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Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

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Showing 60 of 2,355,091 contributions. Latest 30 days: 148. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 14 May 2026.
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
29 Jan 2013
Prison Visits
The prisoners’ work programme has limitations, many of which are to do with the significant number of relatively short-stay prisoners, in that it is harder to get them on meaningful programmes. That is probably the biggest weakness in the schedule. On the other side of the coi...
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Dec 2012
Subordinate Legislation
Is that not two weeks later than we were advised?
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Dec 2012
Subordinate Legislation
No wonder we get this European Union stuff wrong.
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Dec 2012
Petition
I concur with what John Finnie and Roderick Campbell have said. We should keep the petition open until we get information back from Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary in response to the complaint.There is one thing that I query. As I understood the legislation that we passed i...
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Dec 2012
School Exclusions and Offending
Our paper on the issue starts with a discussion of the link between exclusion and offending. As the evidence has been laid out in the discussion, we have discovered that informal exclusion is a major element, which, by its nature, is presumably not tracked by any formal study....
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Dec 2012
School Exclusions and Offending
I am an MSP for Lothian.
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
11 Dec 2012
Subordinate Legislation
Does the change that is proposed in the draft order bring the rules for all judicial offices into alignment?
David McLetchie Con Chamber
11 Dec 2012
Topical Question Time · Creative Scotland (Severance Package for Chief Executive)
Can the cabinet secretary confirm that she retains full confidence in the board of Creative Scotland and that following the publication of the internal reviews, which is due to take place on Friday, she will take all necessary steps to restore the confidence of members of the ...
David McLetchie Con Chamber
11 Dec 2012
Topical Question Time · Creative Scotland (Severance Package for Chief Executive)
I am very disappointed to hear that. I am not quite sure why the Scottish Government should be complicit in a cover-up of the expenditure of considerable sums of public money.In considering her answer to my previous question, the cabinet secretary should acknowledge that we ha...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
11 Dec 2012
Topical Question Time · Creative Scotland (Severance Package for Chief Executive)
3. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the severance package agreed with the chief executive of Creative Scotland, Andrew Dixon, in light of his announcement that he is to leave the organisation in January 2013. (S4T-00158)
David McLetchie Con Committee
04 Dec 2012
“Reducing reoffending in Scotland”
We have a dysfunctional system, albeit with a few bright spots, that has been running for five and a bit years, and we have no new money. That is where we sit, and that is where we will still be sitting in April of next year.
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
04 Dec 2012
“Reducing reoffending in Scotland”
Good morning. I want to follow on from the points that were raised by the convener. From reading your report and the summary of it, I suggest that we are not doing very well—that is the bottom line—as far as reducing reoffending is concerned. I have listened to you say that mo...
David McLetchie Con Committee
27 Nov 2012
Police Reform
What reduction in the number of police staff do you anticipate that there will be over the next three financial years?
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
27 Nov 2012
Police Reform
I ask the witnesses to update us on progress on the proposed reductions in the numbers of police staff.
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
27 Nov 2012
Topical Question Time · Prison Sentences (Early Release)
I agree with the cabinet secretary when he says that the law needs to be clear and understandable to all. Would we not get that clarity if we ended automatic early release? If we did so, we would not need to have all the elaborate provisions that the cabinet secretary has just...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
30 Oct 2012
Prisons (Interference with Wireless Telegraphy) Bill
Thank you for your opening statement, minister. Can you explain precisely what is new about the bill?
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
25 Oct 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
I am pleased to be able to speak in today’s stage 1 debate on the Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill.Once again, the Parliament and the Justice Committee are considering a piece of legislation with two very different parts. Part 1 seeks to establ...
David McLetchie Con Committee
23 Oct 2012
Draft Budget Scrutiny 2013-14
Finally, has anything changed since publication of the 2011 spending review that might be expected to place additional pressures on the policing budget?
David McLetchie Con Committee
23 Oct 2012
Draft Budget Scrutiny 2013-14
Is the proposed budget for 2013-14 adequate? On what information do you base your assessment?
