The Government has an excellent track record in responding to FOI requests. One of the two requests in question concerned releasing a huge amount of data and involved protecting the identity of individuals, and I remind Mr Ross that the other involved the Government, very unusually, releasing legal advice that it had received. That in itself is evidence of the Government’s willingness to comply with FOI requests. [Interruption.]

As the First Minister set out in the chamber on 19 March, the Scottish Government has, since the start of 2024, answered more than 13,000 freedom of information requests, of which 95 per cent have been responded to on time. The Scottish Information Commissioner has raised compliance concerns about two of those cases. One relates to a delay in compliance due to the need to adhere to court orders and the scale and complexity of the material involved. The other is about the interpretation of the scope of a request. As the permanent secretary has set out in response to the commissioner, all FOI request cases are handled with the highest standards of impartiality and integrity.

Indeed, Presiding Officer. Oh, the irony of Douglas Ross standing up in this chamber and calling on anyone to respect authority. If anyone wants evidence of how estranged Mr Ross is from self-awareness, we have just had it. [Interruption.]

I absolutely do not accept the thrust of Mr Ross’s point. [Interruption.]

The order responds to a European convention on human rights compliance issue that was identified in relation to voting rights for Scottish Parliament elections and which requires to be remedied ahead of the 2026 election.

Section 3A(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 includes a blanket ban, similar to the one that used to be in place for prisoners, to prohibit some people detained on mental health grounds relating to criminal justice from voting in elections in the UK. The order makes minor changes to legislation to maintain consistency with exceptions made to prisoner voting in the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020, which extended the right to vote in Scottish Parliament and Scottish local elections to prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less. That bill remains the only bill of this Parliament to have required a two-thirds supermajority in order to be passed and to have obtained that.

I gently point out to Sue Webber and the rest of the Tories, who are forever on about the accuracy of contributions that are made in the chamber, that it was this Parliament, not the SNP, that facilitated prisoner voting.

Out of respect for my good friend John Mason, I will let that one slide.

On a serious point, the order will mean that, if a person who has been detained on a mental health ground has been sentenced to 12 months or less or has received a mental health detention rather than a prison sentence, they will be able to vote if the maximum sentence or sentences possible would have amounted to 12 months or less. That is in line with the law that is in place for prisoners, and we envisage that about 20 people—20 people—might be impacted.

One aspect relating to consistency with prisoner voting concerns people who are subject to temporary compulsion orders. They are in a similar position to a remand prisoner. They have been detained but not convicted, sentenced or found to have committed a criminal offence following an examination of the facts. Remand prisoners across the UK are able to vote, so the order provides for the voting rights for those who are subject to temporary compulsion orders to be the same as those for remand prisoners.

The order is also temporary. It applies only to elections between 7 May 2026 and 28 February 2030. That will allow the arrangements to be consulted on by the next Government and revisited by the next Parliament.

In the light of some recent ill-informed commentary, I must also stress that people are not excluded from participating in elections on the basis of mental capacity.

I invite members to approve the order.

The order responds to a European convention on human rights compliance issue that was identified in relation to voting rights for Scottish Parliament elections and which requires to be remedied ahead of the 2026 election.

Section 3A(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 includes a blanket ban, similar to the one that used to be in place for prisoners, to prohibit some people detained on mental health grounds relating to criminal justice from voting in elections in the UK. The order makes minor changes to legislation to maintain consistency with exceptions made to prisoner voting in the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020, which extended the right to vote in Scottish Parliament and Scottish local elections to prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less. That bill remains the only bill of this Parliament to have required a two-thirds supermajority in order to be passed and to have obtained that.

I gently point out to Sue Webber and the rest of the Tories, who are forever on about the accuracy of contributions that are made in the chamber, that it was this Parliament, not the SNP, that facilitated prisoner voting.

Out of respect for my good friend John Mason, I will let that one slide.

On a serious point, the order will mean that, if a person who has been detained on a mental health ground has been sentenced to 12 months or less or has received a mental health detention rather than a prison sentence, they will be able to vote if the maximum sentence or sentences possible would have amounted to 12 months or less. That is in line with the law that is in place for prisoners, and we envisage that about 20 people—20 people—might be impacted.

One aspect relating to consistency with prisoner voting concerns people who are subject to temporary compulsion orders. They are in a similar position to a remand prisoner. They have been detained but not convicted, sentenced or found to have committed a criminal offence following an examination of the facts. Remand prisoners across the UK are able to vote, so the order provides for the voting rights for those who are subject to temporary compulsion orders to be the same as those for remand prisoners.

The order is also temporary. It applies only to elections between 7 May 2026 and 28 February 2030. That will allow the arrangements to be consulted on by the next Government and revisited by the next Parliament.

In the light of some recent ill-informed commentary, I must also stress that people are not excluded from participating in elections on the basis of mental capacity.

I invite members to approve the order.

Out of respect for my good friend John Mason, I will let that one slide.

On a serious point, the order will mean that, if a person who has been detained on a mental health ground has been sentenced to 12 months or less or has received a mental health detention rather than a prison sentence, they will be able to vote if the maximum sentence or sentences possible would have amounted to 12 months or less. That is in line with the law that is in place for prisoners, and we envisage that about 20 people—20 people—might be impacted.

One aspect relating to consistency with prisoner voting concerns people who are subject to temporary compulsion orders. They are in a similar position to a remand prisoner. They have been detained but not convicted, sentenced or found to have committed a criminal offence following an examination of the facts. Remand prisoners across the UK are able to vote, so the order provides for the voting rights for those who are subject to temporary compulsion orders to be the same as those for remand prisoners.

The order is also temporary. It applies only to elections between 7 May 2026 and 28 February 2030. That will allow the arrangements to be consulted on by the next Government and revisited by the next Parliament.

In the light of some recent ill-informed commentary, I must also stress that people are not excluded from participating in elections on the basis of mental capacity.

I invite members to approve the order.

The order responds to a European convention on human rights compliance issue that was identified in relation to voting rights for Scottish Parliament elections and which requires to be remedied ahead of the 2026 election.

Section 3A(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 includes a blanket ban, similar to the one that used to be in place for prisoners, to prohibit some people detained on mental health grounds relating to criminal justice from voting in elections in the UK. The order makes minor changes to legislation to maintain consistency with exceptions made to prisoner voting in the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020, which extended the right to vote in Scottish Parliament and Scottish local elections to prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less. That bill remains the only bill of this Parliament to have required a two-thirds supermajority in order to be passed and to have obtained that.

I gently point out to Sue Webber and the rest of the Tories, who are forever on about the accuracy of contributions that are made in the chamber, that it was this Parliament, not the SNP, that facilitated prisoner voting.