Seòmar agus comataidhean

I am happy for Ramiza to come back in. I have no other questions.

Yes.

Thank you, convener. There is a bit of an echo here, but I hope that you can all hear me okay.

Katy Clark may have stolen my thunder a wee bit. I saw the reply in quite a positive light, from a committee point of view. When we were taking evidence towards the start of the process, we were—as Katy Clark said—looking at really bad cuts, and the picture looked bleak. However, as the cabinet secretary has outlined, he has, as things currently stand, been able to invest in the justice system. To be honest, I think that the committee can take some credit for that. I just wanted to strike a positive note, because we could have been having a very different conversation today. The conversation now is around the edges of things rather than about the overall picture that we were first looking at.

In addition, we have to remember that we are at a very early stage in the budget process, so there might even be scope for further good news, if we want to put it like that.

I read the letter quite positively—I thought that we might have been in a worse position by this point. I therefore echo Katy Clark’s comments. I had already pressed my button to speak as she was speaking, otherwise I would not have said anything. I wanted to put that on record anyway.

I hope that I am not going to take up time, but I want to raise a point while we are on the subject. I am sitting with an email that came into my inbox at 10:41 this morning. It is from a minister who was writing on behalf of someone else who has also contacted my office. I will not mention the person’s name, but they are talking about immigration status and such, and I want to highlight one quote from the email, which says:

“his eviction was dealt with in an inhumane manner.”

It is incumbent on us, as parliamentarians, to represent constituents, and we all do that, but the fact that we are talking about this issue and I am sitting with an email that I got at 10:41 this morning means that it was worth raising that point. That is all I wanted to do.

I suppose that it is almost the other side of Pam Gosal’s line of questioning.

The Criminal Justice Committee was out at Glasgow sheriff court recently and we saw, I think, 13 hearings that day. Our visit was about the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill, but what struck me and other members of that committee was the disproportionate number of BME individuals—young BME males—who were up. We have often heard about that disproportion and something appears—I am being careful with my words—to be wrong at a societal level for it to exist.

I have to say for clarity that we saw only one session of 13 hearings that day. We will find out more about whether it is reflective of the overall situation as we take evidence at the committee.

Like Mariam Ahmed said, I do not know whether we have time to go round the witnesses on this area, but I asked the previous panel a question on this, and we got a good discussion out of it. I was going to ask about the bill to incorporate international human rights treaties, in particular the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. I am sure that, as that bill moves through the Parliament, all the organisations represented here and many others, as well as individuals, will be involved.

I will focus on a slightly different area. Incorporation of the treaties is a massive area, and I am aware that the convener has already mentioned time constraints.

Farah Farzana, how important is it that BME women’s voices are heard as we take forward the proposed human rights bill and try to make some changes? As you articulated earlier, there is a real need for change in that regard.

Good morning—it is good to see you all again.

Danny Boyle’s answer leads me on nicely to my question. I would like to hear your broad thoughts on the proposed incorporation of the four international human rights treaties, on which the Scottish Government is going to consult. That would include incorporation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Perhaps you can pick up on some of the points that you raised earlier. For example, if the proposed human rights bill is to progress, which seems likely, how could that benefit racial equality in Scotland? Is it an opportunity to provide greater investment in that area?

Perhaps Danny Boyle can start, as he raised that point in his last answer.

Thank you for that.

Jatin Haria, you and I have spoken a lot about bits and pieces of work that are being done and whether those are becoming—for want of a better term—a bit of a talking shop. Do you have any thoughts on how the proposed incorporation bill could help us to move away from that? I think that committee members are all conscious of that aspect, as are cross-party groups. Do you have any thoughts and hopes as to whether incorporation of those laws can help to navigate this particular area?

What I was going to ask has been more or less covered. The conversation has moved on, so I am happy to leave it, convener.