Chamber and committees

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Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-33922

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what value of, fines were written off in each of the last three years, broken down by sheriff court district.

The information available is given in the following tables. The values of district court fines remitted are not held centrally. The system for writing off sheriff court fines changed in the course of the year 2001-02. Fines due for write off in 2001-02 were not written off until after the end of the financial year and so will be included in the data for 2002-03.Fines Written Off in the Sheriff Courts, 1999-2000 to 2000-01

	1999-2000		2000-01
	No. of Fines	Value (£)	No. of Fines	Value (£)
Aberdeen	84	21,615	51	10,680
Airdrie	71	15,575	49	11,823
Alloa	8	977	6	540
Arbroath	29	9,063	23	6,364
Ayr	64	22,053	71	21,782
Banff	3	506	2	490
Campbeltown	12	3,609	19	6,286
Cupar	4	850	1	250
Dingwall	53	5,812	39	5,393
Dornoch	3	553	3	375
Dumbarton	60	11,800	49	8,920
Dumfries	56	9,944	36	7,140
Dundee	60	10,446	73	16,262
Dunfermline	24	6,098	25	6,409
Dunoon	6	639	6	1,860
Duns	-	-	4	1,990
Edinburgh	329	67,576	222	75,948
Elgin	25	9,455	12	2,481
Falkirk	142	34,215	74	25,760
Forfar	-	-	-	-
Fort William	4	1,429	4	1,085
Glasgow	339	64,255	391	109,678
Greenock	73	19,409	23	5,145
Haddington	-	-	8	2,756
Hamilton	336	91,848	128	26,684
Inverness	30	7,390	9	1,701
Jedburgh	5	817	10	1,620
Kilmarnock	40	11,875	47	9,962
Kirkcaldy	3	1,957	17	3,525
Kirkcudbright	10	1,910	3	1,155
Kirkwall	4	1,275	-	-
Lanark	17	8,124	5	3,260
Lerwick	5	1,275	1	170
Linlithgow	81	16,827	63	17,325
Lochmaddy	1	55	1	200
Oban	4	2,017	8	2,877
Paisley	188	49,370	120	33,943
Peebles	-	-	-	-
Perth	23	4,469	21	5,330
Peterhead	5	1,040	5	1,733
Portree	-	-	2	400
Rothesay	1	150	-	-
Selkirk	1	60	5	427
Stirling	21	2,988	13	5,416
Stonehaven	9	3,865	6	845
Stornoway	1	450	4	856
Stranraer	27	7,509	22	6,365
Tain	4	953	8	2,140
Wick	2	380	2	255
Scotland	2,267	532,481	1,691	455,604

District Court Fines¹ Remitted by Court, 1999-2000 to 2001-02

	1999-00	2000-01		2001-02
	Fully or Partly Remitted	Fully Remitted	Partly Remitted	Fully Remitted	Partly Remitted
Aberdeen City	146	33	26	94	17
Aberdeenshire	61	28	21	79	31
Angus	27	6	15	5	10
Argyll and Bute	162	60	25	54	22
Clackmannanshire	12	1	2	3	4
Dumfries and Galloway	28	-	12	11	6
Dundee City	38	25	69	30	-
East Ayrshire	116	13	8	68	37
East Dunbartonshire	16	6	5	5	2
East Lothian	-	5	1	2	1
East Renfrewshire	-	2	3	-	-
Edinburgh, City of	408	N/A	N/A	240	38
Eilean Siar	-	19	-	N/A	N/A
Falkirk	42	14	10	11	6
Fife²	225	117	38	137	42
Glasgow City	385	141	40	43	39
Highland	180	125	103	19	18
Inverclyde	31	23	9	31	19
Midlothian	2	5	-	12	5
Moray	2	1	-	19	1
North Ayrshire	59	13	36	24	36
North Lanarkshire³	425	250	10	645	(4)
Perth and Kinross	80	126	57	79	N/A
Renfrewshire	255	143	129	49	57
Scottish Borders	41	5	1	5	3
South Ayrshire	2	6	2	44	46
South Lanarkshire	106	41	36	21	7
Stirling	32	40	7	N/A	N/A
West Dunbartonshire	436	55	26	22	22
West Lothian	36	154	4	154	6
Scotland	3,353	1,457	695	1,906	475

Notes:1. For some courts other types of fine (e.g. registered fines/compensation orders) are included as not separately identifiable.2. 2001-02: Fife figures are for Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy only, N/A for Cupar. 3. 2000-01: North Lanarkshire figures are for Coatbridge only.4. Included with fines fully remitted.

