Chamber and committees

We remain committed to increasing the diversity of our people within the organisation and diversity and equality considerations continue to underpin all of our employment policies and practices. Ethnicity is self-declared by Scottish Government staff and has not been disclosed by 15% of our staff and as such we may not have the full picture. The following table shows the mean salary pay gap for those of known ethnicity on 6 April each year in the Scottish Government main staff group, broken down by age group. We are unable to provide a breakdown by directorate as changes to the directorate structure over time make comparisons invalid. In addition, we have excluded senior civil service as this category is too small to disaggregate without potentially identifying individual staff members. The pay gap information provided is the average figure from across all pay bands and is reflective of the distribution of staff across the organisation. We actively publish pay gap information in our Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming report which includes a breakdown by each individual pay band. This demonstrates that our policy towards equality of pay for work of equal value is delivered by our pay policy. Notable factors contributing to gaps are that new staff members start on lower points of the progression scale and that males are more likely than females to work past 60 in Band C. The tables show the pay gaps, with positive numbers indicating where black or minority ethnic / female staff have a pay lead and negative numbers indicating where non-black or minority ethnic / male staff have a pay lead. The table is available in the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre under BIB number 58140.

We remain committed to increasing the diversity of our people within the organisation and diversity and equality considerations continue to underpin all of our employment policies and practices. Ethnicity is self-declared by Scottish Government staff and has not been disclosed by 15% of our staff and as such we may not have the full picture. The table shows average hourly pay for known BME and non-BME staff on 6 April each year in each pay band, broken down by age group. We are unable to provide a breakdown by directorate as changes to the directorate structure over time make comparisons invalid. In addition, we have excluded senior civil service as this category is too small to disaggregate without potentially identifying individual staff members. The average hourly earning information provided is the average figure from across all pay bands and is reflective of the distribution of staff across the organisation. We actively publish pay gap information in our Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming report which includes a breakdown by each individual pay band. This demonstrates that our policy towards equality of pay for work of equal value is delivered by our pay policy. The table is available in The Scottish Parliament’s Information centre under BIB number 58141.

a) Automatic Number Plate Recognition has been the subject of a number of parliamentary questions, including: S2W-29947 and S2W-29948 answered on 17 November 2006 and S3W-28482 answered on 29 October 2009, as well as the more recent questions from Alison McInnes of which the member is already aware; b) Information from Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology must be used and retained in compliance with relevant legislation including the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

This is a very complex area with individual limits proposed for 17 different drug types. While no specific timescale has been set, we understand there is likely to be an evaluation of the new drug driving limits introduced in England and Wales that is due to be published in 2017. This evaluation will likely prove helpful in understanding the full practical implications of setting drug driving limits and whether the potential benefits of drug driving limits have been realised in England and Wales. This will help inform our own consideration of whether drug driving limits should be introduced in Scotland.

The information requested is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, with the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Information from Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology must be used and retained in compliance with relevant legislation including the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000.

The information requested is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, with the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you.

A number of the Parliamentary Questions asked by the former MSP Alison McInnes in March 2016 sought information on the governance and regulation of policing activity whilst others sought detailed information on the delivery of operational policing activity. Responsibility for the delivery of operational policing activity lies with Police Scotland with oversight of the Scottish Police Authority and the Scottish Government’s approach to requesting information reflected this position.

There is no specific statutory power for the collection of number plate records by Police Scotland. However, Police Scotland is required to comply with all relevant legislation in the collection, use and retention of data.

The Scottish Government’s position on armed policing was made clear in my statement to Parliament on 16 June. That statement followed a Police Scotland briefing for opposition justice spokespersons to explain the basis for the uplift in armed police officer numbers.

The information requested is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, with the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. I have alerted the Chief Constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you.