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Very briefly, can you say for the record what you envisage that the cost of the victims commissioner will be?

Will those be annual costs?

Thank you.

I have not seen any such detail and do not know about it. We have not had a lot of detail, but there might be more detail that is not apparent. If we make getting a conviction more difficult, which must be the case if the proportion of jurors who are required to secure a conviction is increased, that must lead to fewer convictions, unless there is evidence to rebut that. Without looking at the question in huge detail, that must surely be our presumption.

Do you accept that increasing the proportion of the jury required to secure a conviction will make it more difficult to get convictions and that we would therefore expect to see fewer convictions?

That is very helpful.

Russell Findlay spoke about the demographics of the judges who sit in judgment. In relation to the selection criteria for the new sexual offences court, what thought has been given to how people will be selected to be judges and what the demographics are likely to be?

I am grateful for that.

I have spoken with the cabinet secretary previously about the independent legal representation of victims in other jurisdictions. Obviously, there is very specific and narrow provision in the bill in relation to the independent legal representation of rape victims. Is the Scottish Government willing to further explore a pilot or pilots in relation to the independent legal representation of victims—particularly rape victims—before the court process and during the court process? Might that be considered in the context of the bill or, indeed, as a separate discussion?

I think that we will come on to that issue.

The witnesses will have had the opportunity to look at the Lord Advocate’s statement. Do you believe that the scope of the Lord Advocate’s recent statement in relation to drug consumption rooms—and, in particular, any potential criminal offences—is sufficient? Do you have any concerns that staff or others might not have the reassurance that they need in order to be involved in such an initiative? Tracey McFall might be interested in commenting on that.

Would any other witness like to come in on the specific point about the impact of policies such as decriminalisation on the number of problem drug users in Scotland—whether it is likely to decrease or increase the numbers or to have no impact? What are the implications for organised crime through the drugs trade?