- 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 George Reid on 19 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether, in the appointment of ArupScotland as an adviser in respect of the preliminary financial case of the Edinburgh Tram (Line One) Bill, there were any concerns raised about a potential conflict of interest as Ove Arup Scotland produced the Edinburgh LRT Masterplan Feasibility Study on which the preliminary financial case was based and, if so, what measures have been take to ensure that any conflict of interest is avoided.
Answer
As part of the specification for tenders to undertake an analysis of the updated preliminary financial case for the Edinburgh Tram (Line One) Bill, a statement from each tenderer on any potential conflict of interest was requested.
The Committee was supplied with details of ArupScotland’s role when engaged by the City of Edinburgh Council and was fully satisfied that there was no conflict of interest that would prevent ArupScotland from being able to provide an independent review of the updated preliminary financial case.
- 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 George Reid on 19 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the criteria were for appointing the adviser in respect of the analysis of the preliminary financial case of the Edinburgh Tram (Line One) Bill.
Answer
The criteria for appointment was set out in the specification for the submission of tenders. This was published as an Annexe to the minute of the Edinburgh Tram (Line One) Bill Committee meeting of 14 September 2004.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 19 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to page 24 of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008, under which section of Table 4.01 funding will be allocated for the training of prosecutors in dealing with environmental and wildlife crime.
Answer
The expectation is that the prosecution of environmental and wildlife crime will be through Summary court business. Accordingly, funding for the training of prosecutors in dealing with environmental crime is allocated to this section.
- 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 Colin Boyd on 18 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, investigations into deaths which require further investigation, are concluded and the next-of-kin advised within 12 weeks.
Answer
In the last quarter for which completed statistics are available (April, May and June 2004), of the 1,639 death investigations concluded in cases reported to the Procurator Fiscal which required further investigation, a total of 1,328 (81%) were concluded within 12 weeks as against a target of 60%. Instructions to Procurators Fiscal require that relatives are informed of the outcome at the conclusion of the investigation.
- 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 Colin Boyd on 15 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommendations were of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Inspectorate's review of the prosecution of racial crime.
Answer
The Inspectorate of Prosecution is due to submit its report on race issues to me during November 2004. It is intended that this and all subsequent reports from the Inspectorate will be published.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Legal Aid Board will introduce a block fee system in solemn cases; if so, how it will be implemented and when it will commence; whether there will be a transitional scheme, and how such a scheme will relate to any changes resulting from the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2004.
Answer
As part of the package of High Court reform the Executive is fully committed to putting in place appropriate legal aid arrangements. This will include a block fee regime for solemn legal aid. Interim measures are being developed to facilitate the introduction of High Court reform in early 2005. It is intended to have long-term measures, taking account of early experience of the working of High Court reform, in place by autumn 2005.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 12 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the announcement in The Future of Rail of further devolution of powers in respect of rail infrastructure, whether the Executive has secured additional funding to enable it to exercise such powers; if so, how much and what proportion of such funding will be spent on (a) the rail service and (b) network maintenance, and whether details of such funding will be announced to the Parliament by the Minister for Finance and Public Services.
Answer
The changes, outlined in the UK Government The Future of Rail White Paper, remain subject to agreement regarding the transfer of appropriate resources from the UK Government to the Scottish Executive.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9781 by Hugh Henry on 12 August 2004, how much additional funding will be provided by the Her Majesty’s Government to help meet the agreed additional policing costs arising from the G8 summit at Gleneagles.
Answer
It is too early, at this stage, to say what the total policing cost of the G8 Summit at Gleneagles will be and therefore what amount of additional funding will be provided by the UK Government. A group involving representatives from UK Government departments, Tayside Police and the Executive has been set up to assess what the additional policing costs will be. That group’s conclusions will inform the level of additional funds to be provided by the UK Government.
- 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 Cathy Jamieson on 12 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, prisoners were employed at the time of the imposition of their sentence.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
The Scottish Prison Service does not hold such information in respect of sentenced prisoners.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 8 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners who have been placed on the sex offenders’ register and released on licence have reoffended within (a) six months, (b) one year and (c) two years of release in each year since 1999.
Answer
The information requested cannot be provided from the information held centrally.
The available data on the number of persons released on licence from a determinate custodial sentence who were recalled to prison because they faced charges of a sexual nature is given in the following table.
Number of Persons Recalled to Custody and not Subsequently Released Where Facing Charges of a Sexual Nature
| Year | Non-Parole Licensees | Parole Licensees | Total |
| 1999 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 2000 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2001 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2002 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2003 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Source: Parole Board Annual Reports.
Further information on reoffending by convicted sex offenders is contained in a published Scottish Prison Service research monograph, Sexual offending in Scottish Prisons: some preliminary data on risk and recidivism a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33996).
