Parliamentary questions
Alison McInnes
1,004 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
26 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what average time applicants for emergency orders have had to wait to find out if an order has been granted by each (a) sheriff and (b) justice of the peace court in each month since June 2013.
Answer · Michael Matheson: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing within 20 days.
26 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) latest and (b) average time has been for each (i) sheriff and (ii) justice of the peace court to finish sitting in each month since June 2013.
Answer · Michael Matheson: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing within 20 days.
26 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many facilities that conduct drug testing in accordance with court orders have (a) opened and (b) closed in each year since 2006-07, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Drug testing in accordance with court orders occurs in a number of settings and as such information about facilities by NHS board area or other criterion is not held centrally.
26 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners were moved from HMPYOI Grampian following the disturbance in May 2014, broken down by facility they were moved to, and how many (a) have now returned or (b) were released while at the alternative facility.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: Following the incident on 13 May 2014 a total number of 144 individuals (including 43 male young offenders) were transferred from HMPYOI Gra…
26 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the publication of the updated statistics on (a) domestic abuse incidents, (b) racist incidents, (c) drug seizures and (d) recorded crimes and offences involving firearms has been delayed; when ministers were advised of this; what its position is on this delay; on what da…
Answer · Michael Matheson: More time is required to publish 2013-14 statistics for these four areas because Police Scotland needs additional time to collate and review the data required to produce these official statistics. This is due to the information coming from a range of bespoke …
18 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the recommendations in chapter 8 of The Public Inquiry into the Shootings at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996, regarding aspects of the certification system relating to firearms that fall within section 1 of the Firearms Act 1968, are being met, and what…
Answer · Michael Matheson: Following publication of the report of Lord Cullen’s inquiry into the tragic shootings at Dunblane Primary School the UK Government made a number of significant changes to the firearms regime, in line with the report’s recommendations. This included changes t…
18 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) new and (b) renewal applications for firearms certificates have been submitted in each year since 2011-12, also broken down by the average number of (i) days and (ii) staff hours taken to (A) process and (B) confirm the outcome of an application.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Information on new and renewal firearms certificate applications was published by calendar year to the end of December 2013 in Table 2 of the Scottish Government’s annual statistical bulletin Firearm Certificate Statistics, Scotland, 2013. This was published …
18 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how long the initial training period is for police civilian firearms licensing and enquiry officers; what the training includes; what changes have been introduced since 1 April 2014, and what future changes are planned.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There was no nationally approved training programme for police civilian firearms licensing and enquiry officers under the legacy force arrangements. Since 1 April 2014 Police Scotland has developed and introduced a national training programme which will be d…
18 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many police civilian firearms licensing and enquiry officers there have been in each year since 2011-12; what future changes are planned, and what plans there are to review whether the number is sufficient.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Statistics relating to staff numbers and related issues are a matter for Police Scotland. I understand that it is not possible to provide figures for the period prior to the establishment of the single force on 1 April 2013. Since that date there have been th…
18 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many police fines (a) have been issued in 2014-15 and (b) were issued in each year since 2011-12 for failing to notify the DVLA of a change of address, and to whom the money is given, broken down by legacy force or division.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. This is a matter for Police Scotland, the DVLA and HM Treasury. The money raised from fines for failing to notify the DVLA of a change of address in Scotland would be passed directly to HM Treasury.
