Decision on Taking Business in Private, Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (Service Delivery Review)

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27, Subordinate Legislation

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Subordinate Legislation, Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

See all of this committee's Official Reports

Work of the Committee: Reports

Committee reports

Stage 1 Report on the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill

Published: 23 January 2026

A report by the Criminal Justice Committee on its Stage 1 scrutiny of the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill.

Inquiry into the harm caused by substance misuse in Scottish Prisons

Published: 16 January 2026

This report presents the findings of the Criminal Justice Committee’s inquiry into substance misuse in Scotland’s prisons, established in response to sustained concern over drug-related deaths in custody, rising health needs among the prison population, and evidence that existing approaches are not adequately reducing harm. Drawing on six formal evidence sessions, 32 written submissions, prison visits, and extensive engagement with people with lived and living experience of imprisonment and addiction, the inquiry adopts an explicitly evidence-based and human-centred approach.The report finds that substance misuse in custody is not an isolated behavioural issue but a manifestation of wider systemic failures across health, social care and justice systems. High levels of trauma, poverty, mental ill-health and unmet clinical need shape both vulnerability to substance use and the prison experience itself. Overcrowding, workforce pressures, inconsistent healthcare provision and limited access to purposeful activity are shown to intensify harm and undermine recovery. The Committee heard compelling evidence that enforcement-led approaches alone are insufficient, particularly given evolving drug supply methods involving synthetic substances, drones and organised crime networks.A strong consensus emerged across witnesses that substance misuse in prisons should be addressed primarily as a public-health issue, requiring parity of healthcare with the community, integrated mental-health and addiction services, trauma-informed practice, and continuity of care on release. The report highlights promising practice in some establishments but identifies unacceptable variation across the prison estate. It concludes that meaningful progress will depend on coordinated reform across justice, health and community systems, with people with lived experience embedded as partners in design, delivery and evaluation of services.

Criminal Justice Committee Report on its Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026/27

Published: 19 December 2025

A report by the Criminal Justice Committee on its pre-budget scrutiny of the Scottish Government's draft 2026/27 Budget for the criminal justice portfolio.

See all of this committee's reports