Chamber and committees

In determining whether to oppose bail, the Crown must act in a manner compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, which requires a balancing of the rights of individuals and the presumption of innocence with the interests of the community in general. This includes cases which involve one or more alleged offences of those listed in question S2W-19545, namely (a) murder, (b) culpable homicide, (c) rape and (d) a serious sexual offence.

The exact criteria for opposition to bail is dependant on the facts and circumstances of each case, and the accused. Broadly, the Crown will take into account a number of factors, including the nature and age of the offence whether the accused has a significant record of previous convictions, in particular any previous sexual and/or violent offending; whether there is any evidence that the accused will abscond, intimidate witnesses, fail to attend court hearings, re-offend, and/or is in close association with the victim(s), or whether the accused is in a position of trust such as being subject to a bail order. Opposition to bail would, obviously, be strengthened by a combination of these grounds.

Decisions about opposition to bail are taken by members of legal staff at all grades in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). Procurator Fiscal Deputes (PFD) are supported by a Principal PFD, and where appropriate, District Procurator Fiscals may also be involved in such decisions.

Whether or not the Crown is successful in its opposition to bail, the Procurator Fiscal Depute in court will manually record the court’s decision to grant or to refuse bail on the relevant case papers, including any additional bail conditions imposed. The depute will also record whether or not the Crown opposed bail. In addition, the grant or refusal of bail by the court is recorded electronically in the COPFS national database.

The hand written record on the case papers is retained in accordance with COPFS national policy on retention of case papers.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

Six hundred and twenty-nine.

A Scottish Executive advertisement seeking expressions of interest from potential operators of the Northern Isles passenger and vehicle services was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 19 April 2004 (reference number 64997-148/2004) and in the media. Expressions of interest were received from 26 organisations as set out in the answer to question S2W-18864 on 23 September 2005, which included two port organisations Aberdeen Harbour Board and Milford Haven Port Authority, both of which are trust ports. It is a matter for the organisations involved at this stage to consider in the light of the Executive’s requirement whether they wish to express an interest, and then submit a Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) to be considered for the invitation to tender. PQQs were submitted by nine of the organisations expressing an interest. These PQQs were evaluated by the Executive and, while the details of the PQQs submitted remain commercially confidential at this stage, I announced on 19 July 2005 that three organisations had been invited to submit tenders, none of whom was a port organisation.

The information requested is not held centrally.

We have no current plans to advertise the Fresh Talent initiative on BBC World. However, as we take forward our activity to promote the initiative, we will consider all appropriate communication channels, including BBC World.

I refer the member to the answer to question S1W-26485 on 3 July 2002 providing information on advertising spend by the Scottish Office/Scottish Executive Departments from 1991-92 to 2001-02.

For information on the Scottish Executive’s advertising spend by Department and campaign for 2002-03 please see the answers to questions S2W-1857 on 5 September 2003 and S2W-2481 answered on 22 September 2003; for 2003-04 please see answer to question S2W-15204 on 12 April 2005.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Information relating to the Scottish Executive advertising spend by Department and Campaign for 2004-2005 is held on the Scottish Executive website, please see attached link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/media/17963/adspend05.

The Marketing Unit of the Scottish Executive are responsible for contracts with advertising and media companies delivering public information campaigns on behalf of ministers’. We are not responsible for the promotion or development of any grassroots sports organisations.

Last year the First Minister announced plans to establish St Andrew’s Day as a day when Scots of all backgrounds, both at home and abroad, can join together in an annual celebration of Scotland.

The Executive has since planned a range of activities to celebrate St Andrew’s Day this year.

For the first time the Scottish Executive will be hosting St Andrew’s Day festivities in Edinburgh city centre on 30 November with a free public ceilidh. The ceilidh in the capital on Scotland’s day will take place at an open-air stage in the Lawnmarket and indoors in the adjacent Hub venue. The event is to be themed around our One Scotland Many Cultures campaign, and the evening’s bill of entertainment will draw on Scotland’s strong national identity for inspiration and will reflect our country’s increasing cultural diversity.

This year’s celebrations will serve as a pilot event for future years, although the theme for future celebrations will vary from year to year. As such the focus for activity this year will be in Edinburgh, but it is our intention that in subsequent years there will be a programme for St Andrew’s Day celebrations which communities across Scotland can embrace, and one which can also be promoted abroad.

Scottish ministers will be involved in a range of events on St. Andrew’s Day.

The First Minister will attend the Glenfiddich Awards Ceremony in Edinburgh

Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, will co-host a seminar in the European Parliament in Brussels, attended by the European Agriculture Commissioner, show-casing to European counter-parts Scotland’s approach to rural development. Following that seminar, he will also co-host a Taste of Scotland reception in the European Parliament, attended by 500 key policy makers in Brussels from EU institutions, regions and member states.

Patricia Ferguson, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport will be attending a St Andrew’s Day event at the University of Glasgow’s Crichton campus in Dumfries at which Scottish songwriters will perform for the first time selected songs in the Burns tradition;

Malcolm Chisholm, Minister for Communities will be attending a Race Equality Champions lunchtime event being hosted by the Commission for Racial Equality in the Scottish Parliament, and together with Peter Peacock, Minister for Children and Young People, the Scottish Inter Faith Council’s evening reception in the Scottish Parliament.

Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Sector Reform, will attend the annual Brussels St Andrew’s Lecture on 29 November 2005. This year, the lecture will be delivered by Alexander McCall Smith, the author of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

South Lanarkshire Council is hosting a St. Andrew’s Night event in Rutherglen town hall. The event which is being organised by the Scottish Council on Archives is entitled Documents that Shaped the Nation, which will be chaired by the BBC Scotland reporter Brian Taylor and will feature a panel of Scotland’s top historians, as well as MSPs Wendy Alexander and Tommy Sheridan.

Further information promised in the answer to S2W-20088 is as follows:

A St Andrew’s Day message from the First Minister will be sent to all Foreign and Commonwealth Office British Embassy networks.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) were contacted in October to offer a special package of promotional items for St Andrew’s Day celebrations. The Scottish Executive has received fifty-seven requests to provide promotional items for events and other related activities.

The FCO British Embassy networks are holding or supporting a large number of events around the world to celebrate St. Andrew’s Day. The Scottish Executive is now aware of forty-one events being held around the world:

Abuja, Nigeria:   Caledonia Ball to be held

Amman, Jordan:  The Embassy Club with 70-strong UK police contingent to    hold a St Andrew’s Day party on 24 November

Ankara, Turkey:   Caledonia Society holding St Andrew’s Day ball

Australia   St Andrew’s Day celebrations

Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro: event

Boston   St Andrew’s Day event

Bratislava   St Andrew’s Day events

Brunei   St Andrew’s Society events

Brussels   St Andrew’s Day events

Chicago, USA:   Deputy Management Officer at British Consulate holding     St Andrew’s Day event

Denmark:   Ambassador and representatives to attend Caledonia     Society St Andrew’s Day Ball

Dushanbe  St Andrew’s Day reception at the Ambassador’s     residence and the opening f the new Embassy in     Dushanbe

The Gambia

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia:  British Consulate to hold Caledonia Society St. Andrew’s     Day ball

Kolkata, India:   Embassy to hold a grand charity ball on 26 November to     celebrate St. Andrew’s Day.

Latvia   The British Chamber of Commerce in Latvia organising     their monthly dinner with a Scottish theme for St     Andrew’s Day.

Lithuania   St Andrew’s Dinner

Lusaka, Zambia:  Caledonia Society to hold St Andrew’s Day Ball

Macedonia:   St Andrew’s Day reception

Mumbai, India:  British Deputy High Commission to hold a St. Andrew’s     Day event on 19 November

Madrid, Spain:   Caledonia Ball to be held

Moscow   St Andrew’s Day event

New York   St Andrew’s Day event

Panama City  St Andrew’s Day supper.

Papua New Guinea St Andrew’s Day celebrations

Peru   St Andrew’s Day events.

Prague, Czech Republic: Caledonia Society Ball to be held

Riyadh   St Andrew’s ball.

Seychelles  St Andrew’s celebrations

Sri Lanka   St Andrew’s Day events

St Petersburg  St Andrew’s Day celebrations

Tashkent:    several events taking place

The Netherlands  St Andrew’s Day celebrations

Tokyo, Japan:   British Embassy to hold a St Andrew’s Day ball

Ulaanbaatar  British Embassy holding an event.

Warsaw   St Andrew’s Day competition

Zagreb, Croatia:  to organise a St Andrew’s Day event.

The Taste of Scotland event in Brussels is part of a range of events around St Andrew’s Day organised by SEEUO in support of the UK Presidency of the Council of Ministers. This is being done in co-operation with all seven Scottish MEPs and Scotland Europa in addition to the ministerial events highlighted about, throughout the week there will be debates on a wide range of issues including better regulation, rural and urban development, the Scottish justice system and research and development. The Hooked on Scottish Film series supported by Scottish Screen gives the opportunity to see Scottish films. At the European Parliament, the work of one of Scotland’s most influential artists, John Bellany CBERA will be presented and at the Committee of the Regions, the eight pictures by Scottish schoolchildren which featured at the G8 summit are on display.

These figures are not held centrally. Sir John Orr’s report of the Review of Marches and Parades in Scotland was published in January and included recommendations on maintaining records on the number of processions held and associated policing costs. We are currently working with local government and police bodies to see how we can best implement these recommendations.

The need to review a range of cultural and leadership matters, including appointments and promotion, within the fire and rescue services was highlighted by several reports and thematic reviews, including The Independent Review of the Fire Service published in December 2002. The intension to introduce a system of multi-tier entry was indicated in the Scottish Executive consultation document, The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service: Proposals for Legislation, published in October 2003. Members of the Scottish Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council were consulted prior to the revision of The Fire Services (Appointments And Promotion) (Scotland) Regulations, which facilitated the introduction of multi-tier entry.

We have no current plans to rationalise police forces in Scotland, and consequently have no estimates of the potential resource implications involved in reducing the number of police forces in operation.