Seòmar agus comataidhean

I will ask this question of both witnesses, but I will turn to Dr Rushton first. How do the bodies consider the views of those who have relevant lived experience? Is that part of your consideration? How do you capture that in the work that you do?

That would be great. It would be helpful if you could share the response with the committee.

Will you give us an update on the recommendations of the English independent review of children’s social care and whether progress can be made towards the introduction of paid leave for new kinship carers?

Thank you.

What does that mean in budgetary terms? There are two approaches—putting more money in, and trying to make better use of the money that is already there for that purpose. Are you putting in any more money? Are you able to do that, given all the pressures on you, or are you having to cut back in financial terms? Are you trying to do things better to make them more efficient? Will you explain the strategy briefly?

That would be helpful. I appreciate that I may be asking, “How long is a piece of string?” However, it is clear that there is a disconnect and that the service has not been provided in the way that, I suspect, we would all like. I am sure that you could spend an unlimited amount on these things, but have you looked at how much it would cost to deliver an adequate service through programmes and other forms of rehabilitation? What amount should we be spending compared with what you are able to spend?

I completely understand that there are pressures on the service, particularly as prisoner numbers are increasing and are likely to continue to increase. I am not being critical, because I understand the pressures, but I am trying to understand what the disconnect is and whether you are actively engaging with it and working on it. Can you share that with the committee, perhaps in writing?

In 2019, the Parliament passed legislation that enabled the use of GPS electronic monitoring and bracelets that monitor alcohol use. Both of those technologies have the capacity and potential to reduce reoffending. I visited G4S relatively recently and I understand that it has not been asked to start work on those initiatives. I know that the cabinet secretary visited shortly before me, so I suspect that she has been looking at these issues. Is she now trying to get this work started?

I will ask a general follow-up question on that. This Parliament passed that legislation in 2019, and a huge amount of scrutiny goes into legislation. The expectation from MSPs when we pass legislation is that it will be enacted pretty much immediately. However, it seems to be a theme that legislation gets passed and it is not necessarily enacted. Is the cabinet secretary concerned about that?

I am sorry that I cut you short, but we are tight for time. If you could share that information with the committee, that would be very much appreciated.

As you know, Scottish Government policy is very much in favour of rehabilitation. However, there is a disconnect between policy and what is happening both in the prison estate and outside it in other parts of the justice system. How is the Scottish Prison Service dealing with that? What are you doing to try to ensure that you can expand the rehabilitation programmes that are available within the prison estate? For example, we are often told that sex offenders who are voluntarily asking to have access to programmes and other forms of rehabilitation are unable to get that because it is just not there. Will you explain how you are trying to make that shift within the budgets that you have?

Thank you.