Seòmar agus comataidhean

Okay. Who is right in terms of definition?

When did you find out that this particular prisoner had been sent to a women’s prison?

Once the transfer became known about, you initially defended the decision. The following day, the First Minister announced that the prisoner was being removed. Do you now regret defending the decision initially?

The issue is what the cost will be, and from when that will apply.

I have two observations about what has been said so far and two quick points to make.

Katy Clark is bang on in respect of the fire service. The acting chief fire officer told us that he needed something like £0.5 billion just to bring infrastructure up to standard as a result of year after year of not having enough money to do so.

I also totally understand Jamie Greene’s point. Although the cabinet secretary did not state that it was his intent to reduce police numbers, that may nonetheless be the outcome. I think that we have agreed a way to deal with that.

I have a point about the Scottish Police Authority. The cabinet secretary said that there is £45.5 million

“for investment in police assets including the estate, fleet and technology.”

That is not a lot of money to pay for all of that.

In December, Police Scotland said that it would finally be rolling out body-worn cameras for its officers. Police Scotland is the only force in the United Kingdom not to have such cameras—except for a few hundred for specialist firearms officers.

I want to understand that. That was described in the media as a £20 million programme over five years. Does it follow that, in 2023-24, £4 million will go towards providing body-worn cameras? I would like some clarity on the speed with which the body-worn cameras will be delivered, because that is crucial to helping police officers primarily but also to public confidence. It would be worth getting a breakdown of the numbers and an explanation. I know that spending that money is an operational decision, but the media stuff is not very clear.

My second point is about the Scottish Prison Service. As far as I can see, there is no reference whatsoever to the fact that HMP Kilmarnock is now, or is on the cusp of becoming, under the direct control of the Government, with all the costs associated with that, and that HMP Addiewell is about to follow. The cabinet secretary’s response mentions the

“costs of private sector contracts”,

but I do not know whether that means contracts such as the one that we touched on for the provision of food and dairy produce to prisoners. Running HMP Kilmarnock and HMP Addiewell will end up costing a huge sum of money. There will be staff costs, the responsibility for infrastructure and maintenance, and staff pensions. It would be useful to know where that money will come from and how much that will cost.

If it needs to be acted on now, can we do that just now?

Thank you.

There may be things that I have not seen, but the media report in December said that it would take five years. That is a long time, if it is going to take that long for all officers to have the kit.

Many other police forces have moved on to second-generation and sometimes third-generation kit, which is even more efficient.

What options are available to us? Can we lodge some kind of motion?