- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 August 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been made to a surveillance commissioner for approval of a chief constable’s grant of authorisation to carry out intrusive surveillance and of these how many have been successful in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collect the information requested. Information is provided in the annual reports of the chief surveillance commissioner.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 August 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police applications to intercept communications sent by post or via telephone have been (a) made and (b) authorised in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.
Answer
Details of the number of interception warrants issued by the Scottish ministers are contained in the Interception of Communications Commissioner''s annual reports, which are laid before this Parliament. The most recent annual report (for 2008) was laid before Parliament on 21 July 2009, and is available from the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 48835).
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how single outcome agreements will be monitored and by whom.
Answer
Councils and their community planning partners will monitor the effectiveness of services and how well placed they are to support the outcomes they have agreed in their single outcome agreements (SOAs). They will also report to their communities and to the Scottish Government each year on their contribution to the achievement of national and local outcomes highlighted in these SOAs. The first of these reports are due to published in September 2009.
The Accounts Commission recently consulted on proposals for the next phase of its best value audits of councils. In the short term, the commission expects that local auditors will examine the approach the council and its partners are taking in developing their SOA and monitoring performance against it. These results and evidence from the annual reports will inform risk-based and proportionate decision-making about how and when Audit Scotland and inspection bodies (e.g. HM Inspectorate of Education and the Social Work Inspection Agency) undertake scrutiny within councils.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 28 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to support action on alcohol issues in each of the last three years, broken down by recipient group.
Answer
Scottish Government spend for alcohol misuse in the last three years was as follows:
2006-07 - £12.07 million
2007-08 - £12.4 million
2008-09 - £28.9 million
The majority of funding from the Scottish Government is directed via NHS boards for provision of alcohol treatment and support services. Decisions on spend are made locally by Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships. The following table provides funding allocations for treatment and support services, made over the last three years to NHS boards.
| NHS Board | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| Argyll and Clyde | 915,000 | N/A | N/A |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 706,000 | 722,238 | 1,775,085 |
| Borders | 280,000 | 286,440 | 700,915 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 359,000 | 367,257 | 897,971 |
| Fife | 659,000 | 674,157 | 1,636,844 |
| Forth Valley | 488,000 | 499,224 | 1,275,324 |
| Grampian | 699,000 | 715,077 | 2,014,386 |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 2,190,000 | 2,964,588 | 6,325,293 |
| Highland | 466,000 | 688,546 | 1,496,320 |
| Lanarkshire | 814,000 | 832,722 | 2,455,698 |
| Lothian | 1,107,000 | 1,132,461 | 3,401,218 |
| Orkney | 221,000 | 226,083 | 333,164 |
| Shetland | 221,000 | 226,083 | 345,022 |
| Tayside | 556,000 | 568,788 | 1,816,885 |
| Western Isles | 221,000 | 226,083 | 390,621 |
| Total Scotland | 9,902,000 | 10,129,747 | 24,864,746 |
The remainder funds a wide range of complementary activities including a national Alcohol Brief Interventions training package for NHS staff; initiatives like Choices for Life for P7 children; health behaviour change campaign work, including Alcohol Awareness Week; research projects and funding for bodies like Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) and the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams (SAADAT).
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of rape were recorded by the police in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force area.
Answer
The following table contains information on the number of crimes of rape recorded by each of the eight Scottish police forces in each of the last 10 years.
