Committee
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee 17 February 2026
17 Feb 2026 · S6 · Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Item of business
Neurodivergence
May Dunsmuir
Watch on SPTV
The way into the tribunal is that a child or young person has to either have additional support needs or a disability. You do not need to have a diagnosis to have additional support needs, but I think that it is fair to say that those who do not have a diagnosis might have more of a “journey” to make—to quote Superintendent Gallie—in order to access various services. Disability is different, because there are legal tests to define who is disabled.It is a funny thing for me to hear everyone speak about neurodiversity as if we have suddenly become awake and alert to it, when it has been common to us, in our work, for so many years. I think that the language is becoming more accessible and people are becoming more aware, but given that the whole of our jurisdiction deals with it, it is not in any way novel to us. I think that there is more public knowledge, and information is becoming more accessible and more widely known, so the terms and the language are more widespread in the public arena than they ever have been. That is a good thing.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Karen Adam)
SNP
Good morning, and welcome to the fifth meeting in 2026 of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee in session 6. We have received no apologie...
Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green)
Green
I am the Scottish Green MSP on the committee, and its deputy convener.
John Good (Law Society of Scotland)
I am a member of the Law Society of Scotland criminal law committee; I am principally a defence lawyer.
Pam Gosal (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I am a member of the Scottish Parliament for the West Scotland region, from the Conservative Party. I am also a member of the committee.
May Dunsmuir (First-tier Tribunal for Scotland)
I am the chamber president of the health and education chamber, which sits in the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland.
Sarah Angus (Scottish Prison Service)
I am director of policy at the Scottish Prison Service.
Marie McNair (Clydebank and Milngavie) (SNP)
SNP
I represent the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency. Welcome, witnesses, and thank you for your time this morning.
Dr Inga Heyman (Edinburgh Napier University)
I am associate professor in policing and public health at Edinburgh Napier University.
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I am a member of the committee from the Scottish Conservatives, representing the North East Scotland region.
Laura Buchan (Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service)
I am a legal director with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and I am one of its equality leads.
Paul McLennan (East Lothian) (SNP)
SNP
I am the MSP for East Lothian.
Superintendent Graeme Gallie (Police Scotland)
I am the partnership and preventions lead for Ayrshire and Arran, and I am also the national delivery lead for our neurodiversity strategic working group.
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
I am a Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands.
The Convener
SNP
We move online to Dr Natasha Spassiani, who joins us all the way from Toronto—I wonder if you have more sunshine there than we have here, Natasha. Please int...
Dr Natasha Spassiani (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health)
Good morning, everyone—and no, convener, it is still very dark here. I am a scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health research hospital in Toro...
The Convener
SNP
I know that it is quite an unsociable hour for you, but it is important that you are with us, so thank you for joining us.Thank you, everyone—you are very we...
Sarah Angus
I will start. With regard to prevalence, the SPS recently updated its education strategy, and as part of that, we commissioned research, through both literat...
Laura Buchan
I agree with Sarah Angus. It is difficult. One of the issues that COPFS identified when we were discussing the potential learning disabilities, autism and ne...
Superintendent Gallie
Police Scotland recognises that individuals are at the heart of everything that we do, and we have always taken a needs-based, trauma-informed approach. We r...
May Dunsmuir
I will speak specifically about the additional support needs tribunal, which sits in the health and education chamber. I wanted to make that clear, as it is ...
The Convener
SNP
That is really interesting. You do not think that neurodivergence is more prevalent; rather, there is perhaps just more understanding of neurodivergence over...
May Dunsmuir
The way into the tribunal is that a child or young person has to either have additional support needs or a disability. You do not need to have a diagnosis to...
Dr Heyman
To build on what everybody else has said, one thing that has happened more recently is that we have become aware that some people have been channelled down t...
The Convener
SNP
Okay—thank you. We now move to questions from Pam Gosal.
Pam Gosal
Con
I thank you all for the information that you have provided so far. Neurodivergent individuals, including those with autism, ADHD or learning disabilities, ar...
Laura Buchan
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is one part of the criminal justice system, along with Police Scotland, the defence bar, the judiciary, the Sc...
Superintendent Gallie
Police Scotland is acutely aware that data drives a lot of our business and how we approach things, and the systems that we have in place to collect that inf...
Dr Heyman
To build on what Superintendent Gallie said, Police Scotland is on a journey with regard to the identification of these elements. We are not there yet, but P...
Pam Gosal
Con
Thank you for those responses. I will come back to Superintendent Gallie, as something is worrying me. I am hearing from you about all the good stuff that is...
Superintendent Gallie
I will look at the identification element first. It is not the role of Police Scotland, as an organisation, to diagnose or screen someone for a neurodivergen...