Question reference: S1W-33818

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what communications it has had with HM Prison Service with regard to HM Prison and Young Offenders Institution Ashfield and, in particular, the management of the institution.

Question reference: S1W-33814

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 19 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how the stabbings of three prisoners at HM Prison Kilmarnock in September 2002 were recorded for the purpose of the (a) prison's performance points and (b) Scottish Prison Service's key performance indicators.

Question reference: S1W-33899

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31154 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 November 2002, what performance-related revenue deductions were incurred under the contract to operate HM Prison Kilmarnock by the prison's operator in the quarter October to December 2002.

Question reference: S1W-33901

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded offences of (a) breach of the peace and (b) petty assault there were in 2001, broken down by local authority area.

The information requested is given in the following table:

Local Authority	Number of Cases of Breach of the Peace Recorded	Number of Cases of Petty Assault Recorded
Aberdeen City	3,826	3,222
Aberdeenshire	2,431	1,752
Angus	1,240	994
Argyll and Bute	1,722	566
Clackmannanshire	674	508
Dumfries and Galloway	1,423	1,073
Dundee City	2,714	1,829
East Ayrshire	1,658	1,149
East Dunbartonshire	772	516
East Lothian	521	785
East Renfrewshire	522	322
Edinburgh, City of	3,658	7,167
Eilean Siar	254	131
Falkirk	1,952	1,484
Fife	3,954	3,421
Glasgow, City of	16,077	9,836
Highland	3,733	1,982
Inverclyde	1,380	888
Midlothian	611	918
Moray	1,945	982
North Ayrshire	1,868	1,138
North Lanarkshire	5,093	3,181
Orkney Island	157	86
Perth and Kinross	1,288	944
Renfrewshire	2,146	1,829
Scottish Borders	931	1,021
Shetland Islands	159	95
South Ayrshire	1,359	908
South Lanarkshire	4,614	2,598
Stirling	1,166	756
West Dunbartonshire	1,546	932
West Lothian	1,207	1,857
All Scotland	72,601	54,870

Question reference: S1W-33898

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-31088, S1W-31487 and S1W-32018 by Mr Jim Wallace on 8 November, 22 November and 10 December 2002 respectively, whether it will show the performance points accrued by the operating company of HM Prison Kilmarnock, broken down for each heading and sub-section in sections 2.1(i), 2.2(a), 2.2(b), 2.4(a), 2.4(b), 2.4(d) and 2.4(e) in Schedule F to the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock, for the quarter October to December 2002.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:Performance Points to Date - Year 4, Quarter 3

2.1 (i)	Failure of Security Procedures	240
2.2 (a)	Serious Injury	0
	Minor Injury	0
	No Injury	5
2.2 (b)	Serious Injury	0
	Minor Injury	60
	No Injury	70
2.4 (a)	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (76-95%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (66-75%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (56-65%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (Equal to or less than 55%)	0
2.4 (b)	Failure to Deliver Work Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (76-95%)	40
	Failure to Deliver Work Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (66-75%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Work Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (56-65%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Work Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (Equal to or less than 55%)	0
2.4 (d)	Failure to Provide Structured Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (76-95%)	35
	Failure to Provide Structured Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (66-75%)	0
	Failure to Provide Structured Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (56-65%)	0
	Failure to Provide Structured Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (Equal to or less than 55%)	0
2.4 (e)	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours for Remand Prisoners (76-95%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours for Remand Prisoners (76-95%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours for Remand Prisoners (76-95%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours for Remand Prisoners (76-95%)	0

Question reference: S1W-33821

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what guarantees it can give that the level of violence that has occurred at HM Prison Young Offenders Institution Ashfield will not occur at HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Question reference: S1W-33811

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many officers from Strathclyde Police intervened during the concerted indiscipline that occurred at HM Prison Kilmarnock on or between 29 and 31 January 2003.

This is an operational matter for the force and information of this sort is not held centrally.Police forces have contingency plans, developed with partner organisations, to cover a variety of situations that may occur at key premises or installations, including each prison, within their areas. These set out individual organisational roles and responsibilities as well as the actions to be taken should a contingency response be required.

Question reference: S1W-33801

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what fine the operators of HM Prison Kilmarnock are liable for as a result of the concerted indiscipline that occurred there on or between 29 and 31 January 2003.

Question reference: S1W-33820

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 February 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether (a) Premier Custodial Group Ltd, (b) any of its subsidiary companies and (c) any other companies that belong to the parent companies of the Premier group will be allowed to bid for the new private prison in the light of the experience of HM Prison Young Offenders Institution Ashfield and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.