David McLetchie Con Committee
23 Oct 2012
Draft Budget Scrutiny 2013-14
The process of police reform has led to significant changes in how moneys for policing are set out in the draft budget. However, the figures in the budget appear to indicate that the proposed police budget for 2013-14 is more or less the same as that in the plans for that year...
David McLetchie Con Committee
23 Oct 2012
Draft Budget Scrutiny 2013-14
Can you assure us that those officers will continue to be employed?
David McLetchie Con Committee
23 Oct 2012
Draft Budget Scrutiny 2013-14
Although the new arrangements seek to provide a single stream for all core police funding, the Scottish Government has advised that local authorities will still be able to provide additional sums for local policing. What was the scale of such funding in the past? Is it envisag...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
23 Oct 2012
Draft Budget Scrutiny 2013-14
Oh, right.
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
02 Oct 2012
Role of the Media in Criminal Trials
I am a committee member.
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
20 Sep 2012
Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (Access)
The debate is about how we ensure that students who have the ability and desire to become solicitors in Scotland are not deterred by a lack of financial support. I note that the Law Society of Scotland and the campaign for fair access to the legal profession, which represents ...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
19 Sep 2012
Scottish Government Question Time · Strathclyde Police (Meetings)
Did the cabinet secretary read the report on Strathclyde police authority, in which the auditor highlighted the inadequate level of engagement on the part of authority members?
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
Yes, I can see that, but your evidence on behavioural change—although, as someone once said, “They would say that, wouldn’t they?”—seems directly to contradict Mr Harrower’s responses to my questions. He seemed to think completely the opposite to what your submission and the S...
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
I find it slightly difficult to square that evidence with paragraph 11 of the SLAB submission, which states that alignment of the rules for ABWOR, criminal legal aid and so on will effect change as a result of “changes in pleading behaviour”.
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
Dr Lancaster, did I hear you say that changes to contribution rules in England and Wales had not changed pleading behaviour?
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
So we can dismiss that point, on the basis of your evidence anyway.The SLAB evidence on incentives says:“If the onus of collection were to shift to the Board for summary criminal legal aid but remain with the solicitor for ABWOR, the latter could become a less attractive form ...
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
The Government’s consultation says that requiring solicitors to collect contributions for ABWOR while SLAB collects contributions for criminal legal aid could create a “perverse incentive” for solicitors to encourage clients to plead not guilty so that they can be relieved of ...
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
What about the ones that are assessed and collected by SLAB?
David McLetchie Con Committee
11 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
How does that compare with the totality of cases?
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
11 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
Could we put some numbers on the cases that we are considering? How many cases fall into the criminal legal aid category, in which responsibility for contribution collection is in effect going back to the solicitors along with ABWOR?
David McLetchie Con Committee
04 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
I suppose that the public would look at all this and ask whether the change will make civil justice more accessible to people, whether we will get speedier resolution of cases and whether we will have a reduction in the costs of resolving cases and disputes. Why is the creatio...
David McLetchie Con Committee
04 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
More deferential.
David McLetchie Con Committee
04 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
Do you have any idea of the sort of people who might comprise the six-pack that you will appoint when the body is set up? Will they represent user groups other than members of the legal profession? Will the balance between representatives and members of the legal profession be...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
04 Sep 2012
Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill: Stage 1
Good morning, Lord Gill. It is inevitable that when a new body is being set up many of the representations to the committee are about who will be on that body and who will be chair. This is no exception. For example, the Law Society of Scotland suggested that the representatio...
David McLetchie Con Chamber
17 May 2012
Civilian Police Staff
It would certainly make a contribution, but I would prefer the full business case to be submitted. No one in the chamber is clear about how much money will be saved by a move to a single police force. Accordingly, and because police officer numbers are to be protected, we can ...
