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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 4 May 2021
  6. Current session: 13 May 2021 to 9 February 2026
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Displaying 3601 questions Show Answers

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Question reference: S6W-30326

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • 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.

Question reference: S6W-30324

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • 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.

Question reference: S6W-30313

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any legal advice about the potential equalities impacts of using live facial recognition technology for law enforcement purposes, in light of the reported proposals from the Chief Constable of Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-30330

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its understanding is regarding whether, under the reported proposals by the Chief Constable, Police Scotland would use live facial recognition only temporarily for major events, or whether permanent installations would be set up.

Question reference: S6W-30318

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding any expected risks of using the live facial recognition technology that the Chief Constable of Police Scotland has reportedly proposed deploying for law enforcement purposes.

Question reference: S6W-30315

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a reliable estimate of the false positive rate of the live facial recognition technology that the Chief Constable of Police Scotland has reportedly proposed deploying for law enforcement purposes.

Question reference: S6W-30333

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its understanding is regarding how images used by live facial recognition systems will be stored, under the reported proposals by Police Scotland's Chief Constable.

Question reference: S6W-30321

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how people will be able to access data on whether they have been subjected to the use of live facial recognition technology, under the reported proposals outlined by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-30314

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether live facial recognition technology could disproportionately misidentify the faces of ethnic minority people, and what implications this might have for the use of the technology.

Question reference: S6W-30329

  • Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
  • Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported comments by Police Scotland's Chief Constable while proposing the use of live facial recognition for law enforcement purposes, what its position is on whether the non-consensual use of AI in public for live facial recognition is "parallel" to the consensual use of AI in confidential medical settings for the detection of cancer.