Chamber and committees

The process of Assess, Compare,Evaluation and Verify (ACE-V) is the description of the scientific approach to fingerprintanalysis adopted by fingerprint professionals and criminal justice agencies world-wide.It is a qualitative approach rather than an arbitrary quantitative approach wherebythe likelihood of error is minimised because the quality of the mark is the basisfrom which the identification is made.

The fact that there is a disagreementover a single specific historical fingerprint identification does not imply an inconsistentapproach to fingerprint identification. There is no disagreement in the ScottishFingerprint Service (SFS) about the basis of fingerprint identification and allfingerprint identifications are carried out using the Assess, Compare, Evaluation and Verify (ACE-V) process, and are subject to internal quality assurance and to external independent auditunder the ISO 9001:2000 Certificate to which the SFS is accredited.

The position is currentlyunder review, and an announcement on this and other measures relating to theconstitution of college boards of management is due by the spring.

As we have made clear on numerousoccasions, torture is a crime under Scots law and anyone who claims to have informationto suggest that a crime has been committed in Scotland should take that informationto the police.

Technology is recognised asa key strategic issue within the Scottish Executive’s Framework for EconomicDevelopment in Scotland and A Smart Successful Scotland. Weintend to update the Science Strategy for Scotland in the coming year andtechnology issues will be fully addressed as part of this review.

Media coverage of the launchof A Science Strategy for Scotland in August 2001 was very positive.

The Science Strategy commitsthe Executive to supporting initiatives that enable the media, scientists andpolicy makers to work more closely together to effectively promote science tothe people of Scotland. The Executive supports a wide range of publicscience initiatives which frequently attract helpful media attention, forexample Science Week and the Edinburgh International Science Festival. the Executive is supporting the British Association’s Science CommunicationConference in April, which will in part consider how to engage the media in abetter coverage of science issues. The Executive plans to publish a reportshortly, detailing progress on all areas of the Science Strategy, which willprovide further details of activities in this area.

The Scottish Executivesubscribes to all the principles of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser’sGuidelines on the use of science in government, and implements these as fullyas it can.

The Executive usesscientific evidence, along with many other forms of evidence, as an integraland fundamental part of the policy-making process. An example is the work bythe Health Economics Research Unit, funded by the Scottish Executive, to helpinform policy on banning smoking in public places. Since A Science Strategyfor Scotland was published in 2001, the Executive’s departments which spendsignificantly on scientific research have developed strategies to help targetspending more effectively on research which will help to improve the health andquality of life of the people of Scotland.

The Executive has formed anindependent Scottish Science Advisory Committee, drawn from the academic,business and other parts of the science community, to advise it on prioritiesfor science. This committee has published a number of reports evaluating theExecutive’s progress on meeting science priorities. The Executive has alsoimproved internal co-ordination through regular meetings of the ScienceCross-cutting Group, comprising senior officials having responsibilities formanaging science.

The Executive will befurther strengthening its management of science this year by appointing a LeadChief Scientific Adviser. The post-holder will oversee activity to improvefurther the management of science in the Executive, in partnership with therecently appointed Chief Scientific Adviser in the Environment and RuralAffairs Department and the Chief Scientist in Health Department.

The Executive plans topublish a report very shortly detailing progress on all areas of the sciencestrategy, which will provide further details and examples of the use of sciencein policy-making. The Executive intends over the course of the next year torefresh the science strategy.

The Scottish Executive doesnot collect information routinely which monitors links between the science andtechnology base in Scotland and elsewhere. Such links can take a very widevariety of forms, ranging from informal networking and conferences to formalcollaborations between universities, businesses and research institutes. Animportant example is the Edinburgh to Stanford link, funded by a £6 milliongrant from Scottish Enterprise, which is making excellent progress. the Executive has recently asked the Scottish Funding Council and UniversitiesScotland to consider the feasibility of collecting information routinely tomonitor research collaborations between universities here and outside Scotland.

VisitScotland will build on theinternational TV news coverage ofScotland hosting the G8 summit, which showcased many iconic aspects of what makes this country attractive toleisure and business visitors from overseas. Business tourism in particular is a very important segmentof the overall tourism market, and for that reason VisitScotland’s Business TourismUnit was involved with aspects of the planning for G8. The unit will use the experience of the summit to strengthenthe international marketing of Scotland as a world class business tourism destination.

None were referred to the Advocate General by the Scottish Executive. Devolution issues are essentially questions which arise in court proceedings - predominantly in criminal cases - about whether legislation is within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament or whether an act is within the legal competence of a member of the Executive - the precise definition is set out in Schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998. That schedule also prescribes the procedures to be followed in relation to such issues, the effect of paragraph five being that any devolution issue intimated to the Advocate General will also be intimated to the Lord Advocate. Thus, the Executive will be aware of the same devolution issues as the Advocate General. If appropriate, there may be discussion between the Executive and the Advocate General but, given the generally ad hoc and run-of-the-mill nature of those discussions, there is no central record of their number and nature.