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: S6W-16794

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to regulate the legal services profession.

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on the 20 April 2023.

The overarching policy objective of the Bill, which builds on the existing regulatory framework, will, if passed, provide a modern, forward-looking regulatory framework for Scotland that will best promote competition, innovation, and the public and consumer interest in an efficient, effective, and efficient legal sector.

Question reference: S6W-16830

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the recruitment (a) process and (b) timeline for appointing Police Scotland’s next Chief Constable, including any discussions that it has had with the Scottish Police Authority on this matter.

The Scottish Police Authority has launched a recruitment campaign on Friday 31 March 2023, looking for a new Chief Constable to lead the second largest police service in the UK, after Sir Iain Livingstone QPM announced his intention to retire in the summer of 2023 at a meeting of the Authority on 23 February.

The deadline for applications is Friday 28 April. The Authority expects to announce a successful candidate in June 2023. This will be a fixed term appointment for a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years.

The appointment process has been reviewed and approved by the Scottish Police Authority’s People Committee. A Selection Panel has been convened which will be chaired by Martyn Evans, Chair of the Authority and will include Fiona McQueen CBE - Member, SPA, Joe Griffin - Director-General, Scottish Government, Angela Scott - Chief Executive, Aberdeen City Council, Independent Member, and Martin Hewitt QPM, Former Chair, National Police Chiefs Council – UK Policing Professional. Craig Naylor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland and Lynn Brown OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Police Authority will be advisors to the panel and observe its discussions with candidates.

The appointment is subject to the approval of the Scottish Ministers.

The former Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans met with the Chair of the SPA and the Chief Constable on 22 March and they discussed the arrangements for the recruitment campaign, transition plans and timing.

Question reference: S6F-02046

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to new Police Scotland statistics showing that the number of recorded rapes has increased to its highest level in six years.

Question reference: S6W-16216

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether ministers discussed Police Scotland’s Q3 Performance Report for 2022-23 with any representative of Police Scotland.

It is for the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) to scrutinise Police Scotland's quarterly performance reports. This is done as part of the Authority's quarterly Performance Committees, the most recent of which took place on 19 March.

Ministers and Scottish Government officials meet with Police Scotland, as well as partners with a role in the accountability and governance of policing of such as the SPA, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland and the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner on a regular basis. I look forward to meeting and working with them all in my remit as Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs.

Question reference: S6W-16974

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any Scottish Government representatives were invited to attend the 2023 Scottish Police Federation Conference in person on 29 March 2023.

Question reference: S6W-16218

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers are currently funded by local authorities from council budgets, rather than by it directly.

Question reference: S6W-16214

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Police Scotland's tweet of 19 March 2023, which stated that "A new Emergency Alert mobile phone warning service is being trialled in Scotland from today by the Scottish Government", whether it told Police Scotland that the trial of the UK-wide Emergency Alert system was a Scottish Government-initiated trial.

The Scottish Government has been clear in its communication with partners and stakeholders that the Emergency Alerts System is fully funded and owned by the UK Government; and that the Scottish Government has agreed to participate in a trial coordinated by UK Government, recognising that the content of any alerts issued in Scotland is likely to be in relation to devolved matters.

Police Scotland’s tweet of 19 March 2023 included a link to a post on the main Scottish Government account which directed viewers to the dedicated UK Government Emergency Alerts web pages.

The introductory paragraph on those pages states: “Emergency Alerts is a UK government service that will warn you if there’s a danger to life nearby.”

The Scottish Government continues to engage with UK Government and other UK nations, Scottish partners and stakeholders to ensure that the information about the trial is accurate and shared widely.

Question reference: S6W-17012

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to improving the (a) ease and (b) consistency of public access to Fatal Accident Inquiry records, in light of reports that only the 50 most recent records from 2022 onwards are easily accessible on the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service website, without the use of the search function.

Question reference: S6W-17013

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent changes have been made to the ability of the public to access Fatal Accident Inquiry records, including any related changes made on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service website.

Question reference: S6W-16934

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent estimate it has made of the level of illegal mobile phone use by individuals in charge of a vehicle, and what steps it is taking to address this.

Observational studies covering Great Britain are carried out on behalf of the Department for Transport every four or five years. The latest of these was undertaken in 2021 and published in July 2022. Mobile phone use by drivers: Great Britain, 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

There is a significant amount of data in the tables but the headline figures are:

Observed mobile phone use (held to ear or held in hand)

	Great Britain	England and Wales	Scotland
All vehicle drivers	1%	1%	0.9%
Car Drivers	0.8%	0.9%	0.7%

Mobile phone use is identified as one of the ‘fatal five’ by road safety professionals, and campaigning has been consistent for many years. In Scotland, in recent years, this has been undertaken as part of the ‘Drive Like Gran’s in The Car’ campaign, and scheduling would normally support Police Scotland enforcement activity.

Road Safety Scotland (RSS) ran the ‘Mates’ distraction ad from 25 October - 30 November 2021 on TV, radio, video-on-demand, social and digital channels. When the new legislation came into force last year, RSS ran the new G-Force gran mobile phone ad throughout March 2022 on digital channels, video-on-demand, radio and social.