Mr. Alan Brecknell:

Can I come in and reiterate some of what Ms Urwin said? In relation to the families who have met with Jon Boutcher personally and with his teams north of the Border, they all come across as being highly professional and they have done everything in a victim-centred way, which proves this process can be done effectively and in a way that is appropriate. I do not want to put a dampener on Mr. Boutcher's work to date but we have not seen any product from it, even from the Kenova process as of yet. That is not to say that there will not be. I am simply putting it out there that this is an issue.

One of the big concerns we have with Operation Denton is that it possibly will be 18 months to two years before he will be finished and in a position to finalise a report. It is very important, no matter what happens regarding the legacy proposals put forward by London, that the pressure is brought to bear and that the processes - this may sound really selfish - should be allowed to finish. The time and effort his team have put in to this, and the time and effort victims and survivors have put in working with his team needs to be acknowledged. That report needs to be given to the families. If anything constructive is to come from this meeting today, we would call on the committee to do all it can to ensure, whatever happens going forward, Jon Boutcher is given the time to complete this report for these families. It was promised to them by the Historical Enquiries Team more than ten years ago. That is my call on the committee: I ask that members do anything they can to ensure that report is given to those families as soon as it possibly can be and that it is not stymied in some way.