Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-24293

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive on what date the Cabinet Secretary for Justice wrote to the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service in relation to prisoner Brian Martin having absconded from the Castle Huntly open prison.

Question reference: S3W-24284

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to hold an independent review of the suitability of prisoners held in the open estate and, if so, (a) when it expects this review to (i) begin and (ii) report to Parliament, (b) what its scope will be and (c) which stakeholders will be involved.

I announced in my statement to Parliament on 27 May 2009 that an independent review of the case of Brian Martin will be carried out by Professor Alec Spencer. He has been asked to conduct an independent review of the decision to send this prisoner to open conditions, and in light of that to consider whether the new criteria for transfer to the Open Estate which I put in place are being properly applied in all cases.

Question reference: S3W-24066

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08 had previously been prosecuted for such an offence, broken down by main penalty issued.

There were 4,041 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08. This relates to 3,874 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.

The following table shows the number of these individuals who had previously been proceeded against for the same offence at least once in the previous 10 years (based on the date of sentence for both the latest and previous offence).

Number of Individuals Proceeded Against for Handling an Offensive Weapon^1,2 in 2007-08 who had Previously been Proceeded Against³ for such an Offence, by Main Penalty for the Prior Offence

Main Penalty Issued	Number of individuals
Custody	314
Community sentence	251
Monetary	193
Charge proved - Other⁴	73
Not guilty	125
Total	956

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

3. Previous prosecution derived from sentence date of latest and prior offence.

4. Including caution, admonition, absolute discharge and remit to children''s hearing.

Question reference: S3W-24065

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08 had a criminal record at the time of prosecution, broken down by most recent offence.

There were 4,041 persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08. This relates to 3,874 individuals, as some people have been proceeded against on more than one occasion.

Information about whether or nor individuals had a criminal record at the time of prosecution is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the number of these individuals who had a previous charge proved in court at least once in the previous 10 years. The previous charge has been identified as having a date of sentence which is earlier than the date of sentence for the latest charge of handling an offensive weapon.

The source of this information is the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database, which is derived from data held on the Criminal History System. Prosecution in court is only one of a range of possible options for dealing with an individual who has been charged with an offence. Other actions include the use of fiscal warnings, diversion to social work, fixed penalty notices and fiscal fines. However, these alternatives to court prosecution are not currently held on the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database and are not included in the following data provided.

Number of Individuals Proceeded Against for Handling an Offensive Weapon^1,2 in 2007-08 who had a Previous Charge³ Proved in Court, by Main Crime⁴ for that Offence

Main Crime			Number of Individuals
All crimes	Non-sexual crimes of violence	Homicide	4
		Serious assault and attempted murder	58
		Robbery	33
		Other	12
	Crimes of indecency	Indecent assault	3
		Lewd and indecent behaviour	2
		Other	6
	Crimes of dishonesty	Housebreaking	64
		Theft by opening a lockfast place	31
		Theft of/from a motor vehicle	33
		Shoplifting	190
		Other theft	87
		Fraud	16
		Other	31
	Fire-raising, vandalism, etc	Fire-raising	6
	Fire-raising, vandalism, etc	Vandalism etc	151
	Other crimes	Crimes against public justice	247
		Handling an offensive weapon	202
		Drugs	281
		Other	7
All offences	Miscellaneous offences	Common assault	348
		Breach of the peace	431
		Drunkenness	4
		Other	162
	Motor vehicle offences	Dangerous and careless driving	44
		Drunk driving	91
		Speeding	31
		Unlawful use of vehicle	227
		Vehicle defect offences	20
		Other	31
Total			2853

Notes:

1. Where main offence

2. Handling an offensive weapon covers the crime categories possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of an offensive weapon and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

3. Previous charge derived from sentence date of latest and prior offence.

4. The crime categories used are the same as in the Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts Statistical Bulletin.

Question reference: S3W-24063

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fine defaulters prosecuted for handling an offensive weapon subsequently served prison sentences in 2007-08 and what proportion that figure constitutes of the total number of (a) people served with fines and (b) fine defaulters.

