Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Official Report 532KB pdf

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Correspondence

Our next item of business is consideration of two items of correspondence that the committee has received. The details are in paper 4. Do members wish to comment on the suggested course of action on those items?

I will start with the letter from NHS Scotland on medical prescriptions for prisoners on their release. Does anyone wish to comment on that? Are we happy with that? There is a helpful outline of the situation in NHS Scotland with specific reference to access to medication. I note that, at the end of the letter that we received from Caroline Lamb, she has undertaken to

“ask Health Boards to work with the Scottish Prison Service to consider the issues raised by the Committee and the Wise Group and identify any practical actions that could help ensure people leaving prison can access prescriptions.”

Are members happy to note the information in the letter and to await a further update?

Members indicated agreement.

It is important to pursue an update on that, because it is a case of “Maybe aye, maybe no,” depending on the local area. We wanted progress to be made and we wanted an acknowledgement that, if we really want to tackle the wider issue of released prisoners getting medication, which, in many cases, they need for five days, because they cannot get to their GP, we must monitor that. Given that we have started something, we should pursue the issue vigorously and see whether we can get some real action to be taken.

That is a fair comment. I am happy to do that.

If there is nothing else on that letter, we will move on to the letter from Police Scotland on cyberkiosk training. Do members have any comments on that? Did you want to come in on that, Collette?

12:15  

I wanted to comment on the pilot scheme. Is that the same thing as cybersecurity? I am sorry—I am not sure whether I have picked that up wrongly. I was alluding to the issue of time off and police officers getting their rest days.

Okay. Perhaps what you were referring to was in relation to the previous agenda item, but we picked up the key points that you were making on that.

Yes. From an efficiency point of view, bearing in mind that we are scrutinising the budget, I would like to know what the reasons are for the pilot scheme being put back until 2023. That is what I was getting at. Officers should get their rest days.

Okay—we will note that point.

If members have nothing to raise on the letter from Police Scotland, I will bring the public part of the meeting to a close. The next meeting will be on Wednesday 14 December, when we will start our oral evidence taking on the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill. We move now into private session.

12:16 Meeting continued in private until 12:50.