- 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 in which years, between now and March 2008, it will collect data on reconviction rates for all types of sentences, in order to be able to monitor the target of reducing reconviction rates for all types of sentences by 2% by March 2008.
Answer
The data available centrally on reconviction rates are derived from information held on the Scottish Offenders Index (SOI). The SOI database is updated annually, incorporating the latest information on convictions recorded by the Scottish Criminal Record Office. For the period to March 2008, figures on two-year reconviction rates will therefore be available for the cohorts of offenders discharged from a custodial sentence or given non-custodial sentence in the years 2003-04 (base year), 2004-05 and 2005-06.
- 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 2% reduction in reconviction rates in all types of sentences will be achieved by March 2008.
Answer
The base year measure will be the two-year reconviction rate for the cohort of offenders discharged from a custodial sentence or given a non-custodial sentence in the year ending 31 March 2004.
- 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 Colin Boyd on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many sheriff summary and district court cases were disposed within 26 weeks of the date of caution since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of all sheriff summary and district court cases.
Answer
This information is not available from 1999 because there was no target of this nature at that time. There is now a new joint target for Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), the Scottish Police Service and the Scottish Court Service to dispose of 60% of sheriff summary and district court cases within 26 weeks of the date of caution and charge by March 2008.
A sampling exercise in 2003-04 suggested that around 42% of sheriff summary and district court cases were disposed of within 26 weeks of the date of caution and charge.
The COPFS is in the process of making changes to its operational database in order to measure future performance against this target.
- 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 how much of the #56 and #109 million allocated in 2006-07 and 2007-08 for pay and pension increases and allowing additional recruitment to offset a peak in officer retirements, referred to in Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 will be provided for additional recruitment to offset a peak in officer retirements.
Answer
Additional amounts were included in Building a Better Scotland: Spending Proposals 2005-2008 to enable police forces to fund additional recruitment and also as part of the levelling-up of Grant Aided Expenditure across forces following a recent review of the allocation methodology for police grant aided expenditure. The overall amounts were £4.5 million in 2006‑07 and £14.5 million in 2007-08. The amounts specifically for additional recruitment were £1.5 million and £4.5 million respectively but, as a substantial part of the balance will also go towards additional recruitment, the larger figures provide a better measure of the total provided for additional recruitment to offset the peak in officer retirements.
- 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 level of (a) pay and (b) pension increase there has been for each grade of police officer in each year since 1999.
Answer
The pay awards made to all grades in the police service since 1999 are as follows:
| 1999 | 3.6% |
| 2000 | 3% |
| 2001 | 3.5% |
| 2002 | 3% |
| 2003 | 3% |
| 2004 | 3% |
During the corresponding period police pensions have increased as follows:
| 1999 | 3.2% |
| 2000 | 1.1% |
| 2001 | 3.3% |
| 2002 | 1.7% |
| 2003 | 1.7% |
| 2004 | 2.8% |
- 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 projected level is of (a) pay and (b) pension increase for each grade of police officers for each year to 2007-08.
Answer
The additional amounts for police pay and pensions in 2006-07 and 2007-08 taken into account within
Building a Better ScotlandSpending Proposals 2005-2008, announced on 29 September 2004, were as follows:
| | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Police Pay | £25 million | £52 million |
| Police Pensions | £4 million | £17 million |
Notes:
1. The amounts given show increases compared to currently estimated levels for 2005‑06 and were arrived at following consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. Forecasts were not made separately for different grades of officer.
2. Police pay is determined annually on the basis of recommendations made by the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) and is amended in line with the median of private sector non-manual pay settlements.
3. Police pensions are increased in April each year on the same basis as other public sector pensions linked to adjustments for the State Earnings Related Pensions Scheme and Retail Price Index.
- 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 how many High Court trial adjournments there have been in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of all High Court trials.
Answer
Central collection of this information has only started from 2004-05.
- 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 how many hours on average sheriffs presided over (a) small claims and (b) summary cause cases in each year since 1999.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Enterprise’s decision to proceed with Project ATLAS was supported by a business case and, if so, what proportion of the level of utilisation assumed in the business case for the telecommunications trading exchange and the link to London has been achieved to date.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11211 on 2 November 2004. 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.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 2 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many UK fast-stream civil servants have joined the Scottish civil service in each year since 1999; whether it has any plans to adopt an equivalent scheme of its own and, if so, what this scheme will be.
Answer
The number of UK fast stream civil servants that have joined the Executive since 1999 are detailed as follows:
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| 15 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 10 | 8 |
The Executive has no plans at this time to adopt an equivalent scheme of its own. I can confirm that it is our intention to continue to participate in the recognised UK-wide Civil Service Fast Stream Programme.
