- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 1 October 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on reported comments of the Lord Advocate that in relation to life sentences there may be a need to review the range of punishment parts available to the courts to better reflect the seriousness of a crime, given the relatively compressed scale from 12 to 30 years that currently exists.
Answer
It is a matter for the court to determine the appropriate sentence to impose on a convicted person.
Section 108 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, provides the Lord Advocate with a right of appeal against sentence on the grounds of undue leniency. A sentence will be unduly lenient if it falls outside the range of sentences which the judge, at first instance, applying his mind to all the relevant factors, could reasonably have considered appropriate.
The Crown is currently appealing three sentences for murder on the grounds that the disposals were unduly lenient. The appeals were conducted for the Crown by the Lord Advocate who asked the appeal court to consider giving further guidance under section 118 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 on the fixing of punishment parts in murder cases.
The court was asked to consider providing guidance under Section 118 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 on the appropriate starting points for fixing punishment parts and the perceived maximum for such punishment parts. The court was asked to consider giving further guidance on the factors to be taken into account in fixing punishment parts and she asked the court to consider issuing guidance on punishment parts in murder cases involving knives and swords.
As the appeal court has not yet issued its judgment, it is not appropriate to provide any further comment at this time.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 1 October 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the reported recent comments of the Lord Advocate in relation to life sentences that in some exceptional cases a punishment part of the sentence that exceeds natural life expectancy may be appropriate.
Answer
It is a matter for the court to determine the appropriate sentence to impose on a convicted person.
Section 108 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, provides the Lord Advocate with a right of appeal against sentence on the grounds of undue leniency. A sentence will be unduly lenient if it falls outside the range of sentences which the judge, at first instance, applying his mind to all the relevant factors, could reasonably have considered appropriate.
The Crown is currently appealing three sentences for murder on the grounds that the disposals were unduly lenient. The appeals were conducted for the Crown by the Lord Advocate who asked the appeal court to consider giving further guidance under section 118 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 on the fixing of punishment parts in murder cases.
The court was asked to consider providing guidance under Section 118 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 on the appropriate starting points for fixing punishment parts and the perceived maximum for such punishment parts. The court was asked to consider giving further guidance on the factors to be taken into account in fixing punishment parts and she asked the court to consider issuing guidance on punishment parts in murder cases involving knives and swords.
As the appeal court has not yet issued its judgment, it is not appropriate to provide any further comment at this time.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 30 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18076 by Kenny MacAskill on 26 November 2008, what progress has been made with the development of the Scottish Crime Campus and when it expects the new facility to be (a) completed and (b) fully operational.
Answer
Good progress is being made. A pre-enabling works contract was completed in July 2009. This involved the removal of obstructions together with existing foundations from the previous steelworks that occupied the site. The design team has completed the detailed design and is now developing the final design proposals. We will shortly be advertising the first of three construction packages with the works programmed to start in April 2010. Subject to contract, we expect the building to be completed during 2012. Occupation will be on a phased basis to meet the needs of the participating agencies.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the news release of 15 September 2009 of £250,000 of additional funding that will go toward the recruitment of 19 additional financial investigators to tackle serious organised crime, whether there will be an incentive element for (a) individual financial investigators, (b) police forces and (c) other agencies and, if so, what form it will take and what impact it is expected to have.
Answer
There will be no incentive element for any individual financial investigator, police force or any other agency. We will assess the impact of these additional investigators on asset recovery and if successful will consider whether there should be further reinvestment in the forces involved or rolled out to other forces. We are committed to the very successful Cashback for Communities scheme and have no plans for an incentivisation scheme in Scotland.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the comments of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice reported on the BBC website on 17 September 2009 that the Scottish Government would “not allow hard-working cabbies, who borrow from the bank to mortgage their home to buy a cab and make a living, to be driven off the road by crooks and gangsters”, what actions it anticipates that the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce will take to achieve this in the next two years
Answer
On 2 June 2009, the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce launched its strategy entitled
Letting our Communities Flourish: A Strategy for Tackling Serious Organised Crime in Scotland. This can be found at the following link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/274127/0081989.pdf.
The strategy highlights the actions that the taskforce propose to take to tackle serious organised crime in Scotland, including work to support legitimate business.
The taskforce has set up a sub group to look at procurement throughout the public sector in Scotland. Recommendations from this group, along with a proposed scheme to allow public sector bodies awarding large contracts to seek advice from the new Scottish Intelligence and Co-ordination Unit, should help ensure that organised crime groups do not benefit from public money.
Furthermore from 16 November all taxi booking offices where bookings are taken for four or more taxis or private hire cars will require to be licensed. Licensing will provide that those responsible for the operation of a booking office are subject to criminal checks to ensure that they are a fit and proper person to hold a licence. The introduction of licensing will provide closer scrutiny of the operation of booking office businesses and should act as a deterrent to unscrupulous elements bent on infiltrating the trade as a front for their illegal activities.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the news release of 15 September 2009 of £250,000 of additional funding that will go toward the recruitment of 19 additional financial investigators to tackle serious organised crime, how many financial investigators will be based in each force and how this was determined.
Answer
The Serious Organised Crime Taskforce''s strategy for tackling serious organised crime in Scotland,
Letting our Communities Flourish, was published on 2 June. This set out proposals for a small proportion of money recovered from proceeds of crime to be reinvested in police forces to help increase the amounts seized.
The additional funding announced on 15 September followed discussions between the Scottish Government and Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland who identified the most suitable forces to benefit from this funding. The funding being provided by Scottish Government will be match funded by the police forces involved. This will result in 11 financial investigators in Strathclyde Police, five in Lothian and Borders Police and three in Tayside Police.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the comments of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice reported on the BBC website on 17 September 2009 that the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT) planned to “send a clear message to organised criminals that there is no room in this industry for those who want to use taxi and private hire car firms as a front for illegal activities”, what actions it anticipates that SOCT will take to achieve this.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27569 on 29 September 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: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that all assets and proceeds of crime recovered from serious organised crime should be returned to the communities harmed by the crime.
Answer
Funds recovered under the proceeds of crime legislation are distributed via the Scottish Government Cashback for Communities scheme, using a formula that reflects need. The formula distributes funds across local authority areas based on the percentage of 10 to 19 years olds, deprivation and rurality. We believe this will ensure all our young people benefit, but those areas with more need will receive more support. We will of course keep an eye on the impact of this formula to ensure it is matching resources to need.
Scottish ministers are committed to the Cashback programme, however, a small proportion of the money recovered from proceeds of crime has been made available to the operational units under the direction of the Crown Office and also the police service to help bolster efforts to disrupt criminal activity and recover more assets and criminal profits and ultimately help increase the money available under the Cashback scheme.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the news release of 15 September 2009 of £250,000 of additional funding that will go toward the recruitment of 19 additional financial investigators to tackle serious organised crime, what the investigators’ remit will be; what targets will be set for their performance, and how their performance will be evaluated.
Answer
The role of the financial investigators will be to identify ways to boost asset recovery at police divisional level. Their precise remit will be for the chief constable of the relevant police force to determine. No monetary targets will be put in place but the effectiveness of the pilots will be evaluated and the Scottish Government is discussing with Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland the necessary evaluation and performance monitoring arrangements.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the news release of 15 September 2009 of £250,000 of additional funding that will go toward the recruitment of 19 additional financial investigators to tackle serious organised crime, when the police staff will be (a) recruited and (b) operational
Answer
The forces involved are taking steps to recruit these staff as soon as possible. I understand that Lothian and Borders police have already recruited two extra financial investigators.