In 2007-08 the Scottish Prison Service recorded 82 receptions of a prisoner for fine default where the main crime or offence was the handling of offensive weapons, from a total of 3,160 fine defaulter receptions overall. In the same year there were 927 people found guilty of handling an offensive weapon who received a fine.

Although these figures both cover the 2007-08 financial year, they do not refer to the same individuals, and therefore it is not possible to calculate the proportion of people who receive a fine for handling an offensive weapon who, as a result of not paying that fine, went on to spend time in prison.

Question reference: S3W-24067

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people prosecuted for handling an offensive weapon in 2007-08 were on bail at the time of their offence, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons Proceeded Against for Handling Offensive Weapons^1,2 with a Bail Aggravator Recorded³, by Police Force Area, 2007-08

Police Force	2007-08
Central	39
Dumfries and Galloway	11
Fife	25
Grampian	39
Lothian and Borders	73
Northern	22
Strathclyde	557
Tayside	51
Scotland	817

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Includes the offences possession of an offensive weapon, restriction of offensive weapons and having in a public place an article with a blade or point.

3. Indicating that the offence was committed while the offender was on bail.

Question reference: S3W-24062

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent running the Safer Scotland knife amnesty, which ran from 24 May to 30 June 2006, broken down by expense.

Question reference: S3W-24291

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the search for prisoner Brian Martin, who recently absconded from Castle Huntly open prison cost, broken down by nature of cost.

Question reference: S3O-07093

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 28 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in the provision of affordable housing in the north east.

The Scottish Government has in 2009-10 announced £36.273 million to support the start on site this year of 256 affordable homes in the four council areas in the north east constituency.

In addition we awarded £850,000 to help with the council house new build programme in Aberdeenshire which will deliver 34 new council homes. And we have invited all four councils in the north east region to apply for a share of the remaining £8.1 million available this year.

The Open Market Shared Equity Pilot is also available across the north east area with an estimated budget of around £4.5 million this year.

Question reference: S3W-24091

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) design capacity, (b) assessed operational limit and (c) average number of inmates held at each (i) prison and (ii) young offenders institution was in each month in 2008.

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

The following table give details of the design capacity, assessed operational limits and average prisoner population for each establishment on a month-by-month basis for 2008.

	Design Capacity	Assessed Operational Limit (AOL)	January	February	March	April
Aberdeen	155	255	237	245	238	227
Addiewell	700 (from Dec)	700	0	0	0	0
Barlinnie	1,018	1,600	1,396	1,491	1,522	1,513
Cornton Vale	375	440	362	390	375	376
Dumfries	179	216	197	200	195	197
Edinburgh	756 (872 from Dec)	866 (960 From Dec)	783	804	828	812
Glenochil Prison	670	750	667	669	690	718
Greenock	255	330	311	312	303	311
Inverness	104	162	151	148	146	147
Kilmarnock	500	644	597	621	644	648
Open Estate	425	519	377	390	370	306
Perth	722	801	666	727	738	748
Peterhead	306	306	304	303	303	303
Polmont	623	700	655	675	677	688
Shotts	537	537	537	536	539	540

	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Aberdeen	232	234	223	234	249	256	237	222
Addiewell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	40
Barlinnie	1,505	1,522	1,597	1,668	1,726	1,666	1,650	1,549
Cornton Vale	375	396	379	403	428	429	417	387
Dumfries	197	202	195	215	217	215	213	209
Edinburgh	817	841	848	858	890	882	884	833
Glenochil Prison	719	718	718	738	750	751	748	746
Greenock	309	302	312	324	328	332	328	316
Inverness	148	144	144	165	153	149	154	154
Kilmarnock	641	649	647	647	645	648	648	642
Open Estate	272	273	290	291	285	296	294	271
Perth	746	761	775	775	783	784	778	738
Peterhead	305	305	304	306	305	306	304	305
Polmont	669	673	692	694	695	705	710	683
Shotts	539	538	540	539	544	547	546	539

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