- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the strategic group on ethnic minority employment will be led by the Minister or Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.
Answer
The group is to be chaired by Dr Charan Gill MBE. The Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and I will also sit on the group.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 1 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the formal remit is of the strategic group on ethnic minority employment and whether the group will be action and outcome oriented.
Answer
As stated in response to the answer to question S2W-19177 on 3 October 2005, the group’s formal remit will be agreed at its first meeting on 20 February 2006. The short-term outcome of the strategic group will be to produce an action plan to address the current inequalities that exist for minority ethnic communities in the labour market in Scotland.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 19 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to announce its decision on Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive¿s response to the findings of the feasibility study into the Glasgow Crossrail link.
Answer
We expect tobe able to respond to Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive on the Glasgow Crossrailstudy during the spring.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the committee set up to monitor and assess the medical implications of Taser guns is still in existence and where its minutes can be accessed.
Answer
The Defence Scientific Advisory Council’s (DSAC) Sub-Committee on the Medical Implications of less lethal technologies is a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Defence and is responsible for monitoring the medical implication of taser. The secretariat of the DSAC can be contacted on the following link
http://www.mod.uk/dsac/secretariat.htm.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has commissioned any independent research on the safety of the police use of Taser guns.
Answer
Taser technology has been subject to rigorous assessment by the police Scientific Development Branch and the Defence Scientific Advisory Council’s Sub-Committee on the Medical Implications of Less Lethal Technologies (DOMILL).
DOMILL continues to receive information from police forces across the UK to ensure on-going clinical scrutiny of the use of Taser.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland or police forces regarding the use of electro-shock weapons such as Taser guns.
Answer
The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) approached the Executive in September 2004 seeking Scottish ministers’ views on extending the operational trial of Taser as a less lethal option for Scottish forces in dealing with firearms incidents. The proposals made clear that the use of these devices would adhere to the ACPO/ACPOS Manual of Guidance on Police use of Firearms; that threat and risk assessments would be conducted so that Chief Constables could be satisfied about their force’s tactical and operational capabilities to deploy this weapon, and that before any operational deployment is made a rigorous training programme would be conducted.
On that basis, ministers supported the decision to use these devices, while recognising that it was an operational matter for chief constables to determine the appropriate response to any firearms incident in the light of circumstances in each case.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive which models of Taser guns are in use in Scottish police forces.
Answer
The Taser X26 is the device used in Scotland.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-4038 by Cathy Jamieson on 18 November 2004, whether it will provide a list of the strict conditions it imposes on the use of Taser guns.
Answer
The deployment of Taser guns is an operational matter for chief constables. Ministers support the use of these devices in accordance with the policy and operational guidance which has been prepared by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. Copies of the guidance are publicly available on request through
[email protected].
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many closure orders have been granted by Sheriff Courts under section 29 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, broken down by local authority area; what the reasons were for each order being granted, and what the conclusions were in each case.
Answer
The available data on closure orders granted by sheriff courts are presented in the following table and cover the period from October 2004 to September 2005. This is also available in the
Standing up to Antisocial Behaviour First Anniversary Report:
www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com.
At present we can only provide information on the number of closures by police constabulary area. However, we will be able to provide the additional information required after 30 April 2006, when we receive the first annual reports on the use of the measures of the act.
| Constabulary Area | October 2004 to September 2005 Number of Closure Orders Granted |
| Fife | 4 |
| Tayside | 3 |
| Lothian and Borders | 1 |
| Strathclyde | 1 |
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 7 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will require individuals to hold an identity card in order to have a criminal record check and, if so, when this requirement will be introduced.
Answer
If Scottish ministers wanted to make it compulsory for those using the services of Disclosure Scotland to hold an identity card or submit to an identity check through the National Identity Register, then this, according to Section 44 of the Identity Cards bill, would require an act of the Scottish Parliament.
The Executive currently has no plans to require individuals to hold an identity card in order to have a criminal record check carried out or for any other purpose.
