- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 16 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to recent reported comments by a Sri Lankan police spokesman that Sri Lankan police would not take cases of intimate partner violence to court nor separate husband and wife in cases that he described as “simple intimidation” and “slight assault”, and what impact this has had on its assessment of the effectiveness of Police Scotland’s training on gender-based violence.
Answer
The delivery of training by Police Scotland, in Sri Lanka, is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. The current training programme, provided by Police Scotland in Sri Lanka, is aimed at improving community policing and gender equality, with all training underpinned by equality and human rights. The Scottish Government has not carried out an assessment of the effectiveness of Police Scotland’s training on gender-based violence as it is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland to agree the details of any training programme. The Scottish Police Authority has responsibility for oversight of Police Scotland and to scrutinise the decisions of the Chief Constable.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 16 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding increasing the scope of the proposed resettlement scheme for refugees from Afghanistan who may be resettled in Scotland.
Answer
Afghan families are already being welcomed into Scottish communities under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) for Locally Employed Staff.
In her letter to the Prime Minister of 24 August, the First Minister called for a commitment to a substantial increase in numbers and for more detail about the new Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), including timescales for arrivals and funding to support local authority participation, as well as for wider services which are essential to support people to settle and be able to begin to rebuild their lives.
The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government wrote to the Home Secretary on 1 September and asked the UK Government to provide more detail on eligibility for refugee resettlement under the ACRS. She highlighted that people who may be vulnerable in Afghanistan or the region due to protected characteristics should also be considered for resettlement and called on the UK Government to consider easing the eligibility criteria for family reunion.
On 6 September, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government and I met with the UK Government’s Afghan Resettlement Minister, Victoria Atkins, and Lord Greenhalgh, Minister for Building Safety and Communities, as part of a devolved administrations call to discuss Afghan relocation and resettlement. In addition to those who are vulnerable, we asked for consideration to be given to those who already have family settled in the UK and for those with connections to be matched to the same regions, in order to help support integration.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 16 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the current situation in Afghanistan, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding (a) reviewing family reunion rules and (b) indefinitely suspending attempts to return people currently resident in Scotland, who were refused asylum in the UK, back to Afghanistan.
Answer
Following the commitment made by the Prime Minister on 18 August that the UK will not return Afghan nationals who have sought asylum in the UK, the First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister on 24 August to urge the Home Office to urgently review any cases which are in the asylum appeals process, or where people have previously been refused asylum.
The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government wrote to the Home Secretary on 1 September. She asked the UK Government to consider easing the eligibility criteria for family reunion to enable more people from Afghanistan (and elsewhere around the world) to join family members in the UK. She also called for asylum applications from Afghan nationals in the UK to be considered quickly and compassionately and pressed the Home Office to urgently review any cases which are in the asylum appeals process or where people have previously been refused asylum on the basis that Kabul is safe.
On 6 September, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government and I met with the UK Government’s Afghan Resettlement Minister, Victoria Atkins, and Lord Greenhalgh, Minister for Building Safety and Communities, as part of a devolved administrations call to discuss relocation and resettlement from Afghanistan. During that call we raised our concerns about family reunion and the position of Afghan nationals in the UK asylum system, including those whose applications have been refused, as well as those awaiting an initial decision and those in the appeal process.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 16 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Sri Lankan police’s human rights record, and what assessment it has made of any risk to Scotland’s international reputation from Police Scotland continuing to train with Sri Lankan police.
Answer
The delivery of training by Police Scotland, in Sri Lanka, is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. The current training programme, provided by Police Scotland in Sri Lanka, is aimed at improving community policing and gender equality, with all training underpinned by equality and human rights. The current programme of training in Sri Lanka is currently suspended, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Scottish Government has not made an assessment on the continuation of training by Police Scotland in Sri Lanka as it is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland to agree the details of any training programme. The Scottish Police Authority has responsibility for oversight of Police Scotland and to scrutinise the decisions of the Chief Constable.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 16 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to provide support to people from Afghanistan already resident in Scotland, who wish to support family members still in Afghanistan to seek asylum in the UK.
Answer
Asylum and immigration are matters reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes the design and operation of the UK asylum system and decisions relating to asylum applications. The Scottish Government is not involved in these processes, but can provide signposting to sources of information and advice.
The Scottish Government has made clear that the UK Government must consider asylum applications from Afghan nationals quickly and compassionately.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 14 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment by the previous SNP administration to maintain environmental standards in line with those in the EU, whether it is still committed to this.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to maintain or exceed the environmental standards in place upon EU exit. Provisions in the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 give a discretionary power to align devolved law with EU law. The Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party’s Shared Policy Programme also commits that, where practicable, we will stay aligned with new EU measures and policy developments.
However, the UK Internal Market Act 2020 risks undermining devolved decision-making across a wide range of areas, including environmental policy. The Act’s market access principle means that despite decisions we may make in Scotland to protect and advance the high standards we enjoyed as part of the EU, Scotland could be compelled to accept goods and services coming from other parts of the UK regardless of differing standards.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what EU legislation has been passed since the UK's exit from the EU that it plans to keep pace with using the powers in the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021.
Answer
Ministers have no current plans to use the discretionary power to align with European Union legislation provided through the UK Withdrawal from the EU (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021, but will do so where appropriate to maintain and advance the high standards Scotland has enjoyed as part of the EU.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021
To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking ahead of COP26 regarding the future of oil and gas exploration and securing a just transition for workers.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 6 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent media reports, whether it can confirm that Police Scotland has halted all training of Sri Lankan police, and under what circumstances such training would resume, and whether it will commit to publishing in full the outcome of the current review of Police Scotland’s training in Sri Lanka.
Answer
The delivery of training by Police Scotland, in Sri Lanka, is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. We understand that Police Scotland suspended the current training programme due to the coronavirus pandemic and that they will re-evaluate delivery of the programme when restrictions on foreign travel are lifted.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 6 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether Sri Lanka is on Police Scotland’s International Development and Innovation Unit’s list of countries for which ministerial approval is required for training to take place there, and, if not, whether, for any other reason, ministerial approval is required for Police Scotland to provide training to Sri Lankan police.
Answer
There is no list of countries for which ministerial approval is required for the delivery of training overseas, by Police Scotland. The delivery of training overseas by Police Scotland is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, but Scottish Ministers approve the deployment of individual Police Officers, under the Police Service of Scotland (Temporary Service) Regulations 2013.
