Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-16675

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 24 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on banning the (a) third-party sale of dogs and (b) sale of dogs under eight weeks-old.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to ban the third-party sale of dogs. The Pet Animals Act 1951 requires that those selling animals as pets in most circumstances, including from a private dwelling, operate under a license issued by a local authority. We are committed, by the Programme for Government 2017-18, to improving the licensing for dog, cat and rabbit breeding, dealing and selling.

The commercial third-party sale of dogs aged 8-12 weeks without a licence and the sale of dogs under 8 weeks of age is effectively prohibited by the restrictions in the Licensing of Animal Dealers (Young Cats and Young Dogs) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1991 which both require that an animal is kept with its mother until at least 8 weeks of age.

Question reference: S5W-16677

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 24 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing licences to cover the sale of pets.

Licences are already required for the commercial selling of animals from pet shops, which can include private dwellings. However the Scottish Government accepts that the Pet Animals Act 1951 needs updating. The Scottish Government committed, in the Programme for Government 2017-18, to improvements to the licensing for dog, cat and rabbit breeding, dealing and selling. A consultation on this will be issued in the near future.

Question reference: S5W-16694

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 23 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position on reforming the law with regard to defamation.

The Scottish Law Commission published its Report on Defamation, including a draft Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Bill in December 2017 as part of the Commission’s Ninth Programme of Law Reform. The report makes 49 separate recommendations. The Scottish Government is currently considering the Report and its recommendations and expects to be in a position shortly to indicate how it intends to proceed.

Question reference: S5T-01093

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 21 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether its new drugs strategy will seek to support, rather than penalise, people in possession and intending to personally use small amounts of drugs.

Question reference: S5W-16428

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what retention policies apply to the data acquired through Police Scotland's use of cyber kiosks.

The deployment of cyber kiosks is a matter for Police Scotland. Police Scotland work to a series of standard operating procedures including those supporting Data Protection. Prior to the intended deployment of cyber kiosks and in adherence to the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation 2018, Police Scotland is completing an Equality and Human Rights Assessment and Data Protection Impact Assessment which will inform the final policy, practice and procedure to support operational deployment.

Question reference: S5W-16425

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether owners of electronic devices examined by Police Scotland using cyber kiosks are (a) informed and (b) given a record of what is (i) viewed and (ii) extracted.

The deployment of cyber kiosks is a matter for Police Scotland. Police Scotland work to a series of standard operating procedures including those supporting Data Protection.

Prior to the intended deployment of cyber kiosks and in adherence to the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation 2018, Police Scotland is completing an Equality and Human Rights Assessment and Data Protection Impact Assessment which will inform the final policy, practice and procedure to support operational deployment.

Question reference: S5W-16435

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) assurances and (b) notifications are given to people who voluntarily provide their electronic device to the police to be examined for evidence.

The deployment of cyber kiosks is a matter for Police Scotland. Police Scotland work to a series of standard operating procedures including those supporting Data Protection. Prior to the intended deployment of cyber kiosks and in adherence to the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation 2018, Police Scotland is completing an Equality and Human Rights Assessment and Data Protection Impact Assessment which will inform the final policy, practice and procedure to support operational deployment.

Question reference: S5W-16431

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how Police Scotland extracts only relevant information from electronic devices when using cyber kiosks.

Question reference: S5W-16439

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many gigabytes of data storage are required for the information acquired by Police Scotland using cyber kiosks.

Question reference: S5W-16429

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the use of cyber kiosks by Police Scotland is compliant with (a) current and (b) forthcoming data protection rules.

The deployment of cyber kiosks is a matter for Police Scotland. Police Scotland work to a series of standard operating procedures including those supporting Data Protection. Prior to the intended deployment of cyber kiosks and in adherence to the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation 2018, Police Scotland is completing an Equality and Human Rights Assessment and Data Protection Impact Assessment which will inform the final policy, practice and procedure to support operational deployment.

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