- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 7 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place regarding the creation of a police ombudsman with responsibilities in relation to all of Scotland’s police forces.
Answer
We will be establishinga new Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland in the forthcoming Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill.
Thenew commissioner will bring even greater levels of transparency and robust independentscrutiny to the police complaints system, building on the high standards the Scottishpublic have a right to expect from our modern police service.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards implementing the recommendations of the Working Group on Religious Hatred.
Answer
The
Report of the Cross-Party Working Group on Religious Hatred (published on 5 December 2002 and found at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/society/trhr-00.asp) and the 12 recommendations made in it, have been central to the development of work to tackle sectarian bigotry in Scotland. An Update on the Recommendations of the Cross-Party Working Group on Religious Hatred was published on 28 June 2004 and can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/cpwgrh-00.asp. Six of the recommendations have been fully implemented. Work is being taken forward to implement the remaining six longer term recommendations as an integral part of the Executive’s wider work on tackling sectarianism.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that institutional sectarianism in Scotland damages the international image of the country and the Executive's efforts to promote Scotland abroad.
Answer
We are not aware of evidence suggesting sectarianism damages Scotland’s image abroad. However, any issue which could portray Scotland negatively is of concern and we are committed to tackling sectarian bigotry however it manifests itself.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a study into the monitoring of crimes on the basis of sectarian aggravation.
Answer
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service published an analysis of the first six months of the operation of Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 on 11 November 2004. The report is available on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service website
http://www.crownoffice.gov.uk/publications/invrepofsect.doc. We are committed to building on this and to developing information in this area and are currently looking at how best to achieve this.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with the Northern Ireland Office about the lessons to be learned from the Northern Irish experience of tackling sectarianism.
Answer
We have had a number of discussions with the Northern Ireland Office, the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland and other organisations in Northern Ireland involved in tackling sectarianism. While we recognise that there are significant differences between the Scottish and Northern Irish experiences of sectarianism, we also recognise that good ideas can be adapted and, for example, this has contributed to the development of Executive initiatives such as the recently launched anti-sectarian education resource.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 11 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has examined the Education for Mutual Understanding programme in Northern Ireland and whether it has any plans to introduce a suitably-adapted model in Scotland.
Answer
The team which developed our recently launched anti-sectarian education resource, Don’t Give It, Don’t Take It, did make contact with organisations in Northern Ireland to learn from their experiences of the Education for Mutual Understanding programme. However, the resource developed for use here has been specifically designed to address the Scottish context and circumstances.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 11 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce anti-sectarian training into the school curriculum.
Answer
We have recently launched an anti-sectarian education resource, entitled Don’t Give It, Don’t Take It. This contains a broad range of classroom material for teachers’ use, and will be followed up with a series of training seminars.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 11 April 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that sectarianism is an issue of concern in schools.
Answer
Schools have a duty to equip young people to be responsible citizens. Addressing sectarianism is part of this process, in the same way that schools already address other forms of prejudice and discrimination. We have therefore produced an anti-sectarian education resource, Don’t Give It, Don’t Take It, to help teachers to work with young people on issues around sectarianism and religious intolerance.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in considering the acceptability of a proposed new motorway junction to serve the redevelopment of the Royal Ordnance site at Bishopton.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has completed its assessment of the proposed development including a new junction to the M8 motorway. The outcome of these considerations is that the Executive is content that the developer proceeds to the next stage of the appraisal process for the two identified motorway junction options. This means that, in principle, the Executive will support a new motorway access in order to facilitate the redevelopment of the Bishopton site. My officials will, today, write to inform the developer of this decision.
- Asked by: Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when it anticipates the settlement date will be for the cost of repairs to the Erskine Bridge following the damage inflicted by an offshore structure.
Answer
A debate on the parties’ pleadings will take place on 27 to 30 September 2005. The issue of liability and quantum of damages will be determined by the court if the parties are unable to reach agreement on these issues. It would, of course, be possible for the parties to reach an out of court settlement and the Scottish Executive would give careful consideration to any proposals for settlement put forward by the defenders or third parties.
