Thank you, convener. Members may recall that, through a legislative consent motion in 2015, the Scottish Parliament agreed to two amendments to the United Kingdom’s Serious Crime Bill, allowing us to bring forward these regulations. The regulations build on the steps that we have already taken to tackle illicit mobile phone use in prisons. Parliament has already agreed changes to prison rules and made changes to the law to create offences relating to the introduction and possession of mobile phones or their component parts in prison without authorisation, and to allow us to interfere with the wireless spectrum and to pilot interference technology in two prisons to disrupt mobile phone use. I understand that members took the opportunity to learn more about the technology and its capabilities in private, and I am grateful to those who participated in that briefing.
I am clear that the unauthorised use of mobile phones in prison presents a range of serious risks to the security of prisons and to the safety of the public. They can be used to plan escape or indiscipline or to conduct serious organised crime, including drug imports and serious violence, from behind bars. The regulations will support our commitment to reducing the harm caused by serious organised crime, as part of Scotland’s serious organised crime strategy.
The challenges posed by unauthorised mobile phones and their component parts in prisons and young offenders institutions are not insignificant. Component parts, such as SIM cards, are easily concealed; we have been able to recover more than 1,500 mobile phones or component parts since 2013, but more will escape detection. We remain committed to minimising the number of mobile phones that enter prisons, to finding phones and, for users who have them, to blocking phones to make sure that they are not able to access networks. With the regulations, the courts will be able to set in place a process to remove particular phones from the networks. That will render them worthless and permanently stop prisoners using them to engage in criminal activity from prison. It will also help the police and prison authorities to maintain the security of our prisons and the safety of our communities.
The regulations will not prevent the introduction of illicit mobile phones or their component parts in prison. However, the successful disabling of a mobile phone will put it beyond use and will seriously disrupt the activities of individuals, including those who are involved in serious and organised crime who would seek to extend their criminal activities, threats or presence beyond the walls of our prisons.
I know that some members will be concerned about the potential impact of the regulations outside prisons, but I trust that members have been given the reassurances that they needed by the opportunities provided to them by my officials to understand the evidence that will be obtained in order to satisfy the courts that the mobile phones are in a prison.
The committee might also find it useful to know that the communication service providers have told us that they would welcome a clear legal instrument that establishes a route by which they would be compelled to act on these matters. The regulations will provide that clarity.
I am happy to take questions from members.