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-24972

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 April 2015

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.

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 restructure of C3 includes the introduction of new technology and systems that will further enhance call answering services and allow for an improved response to all calls.

In recognising that some issues relating to the bedding in of the new systems have been identified, Police Scotland have confirmed that significant work has been, and continues to be done to improve call handling, including an active recruitment exercise.

Police Scotland deal with 4 million calls through 999 and 101 each year. 90% of 999 calls are answered within 10 seconds and the majority of 101 calls are answered within 40 seconds.

The Scottish Police Authority is continuing to monitor the implementation of C3 reforms, and will continue to scrutinise Police Scotland call management performance.

Question reference: S4W-24971

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 April 2015

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 will be made public.

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 Control (C3) centres will enhance the service to the public by ensuring calls are handled efficiently. Having a smaller number of larger centres will allow calls to be handled better and removing duplication will allow resources to be focused on the frontline.

The Scottish Police Authority is continuing to monitor the implementation of C3 reforms, and will continue to scrutinise Police Scotland call management performance.

Question reference: S4W-24992

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 April 2015

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.

Question reference: S4W-24920

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 March 2015

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.

Question reference: S4W-24919

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 March 2015

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.

Question reference: S4W-24917

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 March 2015

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.

Question reference: S4W-24928

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what role (a) it and (b) Police Scotland has in the management or supervision of the Police National Database.

Question reference: S4W-24926

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 March 2015

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.

Question reference: S4W-24925

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 March 2015

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.

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 long as they are required to support the Scottish Government in its business requirements and legal obligations. At the end of that time, the records will either be destroyed or transferred to the National Records of Scotland for permanent preservation. Other public bodies in Scotland retain information and records in accordance with records management plans required under the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.

Question reference: S4W-24927

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding (a) it and (b) Police Scotland provides to the Police National Database.