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Covering Letter

Police and Community Safety Directorate
Police: Organised Crime and Support Services Division

Fax: 0131-244 3989
E-mail: forensic.review@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

23 September 2008

Dear Sir/ Madam

CONSULTATION ON THE ACQUISITION AND RETENTION OF DNA AND FINGERPRINT DATA IN SCOTLAND ( CRES 1058)

The attached consultation paper sets out the Government's response to the Fraser Report on the 'Acquisition and retention of DNA and Fingerprint Data in Scotland', which is also published today, and seeks comments on options and proposals for legislation which the Government is minded to bring forward as part of a Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill early in 2009.

Responding to this consultation paper

We are inviting written responses to this consultation paper by Friday 21 November. Please send your response with the completed Respondent Information Form which is attached to this letter to:

Forensic.review@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Or by post to:

If you have any questions about this consultation document please contact Derek Smith on 0131 244 3346.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Government consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can telephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is.

The Scottish Government now has an email alert system for consultations (SEconsult: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SG distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SG consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would encourage you to register.

Handling your response

We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form attached to this letter as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public and after we have checked that they contain no potentially defamatory material, responses will be made available to the public in the Scottish Government Library (see the attached Respondent Information Form) and on the Scottish Government consultation web pages as soon as possible. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SG Library on 0131 244 4552. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

What happens next?

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us reach a decision on the options, proposals and other issues identified in the attached consultation paper with a view to including any necessary statutory provisions in the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill which will be introduced early in 2009. We aim to issue a report on this consultation process by Friday 19 December.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to: Forensic.review@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or to me at the address set out above.

Yours faithfully

COLIN MILLER

ANNEX

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION PROCESS

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Government working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Government, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish Government consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

The Scottish Government encourages consultation that is thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under consideration and the nature of the target audience. Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of factors, and no two exercises are likely to be the same.

Typically Scottish Government consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the issue, and they are also placed on the Scottish Government web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses. Consultation exercises may also involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as through public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises. Copies of all the written responses received to a consultation exercise (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Government library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4565).

All Scottish Government consultation papers and related publications ( e.g., analysis of response reports) can be accessed at: Scottish Government consultations ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations).

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review
• inform the development of a particular policy
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

Final decisions on the issues under consideration will also take account of a range of other factors, including other available information and research evidence.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.

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