Hansard

I was coming to that point. I wanted first to address Mr Finnie’s question on databases. We take that issue extremely seriously. We will watch how the bill progresses through the UK Parliament—and it almost goes without saying that Scottish National Party members of that Parliament will be involved in the scrutiny of the bill, as they have been up to this point.

I was asked to reflect on the need to undertake an impact assessment on the specific issues on which we seek legislative consent. I acknowledge the concerns that organisations and individuals have raised about the bill in its entirety and I welcome the scrutiny that the bill rightly faces in the UK Parliament, but I do not consider it appropriate for the Scottish Government to undertake an impact assessment on a UK Government bill, the majority of which is within reserved competence.

I recognise the concerns of the committee and John Finnie, and I agree that the bill needs to be properly scrutinised, to ensure that any impact is necessary and proportionate. That scrutiny will happen in the UK Parliament, where the bill in its entirety is being considered. The provisions that are under consideration in relation to the legislative consent motion give consistency to law enforcement in the UK and will ensure that Scotland is not at a disadvantage in tackling the terrorist threats that we face.

On Daniel Johnson’s point, I wrote to the committee and my official spoke to a number of human rights organisations. Although those organisations have concerns about the bill more widely, they do not necessarily have concerns about the narrow issues that we are considering in the context of this legislative consent motion.