Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-27225

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any communications that it has had in the last 24 months with (a) Police Scotland and (b) the Scottish Police Authority regarding the vulnerable persons database that is operated by Police Scotland.

The management of the interim Vulnerable Persons Database (iVPD) is a matter for Police Scotland. As with any other organisation, Police Scotland has a duty to gather and process personal data lawfully.

The iVPD is used to source information for both (i) the annual Official Statistics on police recorded domestic abuse incidents and (ii) social research on the volume and type of police recorded hate crime in Scotland.

As part of producing these reports, Scottish Government statisticians have regular and ongoing communications with their counterparts in Police Scotland about the iVPD and the topics of domestic abuse and hate crime. Examples of this include both the planning of updated publications (such as timings for data receipt and quality assurance) and discussions on any future changes that might be made to the methodology for producing these statistics.

Question reference: S6W-27227

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any communications that it has had in the last 24 months with the office of the Scottish Information Commissioner regarding the vulnerable persons database that is operated by Police Scotland.

The management of the interim Vulnerable Persons Database (iVPD) is a matter for Police Scotland. As with any other organisation, Police Scotland has a duty to gather and process personal data lawfully. The Scottish Government has had no communication with the office of the Scottish Information Commissioner regarding the iVPD during this period.

For further information on the iVPD please refer to answer S6W-27225 on 17 May 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 .

Question reference: S6W-27226

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any communications that it has had in the last 24 months with the Information Commissioner’s Office regarding the vulnerable persons database that is operated by Police Scotland.

The management of the interim Vulnerable Persons Database (iVPD) is a matter for Police Scotland. As with any other organisation, Police Scotland has a duty to gather and process personal data lawfully. The Scottish Government has had no communication with the Information Commissioner's Office regarding the iVPD during this period.

For further information on the iVPD please refer to answer S6W-27225 on 17 May 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 .

Question reference: S6W-27234

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any communications that it has had with (a) the Scottish Football Association and (b) individual football clubs regarding the Police Scotland public awareness campaign launched in 2021, in conjunction with the Scottish Government, which featured a video titled John’s Story.

The Scottish Government has not had any communications with the Scottish Football Association or individual football clubs about Police Scotland’s public awareness campaign launched in 2021. The Scottish Government provided Police Scotland with funding through the Serious Organised Crime Small Community Grant Scheme in 2021 for their project working with four football clubs in Glasgow and a production company to develop the video ‘John’s Story’.

Question reference: S6W-27228

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any communications that it has had with the (a) Lord President of the Court of Session and (b) Judicial Office for Scotland regarding a public inquiry into criminal prosecutions relating to the takeover of Rangers FC, since the Scottish Government announced in February 2021 that it was committed to such an inquiry.

Question reference: S6W-27229

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any communications that it has had with the (a) Lord President of the Court of Session and (b) Judicial Office for Scotland regarding the public inquiry into the investigation of Emma Caldwell's murder, since the Scottish Government announced in March 2024 that the inquiry will take place.

Following the announcement on 7 March 2024 that the Scottish Government would be holding a public inquiry into the investigation of Emma Caldwell’s murder, immediate preparatory work to set up an Inquiry was commenced. Scottish Ministers have been liaising with the Lord President and the Caldwell family to explore different options for who could lead the Inquiry however, no decision has been taken on this yet.

A statutory Public Inquiry is a significant undertaking and will take time to set up. I will provide further updates to Parliament as work is progressed including, appointing a Chair and setting the Terms of Reference.

Question reference: S6W-27233

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any communications that it has had in the last 24 months with (a) the Scottish Football Association and (b) individual football clubs regarding the potential threat posed by organised crime groups.

Question reference: S6W-27231

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought from (a) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) Police Scotland a full list of criminal offences that can be disposed of by way of a Recorded Police Warning, and, if it has such a list, whether it will provide this.

The offence types covered by Recorded Police Warnings (RPWs) are a matter for the Lord Advocate as part of her independent role as head of Scotland’s system of prosecution.

The Lord Advocate issues guidelines to Police Scotland on their operation of the scheme and decisions about when to issue RPWs are an independent operational matter for Police Scotland.

Publication of the guidelines would be a matter for the Lord Advocate.

Question reference: S6O-03297

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of cases of livestock worrying.

Question reference: S6O-03263

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake an evaluation of the potential benefits of small modular nuclear reactors within Scotland's energy provision.

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