Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have a question to finish with. Some really interesting points have been made about the shifting workload that the PIRC is having to deal with as a result of a range of external factors over which, as you have said, you have no control. Following on from the discussion about resources and the fact that you have to respond to these things, can you outline any structural or legislative reforms that you believe are necessary to strengthen independent oversight of policing and ensure that the PIRC is able to carry out its role to the best of its ability?

Thank you for that. As members have no more questions, I thank you both for your attendance today.

That completes the evidence session, and indeed our business in public for today. I remind members that we agreed to defer our review of evidence and our consideration of our annual report, possibly to next week. In the meantime, members who want to make any points about the annual report should feel free to feed them in, and we will take them forward.

Meeting closed at 13:00.

Good morning, and welcome to the ninth meeting in 2026 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have received no apologies this morning.

Our first item of business is a decision on whether to take items 7 and 8 in private. Do we agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Our next item of business is an evidence-taking session by way of reflecting on the budget proposed for 2026-27 and the Scottish spending review. This morning, we are focusing on Police Scotland. I refer members to papers 1 and 2.

I welcome to the meeting Chief Constable Jo Farrell; Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs, who is Police Scotland’s DCC for professionalism and enabling services; and Sarah Roughead, who is chief financial officer. A warm welcome to you all.

We have around 60 minutes for this evidence session, but I remind everyone to ask succinct questions and to provide succinct responses. I start by inviting the chief constable to make a short opening statement.

Thank you very much. We will move straight into questions.

I will first pick up on a point that you made in your opening remarks about the challenges relating to unmet mental health need. You will be aware of the evidence that we took from your colleagues Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton and Nicky Page on 18 February on the impact on policing of responding to wellbeing-related situations and to vulnerable people in the community.

One of the issues that was flagged up in that evidence session was the specific duty under section 32 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, which states that one of the main policing principles is

“to improve the safety and well-being of persons, localities and communities in Scotland”.

At a recent Scottish Police Authority board meeting, you provided figures to say that Police Scotland was now being called out to around 700 mental health incidents every day. You are reported as saying that the police

“cannot continue to operate in this way”.

I note your comments in the recent issue of 1919 Magazine, in which you said:

“Around 80 per cent of police callouts now involve no criminality, with police time increasingly taken up by public safety concerns, wellbeing checks and mental health crises.”

That is an issue that the committee is well familiar with, having held a number of evidence sessions on it.

Do you have a view on the level of police resources that are being used to respond to the wellbeing challenge on the police?

Our next item of business is consideration of the motion to approve the affirmative SSI on which we have just taken oral evidence. I remind officials—not that I need to—that only MSPs may speak in a debate on a motion.

Motion moved,

That the Criminal Justice Committee recommends that the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 (Characteristic of Sex) (Amendment and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026 [draft] be approved.—[Angela Constance]

Thank you, cabinet secretary. I will kick off with a practical question that relates to the provisions on child criminal exploitation prevention orders, which sound very appropriate and reasonable. However, could there be situations in which they might overlap with, for example, child protection orders, which we are all familiar with and are used regularly in Scotland, or are the proposals on the new orders clearly defined as dealing with specific types of offending that would not necessarily apply to a regular CPO, if that makes sense?

As there are no more questions, we will move on.

Our next item of business is to consider the motion to approve the affirmative SSI on which we have just taken evidence. I remind officials that only members may speak in a debate on a motion. I invite the cabinet secretary to move motion S6M-20532 and to make any brief additional comments that she wishes to make.

Are members content to delegate responsibility to me and the clerks to approve a short factual report to the Parliament on the affirmative instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

Our final item of business is an evidence session on an affirmative instrument. In addition to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, I welcome Mary Hill, criminal justice reform unit, and Louise Miller, solicitor in the legal directorate, both at the Scottish Government.

I refer members to paper 5. I intend to allow up to 20 minutes for this item. I invite the cabinet secretary to make some opening remarks on the SSI.