Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-12036

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 22 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to public petition PE1979 on establishing an independent inquiry and an independent national whistleblowing officer to investigate concerns about the alleged mishandling of child safeguarding enquiries by public bodies.

Question reference: S6W-12005

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many facial recognition cameras are currently being used by Police Scotland.

The decision to use any technology with facial recognition capability is an operational matter for Police Scotland, whilst having regard to the relevant laws.

The Scottish Government understands from Police Scotland that they are not and have no plans to use live facial recognition technology/cameras at this time.

In line with the Scottish Government's commitment to the legal, ethical and proportionate use of technologies in policing, an Independent Advisory Group on Emerging Technologies, whose membership includes policing, human rights and data protection stakeholders, is currently developing recommendations and is due to report to Ministers later this year.

Question reference: S6W-12004

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the timeline to remove unsafe cladding from buildings has changed, in light of the reported funding reduction as part of the recent government review.

Question reference: S6W-12035

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to take action regarding the automatic response to people who refer safeguarding matters, in light of it reportedly being an automatic response from the General Teaching Council for Scotland to state the matter is "frivolous".

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is the independent regulatory body for teachers and, as such, Scottish Ministers have no locus to intervene in their procedures. The GTCS fitness to teach policy sets out key principles and acts as a mechanism for dealing with a teacher who presents a risk of harm. The fitness to teach process also aims to ensure that we have a teaching profession in Scotland that is and remains fit to teach so that public trust and confidence in teachers is maintained and the learning of our children and young people is protected.

The Scottish Government Child Protection Unit engages with GTCS on a regular basis on child and public protection and safeguarding issues, and to clarify the role of the bodies that are responsible for dealing with teachers who present a risk of harm to children.

The Scottish Government has also recently established an internal forum on the implementation of the child protection guidance in schools, and will continue to facilitate discussions on reporting and investigation processes of child protection issues within schools.

Question reference: S6F-01528

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 November 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-11651

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the first meeting of its National Care Service Lived Experience Experts Panel to be held.

The Lived Experience Experts Panel doesn’t reflect traditional policy panels, which meet together on a regular basis. It is most similar to the Experience Panel in place for Social Security. It functions as a pool of people with lived experience who can be called upon to take part in co-design and research to support service development.

This means that the panel don’t have meetings together, although members will often attend group sessions with a small number of other people in the panel.

Panel members are currently being invited to introductory sessions to support their participation in co-design sessions. The first introductory session is scheduled for15 November, with up to 20 of the panel attending. We expect the co-design sessions to begin shortly after that.

Question reference: S6W-11650

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications (a) it has received and (b) have been successful to join its National Care Service Lived Experience Expert Panel.

Question reference: S6W-11734

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any plans for (a) ministers and (b) official delegations to visit Qatar during the 2022 World Cup.

Question reference: S6O-01493

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to address the discharge of sewage into rivers, lochs and waterways.

Question reference: S6F-01442

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

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