Forensic Governance Advisory Group minutes: 27 February 2025

Attendees and apologies

Present

• Ms Esther Roberton (Chair)
• Dr Ian Dewar
• Mr Jim Cannon

In attendance

• Ms Danielle McLeary

Items and actions

Actions from last meeting

The Chair took the opportunity to welcome group members and set the direction of the meeting advising it would focus on looking at the first draft of the group’s final report.

Engagement plan

The chair went over the upcoming engagement with stakeholders, including meetings with colleagues out with forensics who have expertise in governance. The secretariat advised that officials had reached out to set up these meetings.

The group agreed to meet online again on 18th March and hold an in-person meeting on 3rd April.

Action: Stakeholder meetings and advisory group meetings to continue as part of the engagement plan.

Draft final report

The first draft of the final report had been circulated prior to the meeting and group members had provided comments in advance. The secretariat for the group shared the draft report for the group to review.

The group went through the report together, adding comments and suggestions on areas of the document that needed changes or further clarification. Throughout the discussion, the group reflected on insights they had received from stakeholders during their engagement about current forensic mental health services and agreed to include key findings in the report.

The group took the opportunity to discuss the way forward in more detail. The group agreed that the final recommendation regarding a suitable model is to continue to be explored in more detail over the following weeks.

Action: Secretariat to circulate draft report with additional comments from today’s meeting.
Action: All members to review report and continue to send comments.

Any other busineess (AOB)

The Chair drew the meeting to a close, thanking members for attendance.