- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive from which portfolio any funding for the Efficient Government initiative will come.
Answer
An Efficient Government Fund totalling £60 million in financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06 has been established to support the Efficient Government initiative. This funding will be made available from the Finance and Public Services portfolio.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, with reference to page 21 of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008, it will publish Table 3.01 in real terms, using 2004-05 as the base year.
Answer
The information requested is set out in table 1.02 on pages 10 and 11 in the Justice chapter of the Draft Budget 2005-06 which was published on 15 October.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases have been heard in sheriff courts in each year since 1999 and, of these, how many were solemn cases.
Answer
The number of summary criminal complaints and indictments registered since 1999 is shown in the following table.
Sheriff Court National Figures
| | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 |
| Summary Complaints Registered | 92,752 | 95,615 | 101,441 | 104,960 | 109,177 |
| Solemn Indictments Registered | 4,017 | 4,445 | 4,248 | 4,636 | 5,050 |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive why, with reference to page 21 of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008, police loan charges are not listed in Table 3.01.
Answer
Police loan charges represent police grant at 51% in respect of loan charges that police authorities have incurred for borrowing under Section 94 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. These are historical loans which, following the introduction of the prudential regime, will over time diminish and eventually disappear. The classification of these loan charges falls outwith both the Scottish Executive’s DEL (Departmental Expenditure Limits) and AME (Annually Managed Expenditure) and therefore do not form part of the Spending Review. Thus the Spending Review 2004 publication
Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 does not include police loan charges. The Spending Review2002 publication, which covered the Executive’s spending proposals for 2003-06,also did not include police loan charges. These charges are excluded from the Budget Bill Supporting Documents for the same reason.
The Justice Department receives estimates of the likely level of requirement for future years from all police forces, and these are not yet to hand for 2006-07 and 2007-08. We will publish details of these loan charges when they become available.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many commissions it has established in each year since 1999 and what funding was allocated for their establishment.
Answer
The information requested is set out in the table:
| Year Established | Year Abolished (where applicable) | Name of Commission | Funding Allocated in First Financial Year of Establishment |
| 1999 | n/a | Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission | £650,000 |
| 1999 | n/a | Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland | £437,000 |
| 2000 | 2001 | Scottish Charity Review Commission | £38,000 |
| 2000 | n/a | Sustainable Development Commission | Initial funding provided by DEFRA |
| 2001 | n/a | The Standards Commission for Scotland | £233,000 |
| 2002 | n/a | Scottish Commission on the Regulation of Care | £15.480 million |
| 2003 | n/a | Scottish Information Commissioner* | £700,000 |
| 2003 | n/a | The Sentencing Commission for Scotland | £30,000 |
| 2004 | n/a | Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland* | £450,000 |
| 2004 | To be wound up May 2005 | Cultural Commission | £487,000 |
Note: *Responsibility for these bodies rests with the Scottish Parliament.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the funding allocated to the police in each year since 1999 has been earmarked for enhancing the police’s response to the threat of global terrorism and, if so, what that level of funding has been.
Answer
Special Branch activity is the main component of the Scottish Police Service’s response to terrorism. Special Branches are funded mainly from within police Grant Aided Expenditure ,which rose by over 31% between 1999-2000 and 2004‑05 and is planned to rise by a further 17% by 2007-08. Information on the costs of Special Branches is not held centrally.
Particularly since 9/11, the Executive has also provided increased levels of 100% funding for a number of specific activities linked to or complementary to Special Branch working. These include force Counter-Terrorist Security Advisers, units responsible for co-ordinating the response to threats to national security and other covert activities. Given the sensitivity of these activities, it is the Executive’s policy not to comment on the levels of funding made available.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any specific funding will be allocated to the police for enhancing its response to the increased threat from global terrorism.
Answer
Yes. Funding is provided in a number of ways but, given the sensitivity of the activities involved, it is the Executive’s policy not to comment on the levelsof such funding made available.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #5-#6 million allocated for allowing sheriff courts to deal with increasing numbers of cases and supporting innovative drug and youth courts will be for supporting innovative drug and youth courts.
Answer
Final decisions have yet to be taken on the detailed allocation of resources.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent year is for which figures on reconviction rates are available.
Answer
The most recent data available on two-year reconviction rates relates to the cohort of offenders who were discharged from a custodial sentence or given a non-custodial sentence in calendar year 2000. Provisional figures on the two-year reconviction rates for the April 2001-March 2002 cohort of offenders are expected to be available by the end of this year.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the base year is from which a 10% reduction in High Court trial adjournments will be achieved by March 2008.
Answer
The base year is the financial year 2004-05.
