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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 26 April 2025
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Displaying 888 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee

Policing and Mental Health

Meeting date: 15 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

Good afternoon to the panel. I have two questions. The first is on the issue of missing people, which was mentioned a couple of minutes ago. I did a wee bit of work on that in the previous parliamentary session after a very tragic incident in my constituency, not long after I was elected in 2016.

The police were going through a review at that point of how they dealt with missing people. We will all be familiar with information being shared on our social media feeds very early in the process, which was well fought for. It is very good that the police engage the public in those searches. Did the mental health component of missing people come up in the review? Did that issue come up when you spoke to officers about missing people? How do the police manage that component of a missing person inquiry?

Criminal Justice Committee

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

We have covered quite a lot about trauma-informed practice already, so my question is quite general and touches on something that the cabinet secretary has already raised.

Clearly, we have heard evidence that a lot of good trauma-informed practice is already happening in the justice system, albeit that it perhaps happens in patches throughout different organisations. I think that everybody recognises—we have heard this from various people who have told us about their experiences—that the justice system often retraumatises victims. Is it the purpose of this part of the bill, which brings trauma-informed practice into legislation, to try to drive culture change and to look at the good things that are happening and try to replicate them across services quicker than would happen without legislation?

Criminal Justice Committee

Policing and Mental Health

Meeting date: 15 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

Fair enough. Thank you.

Criminal Justice Committee

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

Thank you.

Criminal Justice Committee

Policing and Mental Health

Meeting date: 15 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

That is interesting. I will be interested in the findings of your future work on missing persons, as I am sure the rest of the committee will be.

My second question is about the recommendation for Police Scotland to produce a mental health strategy, which you have spoken about at great length. Was any thought given to embedding health professionals within the police structure? I know that some work has been done on that.

The unfortunate nature of the situation is that, although there is a multi-organisation approach, the police are the first responder for many people and organisations. Was any thought given to or were any discussions had on embedding mental health professionals as direct employees of Police Scotland to assist, or is that just a pie in the sky idea of mine?

Criminal Justice Committee

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

Good morning, cabinet secretary and officials.

To follow on from Rona Mackay’s question, we heard some concerns from the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland about a “lack of clarity” and a potential “overlap” between its role and the role of the proposed victims and witnesses commissioner. Has the Government looked at that? Do you think that there might be a case for making that clearer?

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

A quarter is quite a significant number.

Although my line of questioning has been on the SLCC’s submission, I want to give Rosemary Agnew and Colin Bell an opportunity to come in on what we have discussed, if they want to.

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

Yes.

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

You said that the figure was about 300 a year, but what is that as a percentage? Is 300 quite a big part of your caseload, or is it tiny? I just want to understand the context.

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 14 November 2023

Fulton MacGregor

Good morning, panel. Thank you very much for your evidence thus far.

This question is probably for Neil Stevenson. The SLCC has indicated in its submission that

“the Bill provides no … powers to ensure we get access to the information we need in a timely way to handle complaints efficiently, or to be able to conclude complaints when that information is not forthcoming.”

Will you expand a wee bit on that part of your submission?

11:00