Hansard

09:30

The Convener Lab

The substantive agenda item this morning is further consideration of the report “Best Value in policing: Joint Best Value audit of policing in Scotland”, whi...

Neil Rennick (Scottish Government)

Thank you, convener. I will be brief. I am grateful to Audit Scotland and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for the report.The report is a positive ...

Alasdair Hay (Scottish Police Authority)

Thank you for the opportunity to give evidence. I have been a member of the Scottish Police Authority since 2021. I am the vice-chair of the authority and th...

The Convener Lab

Over to you, chief constable.

Chief Constable Jo Farrell KPM (Police Scotland)

Good morning. The principles of best value resonate powerfully with me. I believe deeply in the value that policing provides to the public and to the public ...

The Convener Lab

Thank you. I ask each of you in turn to say whether you accept the findings and recommendations of the best value report. Mr Hay, you said in your opening re...

Alasdair Hay

The authority accepts the findings and recommendations in full. We have already made progress on putting in place an action plan to respond to them, which wi...

The Convener Lab

Mr Rennick, does the Scottish Government accept the findings and recommendations of this report?

Neil Rennick

Yes, we do. We are committed to working with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority in taking forward the full range of recommendations.

The Convener Lab

Chief constable, over to you.

Chief Constable Farrell

Yes, we do. We have already begun the work to address the issues that are raised in the audit.

The Convener Lab

Before we get into the detail of the report, we want to speak about some more contemporaneous issues, as you are in front of a parliamentary committee. I sho...

Chief Constable Farrell

Within all our operational duties and commitments, obligations around human rights feature in planning, preparation and the deployment of resources, both to ...

The Convener Lab

We heard in your opening statement, chief constable, about changes in the nature of crime and how you have to gear up accordingly. However, what was witnesse...

Chief Constable Farrell

The events of Sunday afternoon were absolutely disgraceful. I condemn the people involved in violence. Fans, families, friends, people working at the clubs a...

The Convener Lab

You pointed out the silence from the two clubs that were involved in that match. Do you think that the football authorities in Scotland are doing enough to h...

Chief Constable Farrell

There are high-risk football matches across the United Kingdom. When I worked in north-east England, I worked at Newcastle v Sunderland and Sunderland v Newc...

The Convener Lab

Thank you. Graham Simpson has a question or two in this area, so I will bring him in at this juncture.

Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Reform) Reform

Thanks, convener. I also used to live in the north-east of England and I have attended Newcastle v Sunderland matches. I have also attended many old firm gam...

Chief Constable Farrell

I have not spoken to either club. As of Monday evening, the clubs had not said anything in relation to the events of Sunday afternoon. They might have done s...

Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs (Police Scotland)

There will be engagement with the commanders for the football. We have policed football matches in Scotland for many, many years, and there are two elements ...

Graham Simpson Reform

Were people assaulted outside the ground both before and after the game, or was it just before the game?

Deputy Chief Constable Speirs

There was a dreadful, serious assault outside the stadium involving spectators who were attending the match. Fortunately, some of our technology captured tha...

Graham Simpson Reform

One of the videos that has been widely seen was of supporters charging into the ground through a disabled access point, barging stewards out of the way. I ho...

Deputy Chief Constable Speirs

The stewarding of the match and spectator access to the match are stewarding matters. Looking at the circumstances, the turnstiles were rushed and a large pr...

Graham Simpson Reform

In that case, it did not look as though there were turnstiles. It must have been a door that was open or a gate.

Chief Constable Farrell

I think it was a fire door—I think.

Graham Simpson Reform

Okay. I turn to the events following the penalty shoot-out, when both sets of fans were on the pitch. I was not there; I was watching it on the telly, and it...

Chief Constable Farrell

That would seem to be an obvious action that needs to be considered and taken by the clubs. It is about how they ensure the safety of their broader fan base ...