David McLetchie Con Chamber
17 May 2012
Civilian Police Staff
This morning’s debate has highlighted the challenges that face us in light of the current pressures on the public finances. Making the necessary savings will involve difficult decisions and, with 86 per cent of the policing budget going on staffing costs, posts will have to be...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
17 May 2012
Civilian Police Staff
I welcome the opportunity to debate the future of civilian staff in Scotland’s police forces, which touches on topics that we discussed last week during the stage 1 debate on the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill. During the Justice Committee’s consideration of that bill,...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
10 May 2012
Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate on the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill. As I suspect will be the norm in speeches this morning, I will focus my comments on the establishment of a single police service for Scotland. The pro...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
10 May 2012
Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Will the cabinet secretary clarify whether the reform process is being driven by the need for protection from the so-called budget cuts from Westminster or by a desire to ensure that Scotland has the best possible service?
David McLetchie Con Chamber
26 Apr 2012
Women Offenders
I am not really sure where the 2 per cent figure comes from; perhaps the minister could explain that as well as how it fits with the fact that in one year alone—2010-11—there were 321 instances of non-sexual crimes of violence committed by women.
David McLetchie Con Chamber
26 Apr 2012
Women Offenders
I happily acknowledge that that is the case for many women offenders. However, for those who end up in jail, we should not forget that the size of our prison population arises from the judgments that are made by our independently appointed judges who, taking into account the c...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
26 Apr 2012
Women Offenders
Like the cabinet secretary and Mr Macdonald, I welcome the report that the commission has published. I was pleased to make a modest contribution to its work by way of oral evidence.Before I comment on some of the specific recommendations, it is worth emphasising some key stati...
David McLetchie Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I shall have to stop debating that point and move on to part 2.I continue to question whether part 2 is necessary in the changed circumstances in which we find ourselves. No one would dispute that the bill was drafted and scrutinised with the Megrahi case at the forefront of o...
David McLetchie Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Hang on. I am sorry, but I honestly do not know the answer to that question. I will look up the answer and I will write to the minister after the debate. Laughter. Right. I have kind of lost my thread.
David McLetchie Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I do not know whether it was zero.
David McLetchie Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I agree that our prisons are full. However, I think that that is a good thing and it is one reason why crime rates are at their lowest for 35 years. I am astonished that members of the Scottish National Party, who like to brag about that weekly, fail to see the fairly obvious ...
David McLetchie Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Once again, you show your generous nature. I am most gratified. This has happened a couple of weeks in a row.As I indicated in my opening remarks, the Scottish Conservatives will support the bill at stage 1. We welcome this afternoon’s debate, whi...
David McLetchie Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Yes—I accept that that is the position, but that is a cover-up for not implementing anything, as Mr Finnie will realise, the longer he serves in this Parliament.As members have said, part 2 has largely been superseded by events. Shortly before the publication of the committee’...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
As other members have done, I speak as a member of the Justice Committee, which has had responsibility for scrutinising the bill, the first part of which was described to us as creating“a tortuous system which is barely intelligible to lawyers, let alone to the general public”...
David McLetchie Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Scottish Executive Question Time · NHS Lothian (Management Culture Inquiry)
The cabinet secretary will recall that, following her statement to the Parliament on 21 March, I raised the importance of having an independent investigation into the management culture at NHS Lothian. I welcome the reappointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers, which conducted the ...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
19 Apr 2012
Scottish Executive Question Time · NHS Lothian (Management Culture Inquiry)
6. To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive a report from NHS Lothian on its inquiry into its management culture. (S4O-00884)
David McLetchie Con Chamber
18 Apr 2012
Scotland Bill
Will the member give way?
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
18 Apr 2012
Scotland Bill
Like James Kelly, I commend Linda Fabiani for her convenership of the Scotland Bill Committee. I very much enjoyed my participation in it, as I enjoyed my participation in its predecessor in the previous session of Parliament.The legislative consent motion that the Scottish Go...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
18 Apr 2012
Scotland Bill
How many proposals?
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
17 Apr 2012
Subordinate Legislation
It is a model of clarity.
David McLetchie Con Chamber
29 Mar 2012
Tribunal System
Oh, is that all? How disappointing, Presiding Officer.As I indicated in my opening speech, I have some concerns about what might be charitably described as the painstaking approach to tribunal reform in Scotland over recent years and, as Roderick Campbell and James Kelly made ...
