Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-22934

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of any (a) internal communications involving (i) ministers and (ii) officials regarding the former First Minister’s appointment of Sheriff Alistair Duff to the Fitness for Judicial Office Tribunal in 2019, in light of the Police Scotland investigation that resulted in him being convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Under the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, it is for the First Minister, with the agreement of the Lord President, to select persons to be members of a Fitness for Judicial Office Tribunal. In consultation with the Lord President, and in accordance with the legislation, the former First Minster appointed Sheriff Duff as a shrieval member of two Fitness for Judicial Office Tribunals in October 2018 and November 2019. On 3 November 2021, the Scottish Government was advised by the Tribunal that Sheriff Duff was unable to fulfil his duties on the Fitness for Judicial Office Tribunal, because of personal matters and requested a new shrieval member be appointed. No further details were provided to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-22932

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of any (a) internal communications involving (i) ministers and (ii) officials and (b) external communications in respect of the Police Scotland investigation that resulted in Sheriff Alistair Duff being convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 stipulates that the Chief Constable is responsible for the policing of Scotland, and is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority for this, rather than to Scottish Ministers directly. These arrangements are in place to ensure public confidence that the police act independently, free from unwarranted Ministerial interference. The Scottish Government had no involvement in the Police Scotland investigation that resulted in Sheriff Alistair Duff being convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Question reference: S6W-22933

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of any (a) internal communications involving (i) ministers and (ii) officials regarding Sheriff Alistair Duff’s role as a director of the Judicial Institute for Scotland, in light of the Police Scotland investigation that resulted in him being convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The Scottish Government has had no involvement regarding Sheriff Duff's role as a Director of the Judicial Institute for Scotland. The judiciary is independent of the Scottish Government. The Lord President delegates responsibility for the delivery of judicial training to the Judicial Institute of Scotland and is responsible for appointments including the role of Director to the Board of the Judicial Institute.

Question reference: S6W-22929

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take in light of reports of suspected links between the state of Iran and the Al-Mahdi Islamic Centre of Glasgow, including in relation to the £200,000 funding reportedly granted to it by the Scottish Government.

The Al-Mahdi Foundation received £372k of Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) grant funding for 2 projects between 2014-2020 to support awareness raising of climate change issues amongst disadvantaged and ethnic minority communities and to make their community building more energy efficient.

The CCF was delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful who were responsible for assessing all applications. Grant applications were subject to the relevant due diligence checks. Projects were monitored to ensure they delivered against their objectives and grants were paid out based on incurred expenditure.

National Security is a reserved matter. If there is any evidence of alleged criminality this should be reported to Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-23055

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Prison Service plans to publish its annual procurement report for 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-23056

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Parole Board for Scotland plans to publish its annual report for 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-22927

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of Scottish Prison Service (a) dogs and (b) dog handlers that are trained to detect drugs and other contraband since this information was last provided to the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee on 10 January 2018.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

As of 24 November 2023, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has 15 trained dogs and 9 trained dog handlers.

All our dogs are trained to detect drugs, whilst some of our dogs are trained to detect arms and explosives and/or various prohibited items including mobile phones.

All our dog handlers form part of the National Tactical Search Unit and are highly trained in the searching of people, property, communal spaces and living areas i.e., cells.

Question reference: S6W-23054

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Prison Service plans to publish its annual report and accounts for 2022-23.

Question reference: S6O-02847

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of increasing violence towards teachers and students in schools.

Question reference: S6W-22259

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 22 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service expects to develop a system of notifying all victims when it is decided not to prosecute a crime reported by them.

The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) proactively notifies victims of decisions not to prosecute in all solemn cases and all summary cases within the specified case remit of the COPFS Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service, including Domestic Abuse and Hate Crime. COPFS proactively notifies victims of decisions to discontinue prosecutions in all categories of cases. COPFS advises all victims of all decisions not to prosecute on request.

COPFS is actively exploring possible approaches to extending the current notification scheme to all relevant summary cases.

Tell us your views

Seòmar agus comataidhean