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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-08438

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 18 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the board of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service brought to the relevant minister's attention details of any complaints made against the Chief Officer.

Question reference: S6O-01097

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with ScotRail regarding returning rail services to pre-pandemic levels.

Question reference: S6W-08272

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of possessing indecent images of children, broken down by type of disposal, in each of the last 10 full financial years.

The latest available information from the Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database is for 2019-20 and is provided in the following tables.

Information for 2020-21 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2020-21 statistical bulletin later this year.

Number of people convicted for taking, distribution, possession etc. indecent photos of children 1 , by disposal and length of custodial sentence, where main charge, 2010-11 to 2019-20

Main disposal	Total convicted	Custody	Community sentence	Monetary	Other
2010-11	107	49	57	-	1
2011-12	118	45	71	2	-
2012-13	166	72	90	1	3
2013-14	245	93	148	2	2
2014-15	287	74	203	4	6
2015-16	279	60	208	6	5
2016-17	232	72	154	3	3
2017-18	250	85	160	4	1
2018-19	283	96	183	2	2
2019-20	211	54	152	2	3

Length of custodial sentence

	Total custody	Up to 3 months	Over 3 months to 6 months	Over 6 months to 1 year	Over 1 year to 2 years	Over 2 years to less than 4 years	4 years and over
2010-11	49	2	2	12	17	12	4
2011-12	45	-	5	6	13	15	6
2012-13	72	-	6	23	18	10	15
2013-14	93	-	4	27	24	20	18
2014-15	74	1	5	19	21	16	12
2015-16	60	1	6	12	21	14	6
2016-17	72	1	3	19	32	11	6
2017-18	85	-	3	21	42	13	6
2018-19	96	-	3	31	40	20	2
2019-20	54	-	-	12	26	13	3

1. Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 sections 52 and 52A.

Question reference: S6W-08273

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people convicted of possessing indecent images of children have been given a custodial sentence, broken down by the length of sentence, in each of the last 10 full financial years.

Question reference: S6W-08157

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 9 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any discussions or communication it has had with Police Scotland regarding the force’s obligation to record the sex of suspects in line with the Equality Act 2010 definition of sex.

The Scottish Government expects all relevant organisations to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, including published guidance and codes of practice. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the body responsible for regulating matters related to the Equality Act 2010 and publishing associated guidance. The Scottish Government has not discussed with Police Scotland their obligations in relation to recording the sex of suspects under the 2010 Act; questions relating to obligations of public bodies under the 2010 Act could be raised with the EHRC.

Guidance published in September 2021 by Scotland’s Chief Statistician, makes it clear that the collection of data on sex and gender is a matter for public bodies. As such, the operational recording of information of those involved in crime is a matter for Police Scotland. It is intended that all Public Bodies would use this guidance to help them determine how best to record information they collect for their operational matters. In 2019, Scotland’s Chief Statistician established a working group to consider what guidance should be offered to public bodies on the collection, disaggregation and use of data on sex and gender, of which Police Scotland were a member. The office of the Chief Statistician continues to engage with a range of public bodies, including Police Scotland, to support their application of the guidance. In addition, the Scottish Government have an Equality Data Improvement Programme in place to undertake wider work on data and we will be working with Justice bodies as part of that, to support improvements in the range of the equality information that is published.

Question reference: S6O-01067

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans for income tax.

Question reference: S6T-00644

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take in response to sanctions announced by US authorities against members of the Kinahan organised crime group, in light of the group's reported connections to Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00979

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the school curriculum should be free from party political bias.

Question reference: S6W-07437

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has hosted another roundtable event on actions taken to tackle spiking crimes following an initial meeting on 4 November 2021.

Following the roundtable meeting I chaired on 4 November, a further roundtable was convened on 8 December 2021 to discuss the prevalence of spiking crimes and to agree what action should be taken. It was agreed that the key immediate and ongoing activity should focus on ensuring consistent messaging and prevention activity, including training, with the Violence Reduction Unit supporting partners to roll out bystander training for night time industry staff, to both raise awareness and help keep people safe.

Police Scotland have reported a downward trend in recorded spiking incidents since November last year, with no corroborated evidence to support claims of needle spiking. We continue to work with partners and representatives across the sectors to strengthen the response to spiking, and ensure that women feel safe and are supported to report suspected incidents.

Question reference: S6O-00942

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many of its staff members are working on the prospectus for another independence referendum.