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-21633

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive on what date it expects the number of serving police officers to reach 17,265 if recruitment continues at the average rate experienced since May 2007.

Question reference: S3W-21632

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women aged (i) under 30, (ii) 30 to 40, (iii) 41 to 50, (iv) 51 to 60, (v) 61 to 70, (vi) 71 to 80 and (vii) over 80 were diagnosed with bowel cancer in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Data on the number of people diagnosed with bowel (colorectal) cancer are available in five year age groups by sex, NHS board and year (from 1980 to 2005) on the Information Services Division website:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=cancer_colorectal_inc.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

The latest year for which cancer registration data are complete is 2005.

Please note that published data on bowel cancer incidence are provided in five year age bands, which do not correspond exactly to the 10 year bands requested. Published data includes bands such as 40 to 44 and 45 to 49, where 41 to 50 is requested.

Question reference: S3W-21634

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Quarterly Police Strength Statistics published on 3 March 2009 showing that police strength figures in (a) Central Scotland Police, (b) Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and (c) Tayside Police decreased in the latest quarter, what action it will take to ensure that these figures increase in the next quarter.

Police officer recruitment is a matter for police authorities and chief constables.

The Scottish Government has given police authorities the resources to recruit 1,000 additional officers and as recent figures have shown they are well on course with that recruitment. We are carrying out a study to project how many police officers there will be by May 2011, and we will publish this within the next few weeks.

Question reference: S3W-20673

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths per 1,000 of population were attributable to (a) alcohol and (b) other substance misuse in the last 12 months, broken down by NHS board.

The most recent deaths data currently available is for 2007. The information requested is given in the following tables:

a. Deaths per 1,000 population attributable to alcohol, 2007.

Area	Alcohol-Related Deaths	Rate Per 1,000
Scotland	1,399	0.3
Ayrshire and Arran	86	0.2
Borders	23	0.2
Dumfries and Galloway	28	0.2
Fife	79	0.2
Forth Valley	63	0.2
Grampian	105	0.2
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	465	0.4
Highland	99	0.3
Lanarkshire	174	0.3
Lothian	172	0.2
Orkney	7	0.4
Shetland	6	0.3
Tayside	86	0.2
Western Isles	6	0.2

Source GRO(S).

b. Drug related deaths per 1,000 of population, 2007

Area	Drug-Related Deaths	Rate per 1,000
Scotland	455	0.1
Ayrshire and Arran	36	0.1
Borders	*	*
Dumfries and Galloway	10	0.1
Fife	28	0.1
Forth Valley	26	0.1
Grampian	45	0.1
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	157	0.1
Highland	16	0.1
Lanarkshire	48	0.1
Lothian	54	0.1
Orkney	*	*
Shetland	*	*
Tayside	29	0.1
Western Isles	*	*

Source GRO(S)

Note: *Data has not been disclosed for numbers under five.

Question reference: S3W-20813

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what training judges and sheriffs were given in the last two years regarding the psychological impact of sexual offences on victims.

The psychological impact of offences on victims is considered at Refresher Courses, Skills courses (both of which are three day residential events) and Sexual Offences Seminars (one day course) for judges, sheriffs'' principal and sheriffs. The figures for attendance are follows.

	Original Sexual Offences Seminar	Refresher Course	Skills Course	Sexual Offences Seminars (II)
2003-06	190
2007		80	49	23
2008		80	31	22
Total	190	160	80	45

Question reference: S3W-20557

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19205 by Kenny MacAskill on 15 January 2009, in relation to the delivery of speedier and more immediate community penalties, (a) what targets it has set, (b) when it expects to achieve these targets and (c) whether it plans to make information on the progress of this goal publicly accessible and, if so, how it intends to do this.

We have been working very closely with our professional stakeholders to agree a new tighter framework for starting and completing community sentences. New guidance in respect of community service orders, which is about to be issued, will require post sentence interviews to be carried out within one working day of the order being made by the court and the work placement to start within seven working days. The new arrangements will inevitably take time to bed in but should lead to significant improvements over current levels of performance.

An audit of local authorities'' performance during November 2008 in relation to time taken to start placements is currently in progress and will be repeated in 12 months time. The results of these audits, when completed, will be made available at the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (SPICe).

Question reference: S3W-20820

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the judiciary is provided with sufficient information to allow the use of antisocial behaviour orders to disrupt gang activity where there is reason to believe that such activity may contribute to a pattern of offending.

Question reference: S3W-20816

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many antisocial behaviour orders prohibited offenders from associating with gang members in each of the last two years.

Question reference: S3W-20815

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that antisocial behaviour orders are being used effectively to prevent gang members from associating with each other.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the use of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) for preventing gang members from associating with each other. ASBOs can be useful for tackling disorder but are only one of many tools available to local agencies. Enforcement measures alone will not solve the deep seated problems that fuel disorder in our communities. Only by pursuing an holistic multi-agency approach that places prevention and early intervention at the centre, through education and support, will do that.

The Scottish Government has invested £1.6 million in the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) “ the Glasgow gangs initiative with education, prevention and rehabilitation at the heart of the initiative which is being led by the Violence Reduction Unit. This will create a systematic framework for coordination, focused around risk/needs assessment and then provision of an appropriate range of joined-up services, ranging from enforcement through to intensive support. It will deliver a holistic and coordinated plan to reduce violence among territorial gangs in the East of Glasgow.

Question reference: S3W-20819

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the judiciary is provided with sufficient information to allow the identification of offenders who are gang members where there is reason to believe that such membership may contribute to a pattern of offending.