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It is indeed an unusual approach. You have said that we all want to see progress and that there has been plenty of engagement with victims groups, but last week, Victim Support Scotland told the committee that it was worried that the introduction of a new victim contact team was

“counterintuitive, potentially costly and potentially unnecessary”.—[Official Report, Criminal Justice Committee, 4 December 2024; c 24.]

Therefore, there is at least a risk that you might be lodging amendments that do not have the support of victims organisations. We do not even know what this is going to look like. What would be your response if it turned out that victims groups were not supportive of the detail of the amendments?

That is not what I asked about, however; I asked what your response would be if it turned out, once you had lodged the amendments, that victims groups were not supportive of what you were proposing.

Thank you.

I have a brief follow-up, minister. Concerns have been raised that dealing with reform in this way—in other words, through amendments that put in something completely new at stage 2—is less than satisfactory. Arguably, it precludes proper consultation and scrutiny, not least because, as we have heard today, you have no idea of the costs and format of the victim contact team, and you have also talked about not being sure about getting the data sharing through. Do you have a view on whether this is an appropriate way of making legislation?

Indeed.

Right, but I think that the concern is that you made your announcement in early October, which means that we are now two months down the track; the amendments that you speak of will be lodged sometime in January; and you are still unable to give the committee a figure for how much this might cost Government and the taxpayer. By all means respond to that point, but another concern is that, as I am sure that you will concede, the measure will cost something. There will be both set-up and on-going costs, and they will need to be drawn from a budget. Therefore, my question is, from which budget will those costs come, and is there a risk that they will be cannibalised from funds for justice partners?

Your press release does not say who, or which agencies, will be on the victim contact team. Will you help us to understand who will be on it?

I want to ask about the victim contact team, which was announced in early October. You said that amendments on that will be lodged at stage 2. One issue with bills that go through this Parliament, which is often slightly less than desirable, and is something that has been raised by this committee and others, is the costs that get loaded on to agencies and how they are calculated. Before the committee considers the amendments on the victim contact team, can you tell us how much the team will cost to set up, and what its on-going cost will be?

Yes. With regard to section 63, on anonymity for victims, the committee raised a couple of issues around the public domain defence and the application of a definition of “victim”. The cabinet secretary’s letter suggests various amendments to address those points. Will they be sufficient, or could they have gone further?

To be clear, though, you would prefer it if the cabinet secretary’s amendments were to go further, particularly with regard to anonymity after death. Is that right?