Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

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: S3W-15018

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Elish Angiolini on 12 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures have been issued by procurators fiscal for domestic violence in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

Question reference: S3W-15021

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Elish Angiolini on 12 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new sheriff court prosecutions there were in (a) April, (b) May and (c) June 2008, broken down by sheriff court.

The following table shows the number of accused persons for whom an initial decision was taken to commence Sheriff Court proceedings by month in April, May and June 2008.

This table does not include any accused person for whom the initial decision was to offer any of the range of Direct Measures which are now available to Procurators Fiscal.

Accused Persons: Initial Decisions - Sheriff Summary Court Proceedings

Procurator Fiscal Office	Apr-08	May-08	Jun-08
Aberdeen	414	510	448
Airdrie	198	196	260
Alloa	82	91	107
Arbroath	76	76	84
Ayr	203	179	177
Banff	25	42	39
Campbeltown	14	11	13
Cupar	61	61	52
Dingwall	40	37	41
Dornoch	11	10	10
Dumbarton	159	145	227
Dumfries	136	199	189
Dundee	253	283	250
Dunfermline	145	222	245
Dunoon	22	35	46
Duns	18	22	23
Edinburgh	558	670	891
Elgin	67	97	90
Falkirk	221	232	219
Forfar	48	54	69
Fort William	16	38	26
Glasgow	894	927	1,215
Greenock	120	114	128
Haddington	96	97	98
Hamilton	408	568	501
Inverness	203	215	205
Jedburgh	39	53	50
Kilmarnock	391	377	394
Kirkcaldy	225	271	304
Kirkcudbright	23	36	22
Kirkwall	18	18	16
Lanark	46	37	61
Lerwick	26	23	28
Linlithgow	202	208	186
Lochmaddy	6	5	7
Oban	14	37	22
Paisley	317	251	248
Peebles	9	10	15
Perth	165	127	163
Peterhead	131	101	82
Portree	0	1	1
Rothesay	7	16	17
Selkirk	40	37	61
Stirling	106	149	135
Stonehaven	20	40	23
Stornoway	23	37	27
Stranraer	70	93	72
Tain	36	26	48
Wick	49	23	43
Grand Total	6,451	7,107	7,678

Question reference: S3W-15017

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Elish Angiolini on 12 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures have been issued by procurators fiscal for assault in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

The following tables show the number of accused persons reported to each Procurator Fiscal Office since April 2007 where the initial decision taken by the Procurator Fiscal was to deal with the offending behaviour by means of a direct measure. Information for periods prior to April 2007 is not currently available in the same format.

These figures do not include direct measures which were not affected by Summary Justice Reform such as Procurator Fiscal warnings and referrals to the Scottish Children''s Reporter.

Charge: Assault - Direct Measures

Procurator Fiscal Office	Apr-07	May-07	Jun-07	Jul-07	Aug-07	Sep-07	Oct-07	Nov-07	Dec-07	Jan-08	Feb-08	Mar-08	Apr-08	May-08	Jun-08
Aberdeen	15	23	14	13	7	16	4	19	6	14	16	18	23	38	19
Airdrie	3	7	7	9	9	16	2	14	6	20	9	8	24	14	15
Alloa	9	3	29	7	5	2	3	9	7	2	3	7	4	7	5
Arbroath	5	4	1	2	6	9	4	12	2	9	4	5	6	3	18
Ayr	5	5	6	1	12	5	4	4	5	2	8	8	14	11	11
Banff	-	-	-	1	2	-	-	2	1	2	1	2	-	-	15
Campbeltown	-	-	4	-	-	-	2	1	-	1	-	3	2	2	1
Cupar	2	-	5	4	5	1	2	4	1	2	4	4	2	10	13
Dingwall	2	5	2	7	-	3	3	7	-	4	2	3	6	3	3
Dornoch	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	1	-
Dumbarton	3	4	6	-	4	4	4	1	2	6	4	4	3	5	3
Dumfries	3	11	4	5	3	5	8	3	5	3	6	4	5	9	9
Dundee	13	14	18	15	25	17	34	20	14	30	8	18	18	21	17
Dunfermline	5	2	5	6	4	20	5	9	10	5	9	8	10	16	13
Dunoon	5	5	2	1	2	2	2	1	2	-	1	2	-	5	5
Duns	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	3	-	-	-	5	1	4	-
Edinburgh	32	25	47	28	46	39	16	54	27	28	39	41	69	59	63
Elgin	7	1	3	6	6	6	7	4	10	15	2	8	14	16	12
Falkirk	7	5	5	3	4	5	3	5	2	7	5	15	9	6	14
Forfar	-	2	1	5	2	1	4	3	2	2	2	5	16	5	4
Fort William	-	1	2	2	1	-	1	2	1	1	-	2	-	8	5
Glasgow	41	36	20	16	37	30	25	38	41	53	33	46	56	71	88
Greenock	-	2	3	5	6	2	4	1	2	5	6	6	4	6	7
Haddington	2	3	4	6	2	1	4	3	5	-	7	7	4	8	6
Hamilton	7	15	4	8	17	47	25	27	17	21	8	13	16	34	39
Inverness	9	18	5	17	9	11	14	9	6	10	14	30	19	17	11
Jedburgh	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	-	2	1	7	-	8	2
Kilmarnock	8	4	8	1	16	16	6	18	3	15	2	23	25	53	14
Kirkcaldy	5	11	8	9	4	10	16	20	16	14	7	8	28	22	30
Kirkcudbright	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	1	-	-	-	1	4
Kirkwall	-	-	2	2	-	3	-	1	1	-	-	-	4	2	-
Lanark	1	7	-	-	18	-	2	5	2	1	2	2	1	1	5
Lerwick	1	3	-	2	-	1	4	-	5	1	-	6	1	3	3
Linlithgow	2	6	9	2	3	8	4	7	6	3	11	10	23	23	25
Lochmaddy	1	-	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	-
Oban	-	2	2	1	3	1	-	5	1	3	2	3	3	11	1
Paisley	2	13	8	3	7	8	4	11	4	7	8	11	24	8	8
Peebles	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	2	-
Perth	6	7	5	14	7	8	3	5	5	4	3	11	10	7	15
Peterhead	4	3	-	-	1	2	-	3	2	2	-	3	2	4	3
Rothesay	1	-	3	2	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	-
Selkirk	-	1	1	1	2	3	-	1	2	2	3	2	4	2	4
Stirling	3	11	11	12	6	5	9	6	1	8	8	15	16	4	13
Stonehaven	3	-	-	2	1	1	2	3	-	2	-	1	1	1	2
Stornoway	1	1	5	3	2	4	4	-	1	3	1	1	6	1	6
Stranraer	3	2	3	2	2	1	1	4	4	2	3	2	1	-	1
Tain	6	6	1	-	4	2	3	3	1	2	-	6	4	4	5
Wick	2	-	1	1	-	3	3	2	4	7	1	3	5	1	2

