The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 808 contributions
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 May 2022
Katy Clark
Gina Wilson, do you want to come in on that? From your perspective, is that a major issue on your radar?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 May 2022
Katy Clark
That is interesting. It is a massive topic that we do not have the opportunity to explore properly now.
We have been discussing organised crime. Obviously, there are links between organised crime and some of the other issues that we are discussing. Perhaps Bex Smith would be a good person to talk a little bit about that.
Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 27 April 2022
Katy Clark
I will ask about drafting and the importance of having precise wording in any legislation that we consider, which I suspect this committee will do in detail in due course.
The same debate is happening in many other jurisdictions—unfortunately, it is not just a Scotland-wide problem. Have you considered the debates that are happening in other countries, and what options did you look at with regard to how the legislation could be drafted? You specifically use the terms “prejudice” and “contempt”.
What advice would you give the committee on how we can ensure that the legislation is as robust as possible and that it covers as many scenarios as possible, which may mean a longer definition with different options? How should we be looking at these issues? Is there anything in particular that we might want to look at to make sure that the legislation is usable and makes a difference?
Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 27 April 2022
Katy Clark
I am happy to come in later.
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 30 March 2022
Katy Clark
Yes. The minister has been very clear on the issue of proxy purchase, and I can see the case that she is making there.
Minister, did you or other ministers look at how the current legislation is being used? Concerns have been raised with the committee that police and prosecutors are not putting in the resources to pursue cases for things that are currently illegal. We are being asked to consider what is quite a complicated system on a truncated timeline, given that the bill is emergency legislation. However, it is not clear that the current legislation is being properly enforced.
It is really a question for politicians and, therefore, for the minister. Have you really looked at reports on the level of offending and taken a view as to whether the amount of effort that should be being put into prosecuting people under the existing legislation is currently being put in? Perhaps the minister could give us a view on that.
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 30 March 2022
Katy Clark
My first question is not so much about prosecution, minister. Why do you think that emergency legislation is required, given that—apart from the provision on proxy purchase—most of the provisions will not be in place for November? A very complicated system is being proposed, and some witnesses have questioned whether the bill is actually necessary, given that there is already UK legislation that makes it illegal to supply fireworks to those under 18 and that prohibits the use of fireworks in a public place.
With regard to what you said to Russell Findlay on prosecutions, we would like more information on that subject, because we have not had any evidence on how the current legislation is being used. Why could the existing legislation not be amended or more action not be taken under its provisions? What consideration was given to taking such approaches instead of introducing primary or, indeed, emergency legislation?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 30 March 2022
Katy Clark
Will you share something in writing with the committee or bring in your officials on why a ban would not be within the Parliament’s powers?
The bill process has been truncated. The committee has been asked to consider the bill in a way that means that it does not have as much time as it would have otherwise to examine it. The licensing part of the bill is complicated. Given that the committee is considering the bill and has the view that the licensing measures are complicated, and given that the bill will not be in force this year, why do you feel that it has to be on the statute book by November?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 30 March 2022
Katy Clark
It is more that the minister’s answers raised issues that I want to ask about. She has partly answered my question in that she said that there was a constitutional problem with introducing the legislation that she might want to introduce. I think that she said that there are problems with banning fireworks. It would be good to get more information on that.
The complicated part of the bill is the licensing scheme. Are there any constitutional problems with the Parliament’s powers that affect that aspect of the bill?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Katy Clark
A lot of proposals that have been made in the evidence would require the committee to have a lot more data. You are probably not best placed to provide most of that. However, the first point in your action plan is that there should be an annual national safety awareness campaign, jointly funded by the industry and the Government. How much does the industry currently spend on education and awareness?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Katy Clark
I think that I have heard about those videos. However, that is quite a small amount of money to spend. I presume that you are a multimillion pound industry that makes massive profits. Over the past 20 years, how much resource have you devoted to education and awareness-raising activity that might help to deal with some of the challenges that the committee is attempting to grapple with? You might be able to provide that in writing after the meeting.