Chamber and committees

When a witness who has been formally cited by the Crown to attend Court is no longer required, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) uses a variety of methods to notify the witness depending on the circumstances of the case and the individual needs of the witness.

In the case of civilian witnesses cited for Summary and Sheriff and Jury Trials, COPFS aims to countermand the citation by post, subject to the following exceptions:

(a) Where there are less than three clear working days between the date of countermanding and the date of trial.

(b) Where the witness is a child witness or a vulnerable adult witness.

In Summary and Sheriff and Jury cases, where there are less than three clear working days between the date of countermanding and the date of trial or the witness is a child witness or a vulnerable adult witness, witnesses are notified verbally, by telephone or in person by COPFS staff or by the police on the instruction of the Procurator Fiscal. The police use a variety of ways of passing on this information to the witness and may do this by telephone or by attending at the home or business address of the witness to notify them in person.

Postal countermands are not used for High Court cases. Witnesses cited by the Crown in High Court cases are either countermanded verbally, either by telephone or in person by COPFS staff or by the police using the methods outlined above.

If a witness is no longer required to attend at court and is being informed of this verbally, it will always be by an employee of COPFS or the relevant police force, acting on the instruction of the Procurator Fiscal.

Arrangements for cancelling or countermanding witnesses cited by the defence or by parties in civil cases are entirely a matter for them.

The installation of CCTV at pedestrian crossings for traffic monitoring would be a matter for traffic authorities to consider. There are no plans to require this facility at these locations.

We are unaware of any European country that uses two colour traffic signals.

There are no plans to provide CCTV at all pedestrian crossings nor has there been demand from the Crown Office for this facility.

A number of the provisions of the Road Safety Act 2006 are already in force. On 18 August 2008, sections 20 and 21 and section 30 (to the extent not already implemented) of the Road Safety Act 2006 were commenced.

Sections 20, 21 and 30 of the Road Safety Act 2006 insert Section 2B (creating a new offence of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving), Section 3ZB (creating a new offence of causing death by driving while unlicensed, uninsured or disqualified) and Section 3ZA (which defines the meaning of driving without due care and attention for the purposes of the offence of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving) respectively into the Road Traffic Act 1988.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) policy on these new offences is available on the COPFS website http://www.copfs.gov.uk/Publications/Driving.

This is a matter for the UK Government which has confirmed that it has no plans to change the current system of red, amber and green traffic signals. This system has been in place for many years, is widely understood and has a good level of compliance.

The UK Government has no plans to introduce countdown timers at traffic lights.

All Scottish Ambulance Service clinicians receive training on the implications of the Adults with Incapacity Act and how to support patients where the individual''s capacity to make decisions may be impaired. This forms part of basic training, is covered in post proficiency training, and is also made available on the SAS internal intranet pages.

The SIGN Guidelines on both adult and childhood epilepsy highlight the requirement for appropriate advice and information on epilepsy to be made available to people with epilepsy and their carers. NHS boards are expected to implement the guidelines through local protocols.

In conjunction with Epilepsy Scotland, the Scottish Government has encouraged the development of epilepsy Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs), and the provision of information for patients and carers is one of the key functions of the MCNs. The Scottish Paediatric Epilepsy Network and the Epilepsy Networks in the West of Scotland and Tayside and the North of Scotland have developed protocols and made information available for people with epilepsy which includes advice on emergencies.

From financial year 2006-07, the Scottish Government has provided Epilepsy Scotland with a grant of £15,000 a year for three years, to support the provision of a range of literature to inform and educate people with epilepsy, which includes advice for emergencies where appropriate. These factsheets and leaflets are available from the Epilepsy Scotland website: www.epilepsyscotland.org.uk

There already are national guidelines which deal with the treatment of prolonged seizures, including the SIGN Guidelines on epilepsy and the Joint Epilepsy Council''s Guidelines. The Joint Royal Colleges'' Ambulance Liaison Committee has also produced guidelines for the Scottish Ambulance Service on the management of epileptic seizures. The Scottish Paediatric Epilepsy Network has also developed a protocol on medication for children in emergency cases.

NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is also working on clinical standards for all neurological conditions, including standards relating specifically to epilepsy. NHS QIS expects the draft standards to be ready for consultation in the autumn of this year, with publication in summer 2009.

Epilepsy Care plans are not held centrally, but NHS24 and accident and emergency departments have access, with the person''s permission, to the Emergency Care Summary, which includes a system of special notes containing additional information on any conditions which could lead to out-of-hours contact, such as having epilepsy which is not seizure free.

Access by Scottish Ambulance Service professionals to clinical data held on the Emergency Care Summary (ECS) is currently being considered.