18 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) the illicit intrusion into a computer network, (b) the disruption or downgrading of computer functionality and network space, (c) e-commerce fraud, (d) fraudulent sales through online auction or retail sites, (e) online mass-marketing fraud, (f) online consumer scams, (g) phi…
Answer · Michael Matheson: The terms stated above would be recorded by the police as a crime under the relevant legislation. However, the police recorded crime data collected centrally is based on an aggregate count of crimes and offences recorded and cleared up by the police in Scotla…
18 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding service centre and control room IT systems and whether any issues have been reported to ministers.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has regular discussions with Police Scotland to discuss important issues around keeping people safe and this includes progress on the implementation of change programmes such as Contact, Command and Control (C3). The ongoing restructu…
18 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland plans to alter the timetable for the remodelling of service centres and control rooms, which was approved by the Scottish Police Authority on 30 January 2014; what its review and assessment of the closure programme to date will involve, and whether the outcome wil…
Answer · Michael Matheson: Police control rooms are an operational matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA). One of Police Scotland’s top priorities is to protect and enhance services to local communities. The ongoing restructure of Contact, Command and Contr…
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what role (a) it and (b) Police Scotland has in the management or supervision of the Police National Database.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has no role in the management or supervision of the Police National Database (PND) services; this is a matter for the Home Office. Police Scotland has representation at various PND groups, including the national user group and the busi…
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding (a) it and (b) Police Scotland provides to the Police National Database.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Prior to the formation of Police Scotland in April 2013, the Scottish Government met the costs of the Police National Database services for legacy forces in Scotland. The costs are now met by Police Scotland directly to the Home Office. The current cost is £7…
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) images used in connection with facial recognition technology and (b) other images have been uploaded to (i) the Police National Database and (ii) other databases by Police Scotland and the legacy forces in each year since 2007, and when ministers were made aware of this.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question and I have asked him to reply to you direct. Facial recognition technology is one aspect of the Police National Database service. That functionalit…
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) Police Scotland and (b) any other public body it has responsibility for retains indefinitely images taken of people who were never (i) subsequently charged with and (ii) convicted of an offence and, if so, what its position is on this matter.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question regarding Police Scotland and I have asked him to reply to you direct. The Scottish Government has clear procedures for the retention and disposal of records. Information and records are retained only as lon…
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have had their image taken by the police in each year since 2007, broken down by legacy force or division; how many were never (a) subsequently charged with and (b) convicted of an offence, and what information it has on what happened to the images.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question and I have asked him to reply to you direct.
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding police use of facial recognition technology.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the UK Government regarding police use of facial recognition technology.
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to (a) investigate the potential for and (b) establish or maintain a facial recognition database for use by Police Scotland.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has not provided any funding specifically for a facial recognition database. Facial recognition is one element of the Police National Database services, the national information management system for police services across the UK to s…
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) legislation and (b) rules are applied to Police Scotland's (i) use of facial recognition technology and (ii) retention of (A) personal, (B) custody-suite and (C) other images.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question and I have asked him to reply to you direct.
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding the (a) use of facial recognition technology and (b) development or use of databases for facial recognition purposes, and whether this matter was discussed with the legacy forces.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has not discussed these matters with Police Scotland or legacy forces.
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times Police Scotland, or the legacy forces, accessed (a) the Police National Database and (b) other database to use facial recognition technology in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question and I have asked him to reply to you direct.
16 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland maintains a database of images that it uses for facial recognition purposes.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question and I have asked him to reply to you direct.
11 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedules 4 and 5 and Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2015 has the effect of extending the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament to include Section 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 in re…
Answer · John Swinney: The Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedules 4 and 5 and Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2015 does not extend the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament to alter Section 3 of the Representation of the People Act 198…
23 Feb 2015 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances it considers it appropriate for a guardianship order to be granted.
23 Feb 2015 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to claims that its officials and Police Scotland sought to influence the content and publication of Kath Murray's PhD research into the use of stop and search.
26 Jan 2015 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve access to modern apprenticeships for disabled young people.
26 Jan 2015 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement that plans for HMP Inverclyde have been abandoned, what consideration it has given to interim arrangements for women prisoners in HMP Cornton Vale.
22 Jan 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of public appointments made since 2007 went to (a) women, (b) people under 40, (c) people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, (d) disabled people and (e) LGBT people.
Answer · Alex Neil: The numbers of public appointments, and the breakdown by the listed protected characteristics, are published in the annual reports of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland (previously the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appoi…