Forensic Governance Advisory Group minutes: 3 April 2025

Attendees and apologies

Present

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

In attendance

• Ms Jennifer Brady
• Ms Danielle McLeary

Items and actions

Introductory remarks

Officials welcomed Forensic Governance Advisory Group members to St Andrews House.

The Chair took the opportunity to welcome group members and set the direction of the meeting advising that this session would be a good opportunity to further explore the way forward and potential recommendation.

The Director of Mental Health, Scottish Government met with the group at the start of their meeting. This allowed the group to highlight the key issues that stakeholders have raised during engagement regarding forensic mental health services and provided the group with an opportunity to give an update on the progress of their work to date.

Engagement plan

The Chair noted that engagement with stakeholders has now concluded. The group agreed that the engagement undertaken has been extremely useful and consistent in highlighting a number of systemic issues that the Barron Review also identified. The group have been impressed with the progress made in forensic mental health services over the past 20 years, however, it is clear that there is a strong need for national coherence.

The group noted that they are due to meet the Minister in late April prior to submitting their final report. 

The way forward

The group discussed their potential final recommendation in detail, carefully looking at how this would be implemented. They considered timelines, resources, and potential challenges. There was discussion on how the suggested way forward will benefit forensic mental health services. The group also talked about how forensic mental health services are currently in a state of ‘paralysis’ and any recommended implementation plan needs to be able to be actioned swiftly if agreed by Ministers. 

The group agreed that the details of this recommendation need be teased out in the report but good progress is being made. The group hope to be in a position to present the recommendation to the Minister by the end of April.

Final report

The secretariat for the group shared the most current version of the draft report for the group to review. The report had previously been shared between the group and amendments actioned. The group went through the report together again, making changes and clarifying previous points.

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

Any other busineess (AOB)

The group agreed to meet again on the 22nd April. It is hoped at this meeting that the report will be in a final draft form and the meeting will allow the group to have some discussion prior to the meeting with the Minister later that week.

The Chair drew the meeting to a close, noting that it had been a productive session and thanking members for attendance.