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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 December 2024
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Displaying 1025 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 6 November 2024

Sharon Dowey

The increase includes other things. What would be the impact if you did not get it?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 6 November 2024

Sharon Dowey

We heard from the previous panel of witnesses about the reform of their systems. One of the biggest costs in Kilmarnock is the increase in staff costs. Did you take into the SPS any learnings or best practice from the operation of Kilmarnock, so that you could save money in the rest of the estate?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 6 November 2024

Sharon Dowey

Your submission makes it sound really good. You also say that it

“has been achieved to date without additional funding or the need for legislation”,

which is also good, because it shows that we can have reform without legislation and at no extra cost.

You talked about reallocating resources. Is there anything that you need extra resources for? I was thinking about victim notification, and Ben Macpherson touched on the subject of IT systems. Some of my colleagues heard last night from PCS that the systems are antiquated and unfit for purpose and that there are issues with contacting people to cite them to come to court. Will the pilot have any unintended consequences or do you already know where any extra resources will have to be allocated?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 6 November 2024

Sharon Dowey

Do you have enough money in the current budget to upgrade your IT systems to allow, for example, the roll-out of body-worn video cameras for the police? We heard last night that that could be an issue, too, but we are very keen for that to be rolled out as quickly as possible. Is there enough money in your current budget for the IT updates that would allow the police to roll out body-worn video?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 6 November 2024

Sharon Dowey

I have specific questions on HMP Kilmarnock, which Teresa Medhurst mentioned in her opening remarks. It came back under SPS control on 17 March this year. What was the budgetary impact of that move? Will there be any further impacts going forward and, if there are, do you expect those to be covered by the Scottish Government?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 6 November 2024

Sharon Dowey

You put in for £3.1 million of increased costs. Is that in staffing alone?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 6 November 2024

Sharon Dowey

You mentioned that it is starting to be rolled out in other places, too. Will you tell us more about the plans for rolling out the pilot in courts across the country? Is it likely that it will ultimately lead to resource savings?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 6 November 2024

Sharon Dowey

Good morning. I will continue my colleague Ben Macpherson’s line of questioning. You might have already answered some of these questions, but, given that you have just referred to the criticality and importance of the summary case management pilot, I will ask the question again in case you can provide extra information.

The recent evaluation noted that the pilot led to an increase in the early resolution of cases, along with a range of associated benefits. Can you tell me more about the main benefits of the approach that was taken in the pilot, not only for your organisation but for others?

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 30 October 2024

Sharon Dowey

The committee always hears the figures for full-time-equivalent police officers, so we know how many we have in comparison to previous years. Do you have any figures to share with the committee about the number of civilian staff? I have never seen those.

Criminal Justice Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 30 October 2024

Sharon Dowey

I am assuming that, when the legislation came in, there was a budgetary cost. You have said that eight times more testing will be required, but was there ever any increase in the budget when it was realised that the problem was much more prevalent than we had thought?