This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Scottish Fingerprint Service
15/02/2007
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson today welcomed the Justice 1 Committee's report on its inquiry into the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) and the Scottish Fingerprint Service (SFS).
Ms Jamieson said:
"I welcome this report. The Committee has been thorough in its approach and constructive in its conclusions and recommendations.
"We will now need to give careful and detailed consideration to the Committee's conclusions and recommendations. In doing so, I want to re-state my clear commitment to ensuring that the Scottish Fingerprint Service (SFS) provides a world-class service fit for the criminal justice challenges of the 21st century.
"While the Committee has been working hard on this report, we have been working hard to improve the fingerprint service. We have passed vital legislation to bring together the key police support services - including the Scottish Criminal Records Office - into a new agency which will have strengthened accountability, more consistent practices, and a clearer identity. A new Scottish Forensic Science Service will be one part of that and, with input from international experts, an Action Plan for Excellence is being implemented to integrate the SFS into that. I welcome the report's support for these initiatives.
"However, I accept the Committee's view that much of the hard work in transforming the fingerprint service is still ahead of us. The Committee have rightly identified key areas that require management direction and support - in culture, in consistency, and in communication. Government does not have a monopoly on good ideas and I welcome the Committee's recommendations about what further steps may be needed.
"The Convenor and Chief Executive of the new Scottish Police Services Authority will be working with me in the coming weeks to ensure that we have detailed actions and people in place to deliver the aims of the Action Plan. I can assure the Committee that we are very aware of the need for a clear management focus on the fingerprint service's integration, within the wider changes being delivered across police support services.
"Clearly, a focal point of the Committee's inquiry has been the Shirley McKie case. No one underestimates the difficult issues that this case has thrown up. The Committee has been required to sift through a weight of conflicting evidence and views - often passionately argued.
"The Executive settled the case with Ms McKie last year because we were convinced this was the right thing to do - having ourselves made a genuine attempt to balance the many competing views.
"It was a very difficult decision but it is one I would take again if faced with the same set of circumstances. My challenge - and my priority as the Justice Minister - is to ensure that the reforms and improvements we make to the fingerprint service ensure such a tangled set of circumstances are not repeated.
"I hope that everyone with a stake in delivering a high-quality fingerprint service will look constructively at the recommendations that relate to them. If we can all do that, then I share the Committee's view that this will be an opportunity to collectively move forward."