Chamber and committees

The Lord Advocate is the head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and the department is subject to parliamentary and audit scrutiny in the same way as any other Scottish Executive department. COPFS’s performance is monitored against key targets relating to the processing of cases, and performance against those targets is published on the department’s website on a quarterly basis. The relevant link is http://www.copfs.gov.uk/About/corporate-info/Targets.

Decisions taken by the Lord Advocate and on his behalf in respect of criminal prosecutions and the investigation of deaths are taken independently of any other person. In that connection he is not subject to the normal rules of collective ministerial responsibility.

The contract for the Prisoner Escorting and Court Custody Services is available on the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) website at www.sps.gov.uk . The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 makes provision for the monitoring of such a contract and these duties are undertaken by a SPS Monitor Team. The act also gives Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) a specific remit “to inspect the conditions in which prisoners are transported or held”.

If a prisoner is being imported directly to Scotland from outside the UK, or exported from custody in Scotland direct to a country outside the UK, the role otherwise performed by RCS is carried out by the SPS and is in accordance with the relevant SPS Security Standard and may be subject to inspection by HMCIP.

If a foreign civil aircraft is transiting through a Scottish airport it can, under the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, make stops for technical reasons such as refuelling without requiring the permission of the state it stops in.  Accordingly, neither the UK Government, nor Scottish ministers, nor the police have any knowledge as to the passengers on such flights.  However, where there is evidence that a criminal act occurs on UK territory the local police can investigate in the ordinary way.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-20676 on 28 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Communities Scotland has published two pieces of guidance following recommendations from the research published by ODS and Stonewall. These comprise a guide for older LGBT people, as well as a good practice checklist for housing providers. Both were launched with the research report in Glasgow on 1 June 2005. This material has been welcomed by groups active in this field.

Copies of the guidance has been disseminated to local authorities, housing associations and housing support providers and the older people’s guidance has been disseminated through user groups and at events throughout the summer including the Pride Marches in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.