Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23358 on 11 December 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Sheriff Jack Brown is subject to ongoing Fitness for Judicial Office Tribunal proceedings. Under Section 23(6) of the Court Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, Scottish Ministers are obliged to pay such expenses as they consider are reasonably required to be incurred to enable a tribunal to carry out its functions. The Scottish Government will publish costs of the tribunal at the conclusion of the proceedings.

Scottish Government officials were notified about this matter by the Scottish Police Authority on the 1st November 2023. This was for information only as the governance and scrutiny of Police Scotland is for the Authority and not Ministers. No engagement with Police Scotland was required.

The Chair of the Authority has discussed this with the Chief Constable, who has apologised, and the SPA now considers the matter closed.

With regard to the assistance being provided to Police Scotland by Durham Constabulary, while this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, it is good practice for police organisations to share their knowledge and experience. Police Scotland routinely collaborates and works in partnership with police forces across the UK, and beyond.

The Scottish Government has had no involvement regarding Sheriff Duff's role as a Director of the Judicial Institute for Scotland. The judiciary is independent of the Scottish Government. The Lord President delegates responsibility for the delivery of judicial training to the Judicial Institute of Scotland and is responsible for appointments including the role of Director to the Board of the Judicial Institute.

Under the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, it is for the First Minister, with the agreement of the Lord President, to select persons to be members of a Fitness for Judicial Office Tribunal. In consultation with the Lord President, and in accordance with the legislation, the former First Minster appointed Sheriff Duff as a shrieval member of two Fitness for Judicial Office Tribunals in October 2018 and November 2019. On 3 November 2021, the Scottish Government was advised by the Tribunal that Sheriff Duff was unable to fulfil his duties on the Fitness for Judicial Office Tribunal, because of personal matters and requested a new shrieval member be appointed. No further details were provided to the Scottish Government.

The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 stipulates that the Chief Constable is responsible for the policing of Scotland, and is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority for this, rather than to Scottish Ministers directly. These arrangements are in place to ensure public confidence that the police act independently, free from unwarranted Ministerial interference. The Scottish Government had no involvement in the Police Scotland investigation that resulted in Sheriff Alistair Duff being convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The Al-Mahdi Foundation received £372k of Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) grant funding for 2 projects between 2014-2020 to support awareness raising of climate change issues amongst disadvantaged and ethnic minority communities and to make their community building more energy efficient.

The CCF was delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful who were responsible for assessing all applications. Grant applications were subject to the relevant due diligence checks. Projects were monitored to ensure they delivered against their objectives and grants were paid out based on incurred expenditure.

National Security is a reserved matter. If there is any evidence of alleged criminality this should be reported to Police Scotland.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

As of 24 November 2023, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has 15 trained dogs and 9 trained dog handlers.

All our dogs are trained to detect drugs, whilst some of our dogs are trained to detect arms and explosives and/or various prohibited items including mobile phones.

All our dog handlers form part of the National Tactical Search Unit and are highly trained in the searching of people, property, communal spaces and living areas i.e., cells.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS published its Annual Procurement Report on the SPS Website on 2 October 2023. (Link: http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Publications/Publication-9204.aspx ).

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

In compliance with the deadline set out in Section 22 of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act, SPS will publish their annual report and accounts for 2022-23 in December 2023.