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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 19 March 2025
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Displaying 1088 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

Do you need secondary legislation to enact some of those things? There was mention of random drug tests for officers. Do you need legislation for that? Can it not just be a condition of employment that you must comply with that?

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

In the interests of everybody who wants quick resolutions to their problems or complaints, do we need to get that in the bill right now, instead of having to wait for secondary legislation?

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

It is one of the things that committee members need to get their heads around. A lot of non-legislative recommendations seem to have been actioned, and we have heard evidence that there has been a lot of improvement, but we need to make sure that we are putting the right things into the bill. They will be the things that we do not want to wait to put into secondary legislation; we want to put them in now and ensure that we do not need to put anything else into the bill, as it will not be required.

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

Do the police need to update their conduct and performance regulations?

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

Does Katharina want to come in on that?

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

You said that the conduct regulations would be reviewed once the bill had been passed. Why can they not be reviewed and actioned just now? Why do we have to wait for the bill to be passed? If you are getting complaints and you know what the issues are, why are you not reviewing all the misconduct regulations now? When we had the Scottish Police Federation in to give evidence, it said that performance and misconduct regulations are not being implemented just now. Do you come across that in complaints, and why are the police not currently implementing the regulations that they already have?

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill:Stage 1

Meeting date: 16 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

As I said, the bill requires more regulations. However, we heard from the Scottish Police Federation that current performance and misconduct regulations have never been used. Do we need to look more at performance management within Police Scotland to ensure that it is using the tools that it already has?

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill:Stage 1

Meeting date: 16 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

Good morning. My question follows on from my colleague Russell Findlay’s line of questioning. As he said, the amount specified in the financial memorandum has increased from £1.4 million to £5.8 million and it is set to rise substantially, judging from the evidence that we have heard. A number of provisions in the bill require more regulations in secondary legislation. Are you concerned that there is not more detail in the bill, and would you have any concern that the costs of implementing what are unknown measures will add a substantial cost to the financial memorandum, which could eventually risk the act’s implementation if the resource is not provided? You said that

“We cannot have a half-baked version”.

Would you have concerns that, if we do not put the right finances in, we will not get the right result?

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill:Stage 1

Meeting date: 16 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

One witness said that he was placed on restricted duties and told that he was a danger to the public, but he was not informed why that was the case. Yesterday, we heard from the criminal allegations against the police division of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service that there was no reason why he should not have been told at the time. The Scottish Police Federation has questioned whether some of the legislation is required, or whether the performance management tools and regulations that are already in place simply need to be used. I do not know whether you have had a chance to look at everything that is in the bill, but do you think that some of the legislation is not required and that we need to look at the training in the police to ensure that they are following their own procedures?

Criminal Justice Committee

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill:Stage 1

Meeting date: 16 May 2024

Sharon Dowey

You mentioned random vetting and the power for summary dismissal. Do you think that that needs to be in police policy and procedure, or is legislation required?