- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what other means will be used to increase the number of people getting access to justice by 5% over the period to 2005-06, as referred to in target 10 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
The Executive has provided additional funds to the Scottish Legal Aid Board to support a programme of pilot projects aimed at improving access to civil justice. It has also a three-year funding package for the Edinburgh In-Court Advice and Mediation Projects. Other projects may also be launched over the period.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Simpson on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any incentive will be provided to local authorities to attain accreditation for community programmes for offenders, as referred to in target 9 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
The Getting Best Results Steering Group which has developed the proposals for the accreditation is a partnership between the Executive, local authorities and academics. The agreed aim of this work is to improve the quality of programmes which work with offenders in order to increase the confidence of the courts in the use of community sentences. The main incentive is that professionals in the local authorities want to ensure that criminal justice social work services are based on the principles of "What Works" and are effective. In addition, extra funding, made available as a result of the spending review, will assist local authorities in preparing programmes for accreditation.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Simpson on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to reduce the number of heroin users aged 25 and over.
Answer
Treatment and rehabilitation are key components of the Executive's Drugs Strategy. We are investing around £34 million, over three years, to support new and improved services provided locally by NHS boards and local authorities. These services address the needs of all age groups, including the over 25s.Treatment and rehabilitation should be based on the needs of individual patients. Substitute prescribing of methadone is one of the main treatments for heroin misusers of all ages. International and national research supports the use of methadone to divert misusers from using illegal opiates, stabilising their lifestyles and reducing drug-related crime.We also accord high priority to encouraging recovering drug misusers to enter training and employment. We have already given wide distribution to our "Moving On" guidance which is intended to assist drugs services, education, training and employment providers with this important work.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how it measures the number of persistent young offenders, as referred to in target 2 in the education and young people section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
The number of young offenders going through the hearings system is monitored by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. In their annual report, SCRA publish data on the number of young people with one to three, over three and over 10 offences in one year. In addition to the focus on the last category, SCRA is developing further measures which will provide more information to the Executive and youth justice teams on the frequency of offending.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to agree a new target for a further reduction in serious violent crime for 2006, as referred to in target 1 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
The new target will be agreed in consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the conveners of police authorities. An announcement will be made once agreement is reached.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations it has had with staff unions in the Crown Office with regard to its targets for the Crown Office in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
No formal consultation took place but management and unions are in regular dialogue about the programme of reform and modernisation of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to which achievements of these targets will contribute.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Simpson on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it expects to reduce fear of crime or seriousness of worry about crime and by what date, as referred to in target 3 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
No specific target figure or date has been set. Currently, the best tool we have to measure the fear of crime is the Scottish Crime Survey. The 2000 Scottish Crime Survey shows that the proportion identifying crime as a serious or extremely serious problem; the proportion feeling unsafe walking alone after dark and the proportion worried about specific types of crimes have fallen steadily in the period between the 1993 and 2000 surveys. The next Scottish Crime Survey will take place in 2004 and all three indicators are expected to move in the same direction. However, a reduction of two out of the three will be taken as an overall reduction. Full Technical Notes setting out in more detail the definition for each target and how it will be measured will appear on the Scottish Executive website only at the end of this month.The additional investment we are making to tackle serious crime such as violence and drugs and the measures we have introduced and the targets we have set to reduce these and other crimes will undoubtedly have a positive impact on how safe our communities feel.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its present target for issue of indictments will continue to apply, in line with target 6 in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
The requirement to issue 100% of indictments within the statutory time limits will remain. Target 6 aims to help speed up the progress of cases through the criminal justice system by securing the earlier indictment of cases.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to provide safeguards relating to quality of investigations of deaths that require further investigation to be completed within 12 weeks, as referred to in target 9 in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
All such cases are reported to Crown Office and considered by an experienced member of legal staff there and, where appropriate, by Crown Counsel. Where necessary the procurator fiscal will be instructed to carry out further enquiries and re-report. Any inadequacy in reporting will be drawn to the attention of the relevant procurator fiscal or area procurator fiscal.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 7 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whom it envisages will be surveyed in the customer satisfaction survey for the Victim Information and Advice Service, as referred to in target 8 in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
The survey will be sent to all victims with whom the Victim Information and Advice Service have had contact after their case is closed.
