Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-25653

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the findings of the Community Service Visibility Project: Final Report, completed by the Fife and Forth Valley Community Justice Authority Board and presented to the Justice Committee on 9 June 2009, how much additional funding it plans to provide to community justice authorities in order to increase the visibility of community service and increase the level of public understanding and confidence in community service as a court disposal, broken down by community justice authority.

In March 2008, all Community Justice Authorities (CJAs) were invited to submit bids for challenge funding to support the delivery of innovative community service visibility projects. Three CJAs received the following funding for six months pilot exercises:

Fife and Forth Valley - £13,530.

Glasgow - £35,000.

South West Scotland - £20,000.

In addition, all CJAs have been provided with additional funding to support the delivery of credible and robust community service orders. In the 2009-10 financial year, injection of an additional £2 million for this purpose has been followed by a further £1.5 million. The additional funding broken down by individual CJA is as follows:

Community Justice Authority	Total Additional Allocations
Fife and Forth Valley	£425,320
Glasgow	£600,428
Lanarkshire	£579,487
Lothian and Borders	£369,624
Northern	£318,609
North Strathclyde	£441,330
South West Scotland	£486,745
Tayside	£263,039

In the 2010-11 financial year, a further £4 million will be made available to CJAs for this purpose. Decisions on allocations to individual CJAs of the additional monies will be taken later this year, as announced in parliamentary question S3W-25144 on 3 July 2009.

CJAs are responsible for taking decisions on the extent to which they would wish to use any of the additional funding made available for the purpose of improving the visibility of community service.

Question reference: S3W-25651

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the findings of the Community Service Visibility Project: Final Report, completed by the Fife and Forth Valley Community Justice Authority Board and presented to the Justice Committee on 9 June 2009, what its response is to the finding that 82% of those sampled who believe that the community should have a say in the projects helped by the CSO Scheme and, if so, what actions it intends to take.

The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill will place a statutory duty on local authorities to consult each year with appropriate representatives of community groups/agencies on the types of reparative activities within the area to be undertaken by those sentenced to unpaid work and other activity requirement as part of a Community Payback Order. This will ensure that communities have an opportunity to have a say in the work carried out, so that those who offend are forced to do something which improves the local community which they have damaged.

Question reference: S3W-25646

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the Community Service Visibility Project: Final Report, completed by the Fife and Forth Valley Community Justice Authority Board and presented to the Justice Committee on 9 June 2009, and what actions it intends to take as a result.

The final report of the Fife and Forth Valley Community Service Visibility Project contains a number of interesting findings and useful lessons, which potentially have application to other parts of Scotland. The report, and the government''s analysis of this and the other two pilot visibility projects, have therefore been sent to the other Community Justice Authorities and will be made publicly available shortly. The government''s analysis is available on the Scottish Government website and may be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/public-safety/offender-management/cja.

Question reference: S3W-25654

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the findings of the Community Service Visibility Project: Final Report, completed by the Fife and Forth Valley Community Justice Authority Board and presented to the Justice Committee on 9 June 2009, which found that awareness of community service projects had increased from 52.7% to 64.3% as a result of the project, whether it considers this to be adequate improvement for the investment provided and, if not, what action it intends to take.

We consider that these figures show a significant improvement and we plan to build on these and other achievements identified by the end of the pilot project. The report, and the government''s analysis of this and the other two pilot visibility projects, have therefore been sent to the other Community Justice Authorities. The government''s analysis of the reports of the projects is available on the Scottish Government website and may be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/public-safety/offender-management/cja.

Question reference: S3W-25882

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of sentence was of people convicted of firearms offences in 2007-08 who received a custodial sentence.

The available information is given in the table below. These figures refer to persons with a charge proved for an offence which relate specifically to firearms rather than all offences in which a firearm is alleged to have been used, which would include, for example, homicide, serious assault, robbery and other violent crimes.

Persons Receiving a Custodial Sentence in Scottish Courts for Firearms Offences¹, by Average Sentence, 2007-08

Offence	Number of Custodial Sentences	Average Sentence (Days)
Possess a firearm with intent to endanger life, commit crime etc.	18	878
Reckless conduct with firearms	8	961
Firearms, Miscellaneous Offences²	35	1,158

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Including: possession of a firearm without valid certificate, carrying a firearm in a public place and possession of a weapon subject to general prohibition.

Question reference: S3W-25881

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 1,125 firearm offences recorded by the police in 2007-08 were (a) proceeded against and (b) prosecuted, broken down by type of disposal, including whether the length of the custodial sentence was (i) up to three months, (ii) between three and six months, (iii) between six months and two years, (iv) over two and less than four years, (v) four years and over, (vi) life or (vii) indeterminate detention.

Question reference: S3W-25811

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of recent comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice that appropriate action should be taken against anyone caught displaying flags likely to incite sectarian violence, what evidence it has of the scale of the problem.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government has made it clear that there is no place in modern Scotland for the sectarian bigotry which has blighted the lives of so many of our people. The Scottish Government believes that sectarianism continues to be a problem faced by Scottish society, but we are determined to tackle this societal ill and continue to promote a range of initiatives to encourage mutual respect and understanding between our diverse communities.

