Seòmar agus comataidhean

There might be one or two areas of questioning that we were not able to cover this morning due to time constraints, which we might follow up in writing with you. If you have any other points that you would like to make, you can put them in writing to us. Thank you for taking the time to join us and for giving such frank and interesting evidence.

We will now move into private session.

Pauline McNeill, who joins us remotely, will ask the next question.

I will invite questions from members but, first, I will kick off with one of my own. We have received correspondence from the Law Society of Scotland, which you will have seen. It says that the regulations do “nothing to address” a legal aid system that is at “breaking point”. What is your response to that?

We will now move on to Fulton Mackay, who has some questions on that topic; we will then move on to another area of questioning.

I invite the committee to agree to delegate to me the publication of a short factual report on our deliberations on the affirmative SSI that we have considered today. Are we agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you. We appear to have lost Vicki Bell’s connection, so I ask members to focus their questions on you until she returns. You are in full flow, so that is perhaps a good thing.

We move to questions from Pauline McNeill, who also joins us remotely.

I am told that Vicki Bell’s connection has been repaired and she is back with us.

Oops.

We have a couple more questions on that subject, the first of which comes from Pauline McNeill.

We are just about out of our scheduled time, but we can continue for five or 10 more minutes, if the witnesses are happy to stay with us.

The next area of questioning relates to the power to release prisoners early. Rona Mackay and Jamie Greene have indicated that they would like to ask questions on that subject.