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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 10 July 2025
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Displaying 903 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee

Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 16 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

No, I am happy with that, convener. The previous questioners covered the main thrust of what I was going to ask about.

Criminal Justice Committee

Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 16 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

Good morning to the witnesses. You might have heard some of the questions on this area during the earlier evidence session. Quite a few of us had questions about the specific restrictions that are proposed in the bill around the limit on days and times when fireworks can be sold and used. What do you think of those restrictions and do you have any concerns about the legislation specifying certain days?

Criminal Justice Committee

Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 16 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

Okay, thanks. I am happy to leave it there. Those have been two really good answers about those particular restrictions and it is good to have them on the record.

Criminal Justice Committee

Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 16 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

That is one of the key benefits. I fully understand why certain days have been put in the bill. Not only will it allow emergency services to prepare but, as we heard quite articulately from the previous panel of witnesses, it will allow pet owners, for example, to prepare not to be in the area or to seek alternatives; medication and suchlike were mentioned.

My worry, which I know that other members share, is that, by specifying dates, you go into an arena of not specifying other dates such as other religious festivals or other events that might be important to people. I want to work out whether there is any way in which we can improve that aspect of the bill or ensure that it is not open to some sort of challenge in the future—that is our job.

Rob, have you got any thoughts on the specified dates? How would that aspect impact on the people that you work with?

Criminal Justice Committee

Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 9 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

My questions follow on quite well from those that Rona Mackay and Katy Clark asked, so I run the risk of repeating what has been said or of asking the witnesses to repeat themselves.

Like other members round the table, I was involved in the bill that became the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019, which has been mentioned. That was before the pandemic, when we had no idea about the existence of Covid. Scotland was very much on a route—rightly or wrongly; I believe that it was right—to ensure that vulnerable witnesses did not need to go into a court set-up, given the trauma that they could experience. The pandemic then came. As Katy Clark articulated, we all felt that there would be more such trials, so the statistics are perhaps a wee bit surprising, given the opportunities that the pandemic allowed for.

All that said, I note that the bill asks us to allow some of the provisions to continue in order to speed up the process of vulnerable witnesses being able to give their evidence out of court. Will the bill as drafted allow you to continue to take steps, which began with the 2019 act and other processes that were already in place, to ensure that vulnerable witnesses in the most difficult of cases do not need to appear in court?

Criminal Justice Committee

Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 9 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

I am hearing good levels of support from both of you, but is the bill required? You have both identified that other processes are in place. Is the bill required to make the transition easier and give you more tools in order to get to the point where we want to be?

Criminal Justice Committee

Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 9 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

Yes—thanks a lot. I have to say that the previous panel, who were from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the courts, indicated quite strong support for the bill. I do not want to step on Katy Clark’s toes here, as I am sure that she will go into this but, when I asked the previous panel about the progress that they had started to make, their answer seemed to be that there had not been as many virtual trials as we had expected throughout the pandemic, but that there was a clear desire to move in that direction. The previous two witnesses felt that the legislation was needed to allow us to do that. I suppose that I am just following up with you the question that I asked them, but I think that you have answered it.

Criminal Justice Committee

Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 9 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

Thank you. It was important to get on the record some practical examples of how the bill might impact.

Criminal Justice Committee

Risk Assessment in the Justice System

Meeting date: 9 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

Have all the cases that you identified and have been working through been subject to the professional override that you talked about in the chamber last week? I will come back to that issue. Was the level of risk lowered from what the LS/CMI said in all of those cases? Do you have that information?

Criminal Justice Committee

Risk Assessment in the Justice System

Meeting date: 9 March 2022

Fulton MacGregor

Yes.