Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning. I have a few questions that are scattered about a wee bit, so I ask you to bear with me.

For the first couple of questions, I am going to put on my old criminal justice social work hat. I want to ask about the use of community payback orders and whether you think that there is more that we can do with those in this area. Social Work Scotland told the committee that an alternative to implementing the notification requirement could be to include something in the community payback order.

Community payback orders are designed to be quite broad. Could we make more use of those to capture some of the aims of the bill? Does the Government have any thoughts about that?

I probably did not ask the question very well. I was not talking about specific programmes such as the Caledonian programme, which can be part of a community payback order. It was more about whether, as an alternative to implementing a notification requirement, something that mirrored that requirement could be included in a community payback order. CPOs are broad, and I am sure that such a requirement could be included; perhaps some sheriffs are doing that. However, I think that what Social Work Scotland was getting at when it spoke to the committee was that something more standardised and more regular could be useful.

That is good. Moving on, I want to come in on the back of an earlier line of questioning from Jamie Hepburn on the Caledonian system, which we have just spoken about. Does the Government have any data about where the Caledonian system has been used in relation to courts making decisions, as opposed to where that approach is not used? Does it have any data to suggest that the Caledonian project has given courts confidence in the areas where it is in place, as opposed to those areas where it is yet to be put in place?

Thank you—that is a really positive answer.

It is stated in part 5 of the bill that the substantive provisions in the act, if it was passed, would come into force two months after it gained royal assent. What are your views on that timescale?

Yes. Do you have any views on that timescale?

To finish that line of questioning, as the chair of the cross-party group on social work, I know that Social Work Scotland will be keen that I ask this: on the basis of what we have just spoken about, would the minister be happy to meet Social Work Scotland at some point to discuss that?

Thank you, convener, and good morning. I must apologise to the panel and all committee members for not being there in person. I am still struggling a bit with a cold.

Like Jamie Hepburn, I, too, have had some contact from local fire officers, and I put on record my thanks to them for coming to me on this matter. A lot of the things that they raised with me have already been covered by other members, but I want to ask a wee bit about your views on the consultation on the review. I have heard some criticism that the review was not clear and concise enough for people to think through the actual implications of the changes and that there was not a great level of engagement with local organisations, businesses and community groups. In fact, a lot of the publicity in that respect came through the SFRS’s Facebook page and social media channels. Do you have any comments on those thoughts—or criticisms, if you like—that have been put to me?

That is me now, convener—I have been unmuted.

I am happy enough with that response. Just for clarity, though, I should say that I was asking the question as it was put to me; I was not saying that this is for the FBU to take forward. However, I think that Colin Brown has answered that point, so thank you very much.

It is an exciting development, and I am sure that this committee and other committees across the Parliament will be interested in how the approach continues to develop.

You have been doing other work to improve access for those who are underrepresented in complaints statistics. One such group is female prisoners—we can understand why they might be a very underrepresented group. I am interested in how you are progressing work in that area, as well as in relation to people with disabilities. How do you handle complaints in those areas?

It is probably not about trying to drum up work—certainly not considering how busy you are and the nature of your work. That would not be appropriate. I am always interested to see how you make sure that folks in very underrepresented and disadvantaged groups know about the SPSO and how they can access it.

Good morning. I thank the witnesses for their evidence so far.

I have some questions about complaints-handling processes in local authorities and other bodies. The new child-friendly complaints process was launched across the public sector this year. Mr McFadden, I know that you have not been in your post for long, but are you able to give an assessment of the difference that the new approach has made? What difference would you like it to make over the coming years? Personally, I think that it is a really good initiative and that we should all be working with child-friendly processes. Have you had a chance to assess the early impact of the new approach?