- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-20244 and S2W-20247 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005 and given that experts in the Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices of the Scottish Fingerprint Service (SFS) disagreed with colleagues in the Glasgow office about the identification of a mark in the case of Shirley McKie, what steps it is taking to ensure that (a) miscarriages of justice do not occur and (b) all fingerprint identifications by the SFS given in Scottish courts will be accompanied by information on any different approaches to the scientific basis of fingerprint identification which currently exist within the SFS.
Answer
Criminal trials in Scotland are conducted in open court where the evidence that is led by the prosecution is open to challenge by the defence.
The Scottish Fingerprint Service has a consistent approach to fingerprint identification which is followed by all fingerprint officers. It is based on the scientific process of Assess, Compare, Evaluation and Verify (ACE-V) under which each identification made by a fingerprint expert is independently verified by two other fingerprint experts. The process of ACE-V is in world-wide use by fingerprint professionals and criminal justice agencies.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-20244 and S2W-20247 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005, whether at any time in the last 10 years any experts from outwith the Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) have disagreed with any of the SCRO's fingerprint identifications other than those referred to in the answers.
Answer
In October 2003, two fingerprint officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Mr Allan Bayle (a former fingerprint officer with the Metropolitan Police Service) reached a different conclusion from fingerprint officers based in the Scottish Fingerprint Service Glasgow Bureau about a mark found at the scene of a crime.
The Crown did not use fingerprint evidence when the case came to trial.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 28 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20247 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005, what information it is able to provide on whether there have been any other incidents of disagreements involving Lothian and Borders Police fingerprint staff.
Answer
We are not aware of any other incidents of disagreements involving Lothian and Borders Police fingerprint staff.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the assessment criteria are for a prisoner to be sent to an open prison at the start of their sentence.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
No prisoner starts a sentence in an open prison.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 24 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20010 by Colin Boyd QC on 7 November 2005, whether the reason for the answer not providing information relating to the names of the fingerprint experts involved in expert examination related to the Lockerbie investigation is that the Executive (a) does not know or (b) is unwilling to provide the names or whether it is because no person from the Scottish Criminal Records Office or other Scottish fingerprint bureau was involved.
Answer
No fingerprint examination work was carried out by the Scottish Criminal Records Office in connection with the Lockerbie investigation.
The answer to question S2W-20010 referred to officers from Lothian and Borders Police who carried out fingerprint examinations in 1991 and 1992 and were cited as witnesses in the Lockerbie trial. The officers referred to were Detective Sergeant William Thomson, Detective Inspector Ian Kemp and Detective Inspector Murdo Murray.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 24 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20013 by Colin Boyd QC on 7 November 2005, whether the reason for the answer not providing information relating to the names of the fingerprint experts cited as witnesses at the Lockerbie trial or precognosced in this connection is that the Executive (a) does not know or (b) is unwilling to provide the names.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-20558 on 24 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.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive in which of the months, April, May and June, Reliance’s monthly percentage of collections from any location has exceeded 5% of the total collections in the financial year 2005-06 to date.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:
The information requested is not available. The total number of prisoner movements for each month is available on the SPS website at www.sps.gov.uk.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 22 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when it hopes to fill the remaining vacancies in the Scottish Higher and Further Education Funding Council and whether it will improve the representation from the further education sector in filling these vacancies.
Answer
I would expect an appointment round for the two Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council vacancies to begin in early 2006. This will give the new chair an opportunity to assess the skills and knowledge of members and to identify those gaps which need to be addressed. The appointment will be conducted following guidelines issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland, which will ensure that the process is open and transparent, and appointments made on the basis of merit.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 21 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the prison population (a) is currently and (b) should be held in an open prison.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
(a) As at 9 November 2005, 5.5% of the prison population was held in open conditions.
(b) There is no set percentage of prisoners who should be in open prison. The daily population fluctuates, as does the number of prisoners who become eligible for consideration.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 21 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the assessment criteria are for a prisoner to become entitled to be transferred to an open prison during their sentence.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
In order to qualify for consideration for transfer to an open prison, an assessment is made against the following criteria:
Proportion of sentence served;
Current supervision level;
Progress in addressing identified high needs related to offending behaviour;
Conduct and behaviour;
Risk of abscond;
Current status in relation to addictions, and
Assessment of risk of self-harm.
