Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34064

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the effectiveness of the Scottish Government Resilience Room’s (SGoRR) responses to emergencies is evaluated, and what improvements have been implemented in the past 10 years as a result.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR), like any other part of Scotland’s resilience system, conducts regular debriefs following activations, gathers feedback from stakeholders on its effectiveness, and works with partners to identify notable practice. This regular identification and implementation of lessons ensures the continuous improvement of the SGORR function. Numerous improvements have been implemented in the past 10 years, including a comprehensive review of standard operating procedures, the updating of technology, and initiatives to secure more strategic, regular engagement with partners, e.g. a meeting series held during the winter season to review collective preparedness for winter hazards.

Question reference: S6W-34162

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many reported assaults on doctors have resulted in (a) charges being brought and (b) prosecutions, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-34136

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many penalties were issued for drink or drug driving offences on each trunk road, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S6W-34141

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions for speeding on trunk roads led to a (a) conviction and (b) acquittal in each year since 2018, broken down by (i) trunk road and (ii) court location.

(a)The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2022-23.

Number of people convicted for speeding offences on trunk roads, where main crime, in Scottish Courts, by court location (LA), 2018-19 to 2022-23.

	2018-19	2022-23
	West Lothian	East Ayrshire	Highland	Perth & Kinross	West Lothian
TRUNK ROADS (S) TEMP RESTRICT TRAFFIC & OVERTAKING 30,40,50MPH (S) ORDER 1992	-	-	1	-	-
TRUNK ROADS (S) TEMP RESTRICT TRAFFIC & OVERTAKING 30,40,50MPH (S) ORDER 1994	1	-	-	-	1
TRUNK ROADS IN SCOT (TEMP PROHIBITIONS & TEMP SPEED RESTRICTIONS) ORDER 1996	-	1	-	1	-

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Some speeding offences that occurred on trunk roads may have been prosecuted under more general speeding offence charges.

Please note: data for 2021-22 and 2022-23 are affected by the pandemic, subsequent court closures, reduced court capacity due to physical distancing measures and delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, and may not be considered indicative of long term trends.

(b) There were no cases resulting in acquittal not guilty or acquittal not proven verdict under the legislation related to speeding on trunk roads (where main crime), between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-34142

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what penalties have been imposed as a result of successful speeding prosecutions in each year since 2018, broken down by (a) trunk road and (b) penalty type.

(a) The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of penalties issued for speeding offences by specific trunk road location or road number. This level of detail is not recorded in the Criminal Proceedings database.

(b) The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2022-23.

Number of people convicted for speeding offences (regardless of location), where main crime, by result, 2018-19 to 2022-23.

	Custody	Community sentence	Monetary	Other	Total convicted
2018-19	-	17	9,002	54	9,073
2019-20	1	10	9,083	82	9,176
2020-21	-	1	2,190	11	2,202
2021-22	-	3	4,426	42	4,471
2022-23	-	3	4,303	65	4,371

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Please note: data for 2021-22 and 2022-23 are affected by the pandemic, subsequent court closures, reduced court capacity due to physical distancing measures and delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, and may not be considered indicative of long term trends.

Question reference: S6W-34134

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many speeding offences have been recorded on each trunk road, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S6W-34156

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions relating to assaults on nurses have resulted in (a) convictions and (b) other outcomes, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-34133

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic offences have been recorded on each trunk road in each year since 2018, broken down by type of offence.

Question reference: S6W-34147

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure the timely prosecution of speeding offences, and what improvements have been implemented since 2018.

Decisions relating to the investigation and prosecution of crime, including speeding offences, are a matter for Police Scotland and COPFS, who are operationally independent of the Scottish Ministers.

Restrictions brought in to reduce the spread of coronavirus in 2020 led to a significant increase in the length of time it took for cases to progress through the court system. However, there has been considerable progress in addressing backlogs in the summary court system, aided by investment provided by the Scottish Government, with the number of outstanding scheduled summary trials reducing from an average of 38,089 in 2021-22 to 19,848 as of December 2024.

Question reference: S6W-34163

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions related to assaults on doctors have resulted in (a) convictions and (b) other outcomes, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.

Chamber and committees