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We still have to set the budget but I accept the point that body-worn cameras are a priority for the Scottish Government. As you said, the First Minister has spoken of that on a number of occasions. In the evidence that Police Scotland gave to this committee, it was made clear that it is also a priority for them. I believe that body-worn cameras are a good example of investing to save and of reforming how the business is done. Their use will lead to more effectiveness and efficiency, perhaps around the provision of evidence, and there is also an important point about officer safety.

I will not speculate, because I just do not think that that would be helpful. I will say that it will cost more than £400 million. I am confident of that. As soon as we have clarity on the final design, we will have clarity on cost, and I will endeavour to share that with the committee because it is a matter of public interest.

I would expect that information to come from the SPS. We will pick that up with the SPS.

It is important to remember that the number of fires has reduced in the past 20 years, which is to the credit of firefighters. My understanding is that, many years ago, the fire service moved away from having targets on response times. Instead, it has a targeted approach to risk and the allocation of resources. I do not know whether it was the current Criminal Justice Committee or a previous justice committee that was not convinced that time targets for response times was the best way to go. Bearing in mind the preponderance and incidence of dwelling fires and primary fires, we are in a safer place because fires have reduced. Nonetheless, community safety is a priority and we will continue to do what we can to support people with as much resource as can be afforded.

I dispute that, Mr Findlay, with respect.

There are two aspects to Ms Clark’s question. Yes, indeed, I visited the premises in East Kilbride to be able to apprise myself of the further advantages of GPS technology. I have commissioned my officials to explore that work and hope to keep Parliament abreast of that. We have seen success with the increase in the electronic monitoring with bail, for example. That is a good example of the use of technology that is not just to the benefit of individuals and families but also to communities in the long run. It is an important part of the jigsaw in relation to community payback orders. Community payback orders can have a very wide range of conditions attached to them and I would like to see that fuller spectrum of conditions utilised. I have recently discussed with Social Work Scotland how we can move forward and do that.

We do not want to take for ever and a day about it, but that will be finalised once the budget is finalised. I hope that I can convey to you and also to police officers, that the body-worn camera investment is a priority.

The assurance that I can give to this committee is that I will work as hard as possible to get the best possible budget for Police Scotland because I want the new chief constable to be able to make decisions as she sees fit around police numbers and the deployment of those resources. I know from my engagement thus far with the new chief constable that she is particularly focused on community policing and presence as a priority.

It is always the case that, in the lead-up to budgets, people make predictions, and predictions have to be made on assumptions, but I point to the fact that, this year, we ended up in a better financial position, and the most recent quarterly statistics around police numbers show a stabilisation at 16,600. We all value each and every police officer, and we want to support them to work in communities, whether that is via technology or other means.

No—although it is about our on-going recovery from the pandemic. We will discuss this in greater detail later. Originally, there were seven extensions to time limits. With committee approval, after its hearing on the issue, we will remove some of those and we will have in place three out of the seven.

We are making progress because the court backlog programme is making progress. The backlog is down by a third since the start of last year. Increasing resources went into solemn cases, with two additional High Courts and six additional sheriff summary courts. The test of the measures that were applied was whether they were necessary and proportionate. We are lifting the time limits because they are no longer necessary and proportionate. We believe that the remaining extensions, which we will discuss later, continue to be necessary.

I can assure Ms McNeill and the committee that the replacement of HMP Barlinnie is a priority. Prioritising it will have consequences in that we will not be able to pursue other actions in the prison estate as quickly as we want.

The prison will be a large infrastructure project that will require funding over a number of years and it will require a sustained commitment. We will not know the timescale until we know the costs, and we will not know the costs until we get the final designs. That is the bottom line. There perhaps is not the specific information that people desire. We are all keen to have that information, but we need to know the final design so that we can know the final anticipated cost. I say “anticipated” because the costs of infrastructure projects change, as we know. Once we know the cost, we can work out the timescale and the capital budget accordingly. This is not a one-year-only investment.