Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-29286

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners placed on remand before trial received a custodial sentence in each of the last three years.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The information requested is not available. Some prisoners are imprisoned frequently, for short periods and re-offend very shortly after release. It is therefore possible for a prisoner to be received into custody under sentence for offences committed before those for which they had last been remanded in custody. The available information therefore cannot identify how the offences for which a prisoner is serving a sentence relate to the charges for any previous period on remand.

Question reference: S1W-29270

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it envisages paying non-domestic rates for the new private-build, private-operate prison.

Question reference: S1W-28026

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers and how many officials attended the European Union working party on substantive criminal law in Brussels on 29 and 30 July 2002, and what grade and from which departments these officials were.

Negotiations within the European Union on issues of substantive criminal law are conducted by the UK Government, taking due account of the views of the devolved administrations. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of EU-related issues, including discussions on substantive criminal law, and is represented as necessary at meetings in Brussels, whether at working groups of officials or at Councils at ministerial level.

Question reference: S1W-27917

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26496 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 July 2002, why the costs it incurs in paying non-domestic rates at HM Prison Kilmarnock were not stated in the answer to question S1W-24351 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 April 2002.

Question reference: S1W-30471

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sheriff court fines are currently outstanding, broken down by sheriff court.

The latest available information is given in the following table. The figures shown relate to the total number of fine accounts open at each date, including those where fines are due to be paid by instalment or where time has been given to pay. They are not equivalent to the number of fines outstanding as where an accused is fined in respect of more than one charge in a complaint, then those fines are recorded as one overall fine account.Number of Open Fine Accounts for Sheriff Court Fines at 9 August 2002, by Sheriff Court

All Courts	40,149	Hamilton	2,630
Aberdeen	1,713	Inverness	761
Airdrie	1,517	Jedburgh	361
Alloa	389	Kilmarnock	1,760
Ayr	1,181	Kirkcaldy	1,329
Arbroath	498	Kirkcudbright	173
Banff	153	Kirkwall	116
Campbeltown	124	Lanark	367
Cupar	212	Lerwick	107
Dingwall	181	Linlithgow	1,514
Dornoch	76	Lochmaddy	22
Dumbarton	929	Oban	124
Dumfries	758	Paisley	1,865
Dundee	1,645	Peebles	78
Dunfermline	1,237	Perth	850
Dunoon	209	Peterhead	412
Duns	110	Portree	35
Edinburgh	4,665	Rothesay	71
Elgin	620	Selkirk	288
Falkirk	1,639	Stirling	662
Forfar	293	Stonehaven	135
Fort william	126	Stornoway	106
Glasgow	5,804	Stranraer	429
Greenock	961	Tain	289
Haddington	438	Wick	187

Question reference: S1W-30470

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002

The information available is given in the following table. The figures shown relate to the total number of fine accounts open at each date, including those where fines are due to be paid by instalment or where time has been given to pay. They are not equivalent to the number of fines outstanding as where an accused is fined in respect of more than one charge in a complaint, then those fines (and any compensation orders which may have been additionally imposed) are recorded as one overall fine account.Number of Open Fine Accounts for Sheriff Court Fines at 31 March, 1998-2002, by Sheriff Court

	1998		1999		2000		2001		2002
All Courts	42,766		41,484		38,674		37,424		38,838
Aberdeen	1,915		2,162		2,216		1,785		1,745
Airdrie	1,322		1,362		1,354		1,328		1,450
Alloa	353		357		344		355		317
Ayr	1,479		1,138		1,075		1,117		1,140
Arbroath	522		540		474		490		472
Banff	137		151		141		180		173
Campbeltown	210		215		166		162		129
Cupar	207		195		159		209		198
Dingwall	249		275		274		198		169
Dornoch	78		85		87		66		90
Dumbarton	1,197		954		1,007		922		905
Dumfries	913		1,048		886		860		756
Dundee	1,578		1,473		1,410		1,473		1,648
Dunfermline	1,267		1,177		1,117		1,035		1,112
Dunoon	240		186		156		214		205
Duns	106		80		89		N/A		97
Edinburgh	5,081		5,039		4,807		4,859		4,689
Elgin	556		589		551		563		575
Falkirk	1,323		1,186		1,360		1,317		1,458
Forfar	213		223		188		207		258
Fort William		201		174		124		114		129
Glasgow		5,876		6,126		5,579		5,325		5,664
Greenock		843		716		775		810		927
Haddington		366		375		390		316		362
Hamilton		3,267		3,055		3,201		2,802		2,559
Inverness		867		758		695		683		807
Jedburgh		198		156		179		336		336
Kilmarnock		1,774		1,770		1,384		1,404		1,710
Kirkcaldy		1,226		1,309		1,117		1,132		1,248
Kirkcudbright		254		253		233		145		142
Kirkwall		123		141		115		122		122
Lanark		641		470		469		383		367
Lerwick		275		208		159		112		110
Linlithgow		1,561		1,535		1,433		1,445		1,372
Lochmaddy		36		23		17		30		18
Oban		184		178		169		139		131
Paisley		2,254		2,271		1,857		1,744		1,768
Peebles		61		57		49		50		61
Perth		887		798		686		737		910
Peterhead		437		354		268		271		404
Portree		42		39		28		34		29
Rothesay		77		52		35		63		53
Selkirk		153		180		140		167		215
Stirling		764		681		530		550		620
Stonehaven		224		228		169		151		157
Stornoway		193		123		102		114		112
Stranraer		551		528		443		466		457
Tain		300		337		303		289		305
Wick		185		154		164		150		157

Question reference: S1W-30469

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what value of compensation orders under section 249 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act were outstanding on 31 March (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000, (d) 2001 and (e) 2002, broken down by sheriff court.

Fines and, where they have been imposed, compensation orders are amalgamated in sheriff court fine accounts. The number and value of outstanding compensation orders included in these accounts cannot be separately identified in the available data. The total number and value outstanding of open sheriff court fine accounts is given in the answers to questions S1W-30470 today, and S1W-27637 on 19 September 2002 respectively.

Question reference: S1W-29773

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive why it is reducing the Scottish Court Service's budget by #2 million in 2005-06, as shown in the table in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Question reference: S1W-29284

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002 and the commitment by the Minister to reflect on the possibility of a fixed-price prison construction contract (Official Report, col.13390), when he expects to reach a conclusion on this matter.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:As with the procurement by the SPS of the latest two new houseblocks at Polmont and Edinburgh, the SPS intention will be to secure the best possible deal for taxpayers in acquiring a new prison by tapping into a competitive market. If a fixed-price contract was judged the best way of maximising value for money it would be taken; if not, it would not.

Question reference: S1W-29268

Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what criteria it will use to assess the (a) robustness, (b) credibility, (c) competitiveness and (d) value for money of a plan for a privately-built, publicly-operated prison.