Number of Crimes of Rape Recorded By The Police, 1998-99 to 2007-08
| | 1998-1999 | 1999-2000 | 2000-2001 | 2001-2002 | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 | 2004-2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 |
| Central | 19 | 4 | 17 | 37 | 50 | 51 | 45 | 62 | 80 | 91 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 27 | 39 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 26 | 20 | 29 | 21 | 25 |
| Fife | 30 | 43 | 46 | 52 | 73 | 78 | 83 | 88 | 75 | 88 |
| Grampian | 68 | 86 | 55 | 52 | 74 | 82 | 70 | 109 | 96 | 102 |
| Lothian and Borders | 146 | 91 | 130 | 138 | 173 | 181 | 240 | 220 | 203 | 170 |
| Northern | 23 | 38 | 14 | 29 | 30 | 53 | 54 | 46 | 62 | 56 |
| Strathclyde | 220 | 222 | 213 | 243 | 244 | 315 | 325 | 331 | 327 | 321 |
| Tayside | 74 | 63 | 58 | 60 | 83 | 59 | 63 | 90 | 58 | 55 |
| Scotland | 607 | 586 | 549 | 631 | 743 | 845 | 900 | 975 | 922 | 908 |
Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were (a) prosecuted, (b) convicted and (c) given a custodial sentence in cases involving rape in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force area.
Answer
The available information is given in the following table.
Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Rape1, By Police Force Area 1998-99 to 2007-08
| Police Force/Result | 1998-1999 | 1999-2000 | 2000-2001 | 2001-2002 | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 | 2004-2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 |
| Central | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against | 3 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 8 |
| Charge proved | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Custodial sentence | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Charge proved | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Custodial sentence | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Fife | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against | 16 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 3 |
| Charge proved | 10 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Custodial sentence | 9 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Grampian | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against | 9 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| Charge proved | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Custodial sentence | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Lothian and Borders | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against | 14 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 13 | 14 | 17 |
| Charge proved | 5 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Custodial sentence | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Northern | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Charge proved | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Custodial sentence | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Strathclyde | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against | 18 | 13 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 35 | 30 | 36 | 30 | 38 |
| Charge proved | 12 | 8 | 11 | 20 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 20 | 15 | 19 |
| Custodial sentence | 11 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 19 |
| Tayside | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| Charge proved | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Custodial sentence | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Scotland | | | | | | | | | | |
| Proceeded against2 | 66 | 55 | 52 | 68 | 60 | 81 | 95 | 91 | 71 | 88 |
| Charge proved | 37 | 27 | 28 | 46 | 39 | 39 | 47 | 41 | 33 | 34 |
| Custodial sentence | 34 | 26 | 24 | 41 | 37 | 36 | 45 | 38 | 33 | 33 |
Source: Scottish Government Court Proceedings database.
1. Where main offence at time of sentencing.
2. Contains one case in 2003-04 where result was not proved and police force was unknown.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there is a legal loophole preventing sanctions being imposed against licensees of on and off-sales premises after 31 August 2009 for breach of licensing conditions occurring before that date.
Answer
No. The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 provides a mechanism for premises licences to be reviewed. The licence conditions as such do not apply before the licence takes effect, so it is not possible to breach them. However the grounds for review include grounds relevant to one or more of the licensing objectives set out in section 4 of that act. In appropriate cases that could include conduct taking place before the licence takes effect.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with licensing boards about the pursuit of cases against licensees in breach of licensing conditions based on incidents taking place before 31 August 2009 when the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 comes into effect.
Answer
Staff of one licensing board sought advice from Scottish Government officials on this issue. Advice on the provisions of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 was provided. There has been no contact on this issue from other boards.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether licensing boards will be able to take action under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 against licensees in breach of licensing conditions occurring before 31 August 2009.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-25442 on 22 July 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases in which the accused was aged (a) 16 or 17 and (b) under 16 were pending in the criminal courts as of 12 June 2009.
Answer
As at 12 June 2009 there were 3,260 accused persons, aged 16 or 17, who had cases pending in the criminal courts, including 12 in the High Court of Justiciary. There were 104 accused persons under 16, including six in the High Court of Justiciary. These figures represent a 30% decrease over the past three years, in both age groups, for accused persons in the sheriff courts.
These figures do not include any cases in the district courts in the two Sheriffdoms of North Strathclyde and South Strathclyde, and Dumfries and Galloway, which have not yet been unified as part of Scottish Court Service.
The figures involve those cases awaiting a final disposal and those involving outstanding review or breach hearings.
