- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps NHS Scotland took to ensure that Tradebe had sufficient insurance cover in the event of any disruption in the fulfilment of its contract.
Answer
This is a matter for NHS National Services Scotland. The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that none of Scotland’s "yellow bag" clinical waste is currently being processed in Scotland.
Answer
Yellow Stream Waste, which makes up less than 20% of clinical waste in Scotland, requires High Temperature Incineration (HTI). There are no healthcare waste HTI disposal facilities in Scotland.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-03822 by Angela Constance on 9 October 2024, whether it will provide details of the list of partners involved in intelligence gathering in relation to food crime.
Answer
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is the competent authority in Scotland and has a statutory objective to protect the public from risks to health which may arise in connection with the consumption of food. Partnership arrangements for operations will depend on the nature of the investigation.
FSS shares information with a range of partner agencies, both nationally and internationally. As advised previously, FSS is a member of the Multi Agency Tasking and Delivery Board (MATDB), chaired by Police Scotland, and comprises a number of law enforcement agencies. The MATDB seeks to maximise the benefit of partnership working by sharing information and pooling resource wherever necessary.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much it cost NHS Scotland to purchase Hassockrigg Ecopark in Shotts.
Answer
The cost to purchase Hassockrigg Ecopark in Shotts was £4,920,000.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with American Axle & Manufacturing, in light of the planned closure of its Glasgow manufacturing site, formerly Albion Automotive, on 4 October 2024, with the reported loss of 100 jobs.
Answer
The Scottish Government was disappointed to hear of the decision to close the Albion Automotive site in Glasgow. This has obviously been a very worrying time for the workforce, their families and the local area.
Scottish Enterprise worked closely with the company to explore all viable options to retain these highly skilled jobs in Scotland, but unfortunately a solution could not be found.
The Scottish Government’s initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, has been working with the company to support the affected staff and will continue to provide support as required. We understand that a number of staff have secured alternative employment.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met industry stakeholders to discuss workforce planning for renewable energy projects.
Answer
The most recent discussion on workplace planning for renewable energy projects took place at The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) on 18 September 2024, where members discussed barriers and opportunities in relation to skills and the workforce for the offshore wind industry.
We will continue to engage with industry stakeholders to plan for a multi-skilled energy workforce that can benefit from opportunities across the energy system.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the reported proposals from the Chief Constable of Police Scotland to deploy live facial recognition technology for law enforcement purposes.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to the legal, ethical and proportionate use of new technologies in policing, which takes account of ethical and human rights obligations, to ensure that the adoption of any new technology for policing purposes is done in a way that secures public confidence.
That is why we commissioned a report into emerging technologies in policing from an independent advisory group, which was published in February 2023 (Independent advisory group on new and emerging technologies in policing: final report ). The report confirmed that Scotland is in a strong position to become world-leading in adopting a rights-based, ethical approach to the adoption of emerging technologies in policing.
Any decision to deploy Live Facial Recognition technology is an operational matter for the Chief Constable under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority. The Chief Constable is responsible for operational policing and is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority for this - not to Scottish Ministers. These arrangements are in law and in place to ensure public confidence that the police act independently, free from Ministerial interference.
I have written to the Scottish Police Authority to seek assurances that a transparent and robust process will be adopted in considering and scrutinising any plans for the future deployment of Live Facial Recognition technology.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported low incidence of violent and criminal behaviour among the public at large, what its understanding is regarding how the risk of base rate neglect will be factored into the operational use of live facial recognition technology, under the reported proposals by Police Scotland's Chief Constable.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether the live facial recognition systems that Police Scotland's Chief Constable has proposed deploying for law enforcement purposes could be used as evidence in criminal proceedings.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Police Scotland can sufficiently monitor the workings of live facial recognition systems, as proposed by the Chief Constable, in relation to any equalities impacts, in light of the so-called black box problem affecting some AI systems.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers