Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-26415

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the first victim surcharge was imposed; how much has been imposed in total, and how much of this money has been collected.

Question reference: S4W-26417

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation that the Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office, the Office of Surveillance Commissioners and the Intelligence Services Commissioner should be replaced by a new independent surveillance intelligence commission, and what the implications of this would be in Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomes the contribution that David Anderson's review makes to the investigatory powers debate. The recommendation to amalgamate three existing commissions into a single independent body is worth considering and we will be interested to see how the UK Government responds to David Anderson's proposal.

Scottish issues are dealt with currently by the commissions mentioned. Any new commission will require to take these issues into account and to ensure that it has sufficient knowledge and experience of Scots law within its judicial membership.

Question reference: S4W-26422

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make any changes to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000.

Question reference: S4W-26421

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the investigation of (a) noise complaints, (b) dog fouling and (c) underage sunbed use to be an appropriate use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000.

It is a matter for each relevant public authority to ensure it complies with the legislation. This includes having regard to the codes of practice which require that consideration be given to whether the activity is an appropriate use of the legislation and a reasonable way, having considered all reasonable alternatives, of obtaining the necessary result.

Use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 is overseen by the independent Office of Surveillance Commissioners.

Question reference: S4W-26420

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions it has (a) approved and (b) declined warrants and modifications for the interception of communications in serious crime cases in each year since 2006-07.

Question reference: S4W-26419

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether interception warrants should be subject to judicial or political authorisation.

Question reference: S4W-26418

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the implementation in full of the recommendations of the report of the Investigatory Powers Review by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.

The Scottish Government welcomes the contribution that David Anderson's review makes to the investigatory powers debate. We recognise the need for law enforcement and security services to have access to the information they require, but appropriate safeguards must be in place to balance the need to keep our communities safe while at the same time protecting our civil liberties.

We will watch closely and with great interest to see how these recommendations translate into firm legislative proposals and will engage constructively with the UK Government to ensure that those principles are reflected in the draft legislation.

Question reference: S4W-26413

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona McLeod on 16 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what information is given to education authorities regarding the (a) instigation and (b) outcome of each children’s hearing.

Question reference: S4W-26131

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-25353 by John Swinney on 7 May 2015, whether it is now in a position to confirm on what date it will publish its response to the consultation on proposed amendments to the NHS Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Question reference: S4W-26100

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions people being questioned by the police have waived their right to speak to a solicitor in each of the last three years; what percentage of all cases this represents, and what reasons were provided.

Police Scotland does not currently hold this information centrally. However, the introduction of i6 across Police Scotland in 2016 will, amongst other things, capture the electronic recording of the solicitor access request form process and will enable Police Scotland to produce management information for all responses made by suspects.

The Scottish Government considers it important that this information should be recorded and section 24(6) of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill, if passed, will provide that any reason given for waiving the right to have a solicitor present during an interview must be recorded.

Although the information requested is not held centrally, Police Scotland did however complete a custody data study in June 2013 which captured the solicitor access waiver percentage for a one month period. They were then able to extrapolate for a 12 month period, which concluded that 75% of all persons brought into police custody who had the right of access to a solicitor waived their rights. The final report of Lord Bonomy’s Post-corroboration Safeguards Review also refers to analysis of 1,000 interviews by Police Scotland in October and November 2014 which showed 71% of those in custody did not seek a consultation with a solicitor.