On the 25 June 2009, the First Minister announced that the Scottish Government will present a coordinated national approach to tackling sectarianism in Scotland to the parliament in October, drawing together the different strands of existing activity that are already helping our communities to overcome this long-standing issue.

I know that the Scottish Police Service and its partner agencies are committed to tackling such behaviour whenever and wherever it is encountered.

Question reference: S3W-25813

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many arrest warrants were (a) issued and (b) successfully served in each of the last three years, broken down by (i) category of offence and (ii) police force area.

Question reference: S3W-25810

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of recent comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice that appropriate action should be taken against anyone caught displaying flags likely to incite sectarian violence, how many offences of this nature have been (a) recorded by police and (b) prosecuted in each of the last 12 months, broken down by police force area.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold individualised data on any crimes or offences recorded by the eight police forces in Scotland and as such does not hold information on the nature of the crime or the circumstances that led to the crime being committed. As such it is not possible to identify how incidents were recorded where flags inciting sectarian violence were being displayed.

The Scottish Government Court Proceedings database holds records on offences where a religious aggravator has been recorded. These aggravators are not broken down to a level where flags inciting sectarian violence were being displayed could be identified from other types of incitement.

Question reference: S3W-25883

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 August 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many offenders received a custodial sentence of six months or less in 2007-08, broken down by (a) main offence and (b) police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons Given a Custodial Sentence of Six Months or Less, by Main Crime and Police Force Area, 2007-08¹

Main Crime or Offence	Central	Dumfries and Galloway	Fife	Grampian	Lothian and Borders
All crimes and offences	706	376	674	863	1,644
All crimes	465	246	483	607	1,041
Non-sexual Crimes of Violence
Homicide	0	0	0	0	0
Serious assault and attempted murder²	4	1	2	5	9
Robbery	5	1	4	10	11
Other	0	1	0	3	6
Crimes of Indecency
Rape and attempted rape	0	0	0	0	0
Indecent assault	0	0	0	2	0
Lewd and indecent behaviour	2	1	2	1	3
Other	0	0	0	1	1
Crimes of Dishonesty
Housebreaking	39	21	45	58	110
Theft by opening a lockfast place	11	12	22	33	39
Theft of/from a motor vehicle	7	6	12	17	35
Shoplifting	108	47	149	187	241
Other theft	53	31	52	73	124
Fraud	8	34	4	10	13
Other	15	3	15	27	41
Fire-raising, Vandalism, etc
Fire-raising	1	0	1	4	5
Vandalism etc	37	10	32	16	56
Other Crimes
Crimes against public justice	131	53	104	104	203
Handling an offensive weapon	15	13	20	20	63
Drugs	28	8	14	35	71
Other	1	4	5	1	10
All Offences	241	130	191	256	603
Miscellaneous Offences
Common assault	101	45	80	119	218
Breach of the peace	96	42	58	62	237
Drunkenness	0	0	0	0	0
Other	9	9	4	9	35
Motor Vehicle Offences
Dangerous and careless driving	6	3	6	6	9
Drunk driving	10	3	15	10	16
Unlawful use of vehicle	19	28	28	49	88
Other	0	0	0	1	0

Main Crime or Offence	Northern	Strathclyde	Tayside	Scotland
All crimes and offences	650	6,245	1,488	12,646
All crimes	340	3,757	1,148	8,087
Non-sexual Crimes of Violence
Homicide	0	0	0	0
Serious assault and attempted murder²	4	29	9	63
Robbery	0	48	6	85
Other	4	20	9	43
Crimes of Indecency
Rape and attempted rape	0	0	0	0
Indecent assault	0	6	2	10
Lewd and indecent behaviour	4	3	2	18
Other	3	6	0	11
Crimes of Dishonesty
Housebreaking	18	249	85	625
Theft by opening a lockfast place	3	145	41	306
Theft of/from a motor vehicle	11	83	11	182
Shoplifting	57	941	380	2,110
Other theft	45	246	106	730
Fraud	4	55	16	144
Other	5	125	47	278
Fire-raising, Vandalism, etc
Fire-raising	0	4	4	19
Vandalism etc	43	196	20	410
Other Crimes
Crimes against public justice	92	871	285	1,843
Handling an offensive weapon	20	448	49	648
Drugs	27	234	69	486
Other	0	48	7	76
All offences	310	2,488	340	4,559
Miscellaneous Offences
Common assault	129	981	142	1,815
Breach of the peace	135	997	114	1,741
Drunkenness	0	0	0	0
Other	6	102	14	188
Motor Vehicle Offences
Dangerous and careless driving	4	65	6	105
Drunk driving	21	83	21	179
Unlawful use of vehicle	15	255	43	525
Other	0	5	0	6

Source: Scottish Government Court Proceedings database.

Notes:

1. As part of the analysis of the 2007-08 data, a change was made to the way in which the number of persons with a charge proved is calculated. These figures now exclude those who have been proceeded against for a breach of social work order, due to a change in recording practices for such crimes. More information is provided in the latest Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts Statistical Bulletin http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/04/27103325/0.

2. In 2007-08 all of the charges in this crime group where a custodial sentence of six months or less was imposed related to serious assault rather than attempted murder.

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