Notes:

1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

Question reference: S3W-15015

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Elish Angiolini on 12 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures have been issued by procurators fiscal for carrying a knife in each month since January 2007, broken down by sheriff court.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has a robust policy on knife crime, including charges reported for offences under Section 49 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (offence of having in a public place an article with a blade or point).

Any person caught carrying a knife will be arrested and kept in custody. If an accused has one or more previous convictions involving possession or use of a knife or has a previous conviction for an offence of violence which resulted in a custodial sentence, prosecutors will oppose bail. If an accused has a previous conviction for a similar offence there will be a presumption in favour of prosecution before a jury.

COPFS receives on average 294 charges per month in respect of this offence, resulting in approximately 5,290 charges for the period in question. During this time, there were no charges in which the initial decision taken by the Procurator Fiscal for carrying a knife was to issue a Fiscal Fine.

The following table shows the number of charges reported under section 49 in respect of which the initial decision taken by the Procurator Fiscal was either to issue a warning or refer the accused for local social work support, for example to help with tackling alcohol abuse. Guidance to prosecutors makes it clear that such action is only appropriate in exceptional circumstances and must be approved by the District Procurator Fiscal.

Of the 27 charges in the table, amounting to 0.5% of the charges reported during this period, 21 (78%) were dealt with by way of a warning and 6 (22%) were referred for local Social Work support.

Charges: Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, Section 49

Direct Measures Issued by Procurators Fiscal: January 2007 to June 2008

Procurator Fiscal Office	Jan -07	Feb-07	Apr-07	May-07	Jun-07	Jul-07	Aug-07	Sep-07	Oct-07	Nov-07	Jan-08	Feb-08	Mar-08	Apr-08	May-08	Jun-08
Aberdeen	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Airdrie	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Dumbarton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
Dumfries	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dundee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-
Dunfermline	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Edinburgh	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Glasgow	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Greenock	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hamilton	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Linlithgow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paisley	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Perth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-
Peterhead	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	-
Tain	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wick	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Grand Total	1	1	3	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	1	1	1	3	2	1

Notes:

1.The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2.The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

Question reference: S3W-15120

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is currently taken in the Lothians region to prevent the onset of nasopharyngeal cancer

Question reference: S3W-15121

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to improve the treatment in the Lothians region of patients suffering from nasopharyngeal cancer.

The delivery of high quality, effective cancer care for patients in the Lothians region is a matter for NHS Lothian. The Edinburgh Cancer Centre currently offers the most up to date radiotherapy treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer in the form of Intensity Modulated Radiation.

The Scottish Government has recently concluded a consultation on an updated national strategy for cancer and will be publishing the subsequent plan shortly. It is widely accepted that early diagnosis and screening is vital to improve outcomes for all cancer patients, including nasopharyngeal cancer patients.

Question reference: S3W-15119

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision there is in the Lothians region for the treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer.

Question reference: S3W-15164

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what out-of-hours emergency services are available for dental patients in the Lothians who are not registered with an NHS dentist.

Question reference: S3W-14902

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 July 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been released from prison in Edinburgh under automatic early release in each of the last five years.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

Only information for 2006-07 is available and relates to prisoners released from custody by Sentence and Local Authority area (based on home address).

In terms of automatic release the following principles apply:

Under Four Years sentence:

Automatic release after serving half sentence, and

may be released earlier on Home Detention Curfew (HDC), subject to satisfying specific criteria.

Four Years or over sentence (excluding life sentences):

Automatic release after serving two-thirds sentence, and

may be released on parole after serving half sentence, subject to Parole Board approval.

Release is on licence until the expiry of the sentence.

Prison Liberations by Sentence Length and Release to City of Edinburgh Local Authority Area in 2006-07¹

Local Authority	Sentence
	Under 4 Years:	4 Years or over:
	Automatic Release at Half Sentence	Automatic Release at Two-Thirds if not Granted Parole
City of Edinburgh	1,076	35

Notes: 1. Includes only liberations into the community.

Question reference: S3W-14901

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 July 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes have been committed in the Lothians region by people released from prison under automatic early release in each of the last five years, broken down by type of crime.