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Committee

Justice Committee 29 January 2013

29 Jan 2013 · S4 · Justice Committee
Item of business
Prison Visits
McLetchie, David Con Lothian Watch on SPTV
The prisoners’ work programme has limitations, many of which are to do with the significant number of relatively short-stay prisoners, in that it is harder to get them on meaningful programmes. That is probably the biggest weakness in the schedule. On the other side of the coin, there are meaningful activities, too, so I do not just dismiss everything out of hand, although I got the impression that the programme is not as well structured or organised as it might be.

In the same item of business

The Convener SNP
Item 4 on the agenda is a report on our prison visits. Members have visited Barlinnie, Edinburgh, Inverness, Low Moss, Perth and Polmont over the past two we...
John Finnie Ind
We were made welcome. A lot of positive work is going on in Inverness. The issues include the limitations caused by the building’s construction and the conse...
The Convener SNP
Perhaps later we can ask why the women’s unit is so successful. That is interesting.Colin Keir and David McLetchie both went to Saughton. It is HMP Edinburgh...
David McLetchie (Lothian) (Con) Con
The prisoners’ work programme has limitations, many of which are to do with the significant number of relatively short-stay prisoners, in that it is harder t...
Colin Keir (Edinburgh Western) (SNP) SNP
I agree. We saw some impressive work activities, such as portable appliance testing and woodwork, but there are fundamental problems, particularly with the s...
The Convener SNP
Your report mentions internet restrictions and states that internet access for educational purposes is provided successfully elsewhere in the United Kingdom....
Colin Keir SNP
From what I remember of the conversation that we had on that, the issue is about where to draw the line. Allowing internet access for educational purposes is...
The Convener SNP
Alison McInnes and I visited Polmont.
Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD) LD
The visit was interesting and we were made very welcome. We had a good time exploring a number of things. There are particular challenges for a young offende...
The Convener SNP
I will add a couple of points to that. I accept the difficulties about internet-based learning and I agree with Alison McInnes about what I call education by...
Graeme Pearson Lab
I attended Low Moss last week. It is a very modern prison; it will be a year old next month. It has 700 prisoners, which is just about full to capacity. Ther...
The Convener SNP
Does “Education attendance” mean formally sitting down to learn to read, write and count, or does it include—as I think it should—applied education?
Graeme Pearson Lab
I think that the education includes all sorts of things. There may be a softness to it, in that prisoners who merely attend and show an interest will be incl...
The Convener SNP
Sandra, do you want to tell us about your visit to Barlinnie? You went to the Bar-L.
Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP) SNP
Yes—I think that is what they called it when we walked in. It was very interesting—
The Convener SNP
You got a hat out of it.
Sandra White SNP
I got a hat and a mug—the clerk got a mug as well—which you cannot buy. Perhaps in later years the mug might appear as an heirloom on the “Antiques Roadshow”...
The Convener SNP
I am conscious, having done it myself, that we have been speaking about purposeful activity, which is a spectrum of activities including activities to addres...
Sandra White SNP
We should raise that point as we proceed with our inquiry. In Barlinnie, a number of the prisoners who took part in courses were able to get Scottish vocatio...
The Convener SNP
Do employers go into Barlinnie?
Sandra White SNP
Martin Plant Hire employs a number of prisoners; they do not use an apprenticeship process, but the prisoners work there. Various other companies are involve...
The Convener SNP
You, too, had experience of the Bike Station, Alison.
Alison McInnes LD
Yes.
The Convener SNP
Do we know whether the people got jobs at the end of it?
Alison McInnes LD
I think that one person was employed at the Bike Station after they had left prison.
The Convener SNP
Roddy—you were at Perth prison.
Roderick Campbell SNP
Yes. I will try to be brief, as a lot of the points have already been covered. I was impressed by the governor and his staff, including the deputy governor, ...
The Convener SNP
I thank members for that.I suspend the meeting briefly to allow Colin McConnell to take his place so that members can ask questions in our purposeful activit...