also wants to ask a brief supplementary. As I said, we have a hard stop at five minutes past two.

Thank you for that update, minister. The previous meeting, which, unfortunately, you were unable to attend, was a very positive one. Given the timing of that meeting, the focus was very much on the recent announcements on the safe consumption room pilot facility in Glasgow. We very much welcomed that, as did the members of our panel. As an Aberdeen MSP, I am interested in the proposals to extend the provisions that are being developed in Glasgow to drug-checking facilities. Could you provide some details on the expected timescales for that? What exactly would a drug-checking facility look like?

I am sure that the minister will be planning to keep the committees updated on that. It is good to hear that that work is under way.

I turn to the issue of evaluation. At the previous meeting, a range of views were expressed about evaluation, including when it should begin. Obviously, the evaluation process will continue, now that things are under way with the Glasgow service. There has been comment that, in the meantime, work could be taken forward at other locations and facilities, and there is a range of views on what that might look like.

I am interested in your views on whether or not the evaluation should be undertaken before we consider the lessons learned and make decisions as to how we move that work forward.

Yes.

I thank the minister, her officials and Ms Millar for their attendance. We now move into private session.

Good morning, and welcome to the 27th meeting in 2023 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have received no apologies this morning. Pauline McNeill is running a little late and will join us soon.

Our first item of business today is the continuation of evidence taking on the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill. As a reminder, we are still at phase 1 of our scrutiny of the bill. Today’s evidence will focus on part 2 of the bill, which is on embedding trauma-informed practice in the justice system.

We are joined by two witnesses with expertise in the area of trauma-informed practice. I welcome Dr Caroline Bruce, the head of the programme for transforming psychological trauma at NHS Education for Scotland, and Professor Thanos Karatzias, who is a professor of mental health at Edinburgh Napier University and a clinical and health psychologist at the Rivers centre for traumatic stress. Welcome to you both.

I refer members to papers 1 and 2. I intend to allow up to 45 minutes for this session. Before we get under way, I will as usual ask members to be succinct in their questions and panel members to be succinct in their responses.

I will begin with a very general open question. I will come to Caroline Bruce first, then Thanos Karatzias. What do we understand by trauma-informed practice and why is it important in the justice sector?