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At the height of the pandemic, you were asked by the Government to release prisoners, but it did not give you the means with which to test them for Covid. We know that 40 per cent of those released went on to commit further crime, and it is probably a safe assumption that some of them went on to infect people with Covid, but we just do not know. Is that true?

The letter from the police is reassuring, because it answers the unanswered question about stuff that might be contaminated being returned to prisoners. The letter clearly says that that will no longer happen. We cannot measure much until we hear back from the cabinet secretary after three months, but the memorandum of understanding is unclear about when the provision was introduced—there is no date or Crown signatory. It is probably worth asking the Crown whether it ever signed it, and if so, when. I find it slightly odd that even if it did sign the MOU, it is at least nine years old, and in that time we have seen the rise in use of psychoactive substances, we have seen drones come along and we have seen the impregnation of mail with substances. The landscape has changed and the document predates all that stuff. Was the MOU implemented, and if so, why has it not been looked at for the best part of a decade?

Hello, Mr Strang. Your predecessor, Professor Catriona Matheson, and her deputy, Neil Richardson, both quit, saying that the Scottish Government’s strategy was “counterproductive”. Have you had any contact with either of them, have you evaluated their concerns and, if so, what are your views on those concerns?

Yes, I am asking about the proposed drug consumption facilities. Can you expand on how many of those would be needed and where they might be? Do you have that kind of detail?

Many prisoners are unable to break their addiction, due to high levels of drugs in prisons. Some prisoners go into prison without a drug problem but leave with one. Will we ever get close to eradicating drugs in prisons, and what immediate steps can be taken to do something about that?

Do I have time to ask one more quick question?

Yesterday, Kit Malthouse spoke passionately about the need to support people with drug problems and the vital role of the criminal justice system. For example, he spoke about a “ring of steel” being put around the community of Blackpool, as part of the addiction, diversion, disruption, enforcement and recovery—ADDER—project. Every day, Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency work hard to target the organised crime gangs that make so much money from killing people in Scotland with their products.

Do you agree that it is not a question of one or the other, and will you give a commitment to Scottish communities that they will enjoy robust policing and the targeting of people who deal drugs?

It seems that tolerance zones would be around drug consumption facilities. Police Scotland has also expressed concern about the practicalities of those facilities. Can you expand on what those might look like? How many would there be? Where would they be?

The Drug Deaths Taskforce has recommended the introduction of so-called “tolerance zones”. We heard that Police Scotland has concerns about those. What is your personal view? Do you support the task force’s recommendation?

Last September, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans told the Criminal Justice Committee:

“Prison governors in England and Wales have stated that it is not possible to have a drug-free prison. I would like to test that to see to what extent it can be achieved.”—[Official Report, Criminal Justice Committee, 1 September 2021; c 36.]

Is that realistic?