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-20286

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many offensive weapons were surrendered voluntarily at police stations in the last year, broken down by (a) type of weapon and (b) police force.

Information on the number of offensive weapons surrendered voluntarily at police stations is not held centrally. This is a matter for individual police forces. However, statistics collected on the year long Safer Scotland anti-violence campaign show that the campaign proved a success in targeting knife and alcohol-related violence across Scotland. Figures taken from the Safer Scotland Anti Violence Campaign 06-07 Final Report show that the campaign saw some 12,645 weapons surrendered. Further statistics can be found in the report itself, the link to the website is:

http://www.actiononviolence.co.uk/aov/files/Safer%20Scotland%20final%20report%2006%20-%2007.pdf.

Question reference: S3W-20278

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many test purchases of knives were conducted in the last year, broken down by police force.

Question reference: S3W-20285

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many knives were surrendered voluntarily at police stations in the last year, broken down by police force.

Information on the number of knives surrendered voluntarily at police stations is not held centrally. This is a matter for individual police forces. However, statistics collected on the year long Safer Scotland anti-violence campaign show that the campaign proved a success in targeting knife and alcohol related violence across Scotland. Figures taken from the Safer Scotland Anti Violence Campaign 06-07 Final Report show that the campaign saw some 12,645 weapons surrendered. Further statistics can be found in the report itself, the link to the website is:

http://www.actiononviolence.co.uk/aov/files/Safer%20Scotland%20final%20report%2006%20-%2007.pdf.

Question reference: S3W-20279

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidance to police forces on test purchases of knives in the last year.

Guidance is available in A Practical Guide to Test Purchasing in Scotland which can be accessed on the Scottish Government website. This guidance, which draws on the experiences gained from the Scottish test purchasing pilots on tobacco and alcohol, was developed in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Society of Chief Officers for Trading Standards in Scotland, business representatives and health interest groups and agencies.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/10/25155751/0.

Question reference: S3W-20287

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to curb the supply of knives to young people.

The Scottish Government is pursuing a number of measures to curb the supply of knives to young people.

The Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007 has given ministers the power to introduce a licensing scheme for knife dealers. As part of the licensing scheme, dealers will be required to keep records of how proof of age was established. Our consultation on draft regulations to establish the scheme concluded at the end of October. We shall announce our response shortly then bring forward an order for parliamentary consideration.

In addition, test purchasing of age restricted products is a useful tool available to the police to crack down on those who sell knives to young people. The decision to undertake test purchases whether as a co-ordinated initiative or in response to specific intelligence is an operational matter for police forces.

Question reference: S3W-20280

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is offering police forces in relation to the conduct of test purchases of knives.

Question reference: S3W-20363

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will respond to the recommendations of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS) on the roles and responsibilities of police forces as set out in HMICS’s Independent review of policing in Scotland.

I am grateful to Her Majesty''s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS) for the Independent Review of Policing in Scotland report. The issues it raises are challenging and complex. The Scottish Government will work closely with key partners and stakeholders to consider thoroughly the challenges identified before formulating a way forward. I expect to be in a position to respond to the issues raised in the report by early summer.

Question reference: S3W-20080

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of offences was committed when the offender was under the influence of alcohol in 2007-08, broken down by category of offence.

Information on the number of offences committed when the offender was under the influence of alcohol is not held centrally.

Data available for crimes/offences related to alcohol is where the involvement of alcohol is implicit in the offence, such as drunk driving etc, drunkenness, contravention of liquor licensing laws, offences by Licensed Persons and consumption of alcohol in designated places prohibited by byelaws.

The annual Prisoner Survey, carried out by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), asks prisoners if they were drunk at the time of their offence. In the Prisoner Survey for 2008, the latest year for which information is available, 49 per cent of prisoners claimed to be drunk at the time of their offence (Prisoner Survey 2008, SPS Research Bulletin, October 2008). This compares with figures for 2006 and 2007 of 44 per cent and 45 per cent respectively. Please note that it is not possible to break the figures down further by category of offence. It should also be noted that the information is based on self report from prisoners themselves.

Question reference: S3W-20081

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of offences was linked to alcohol misuse in 2007-08, broken down by category of offence.

Data available for crimes/offences related to alcohol is where the involvement of alcohol is implicit in the offence, such as drunkenness, drunk driving etc, contravention of liquor licensing laws, offences by licensed persons and consumption of alcohol in designated places prohibited by byelaws. The following table gives the number of offences linked to alcohol misuse in 2007-08.

Offences of Drunkenness/Drink Driving Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2007-08

Offence	Total Scotland
Drunkenness:
Drunk and incapable and habitual drunkenness	5,506
Drunk in charge of a child	104
Drunk and attempting to enter licensed premises	156
Drunk or drinking in unlicensed premises	60
Disorderly on licensed premises	545
Drunk in or attempting to enter designated sports ground	331
Drunk Driving etc:
Driving motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs	651
In charge of motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs	107
Driving motor vehicle with blood alcohol content above prescribed limit	7,177
In charge of motor vehicle while blood alcohol content above limit	640
Failure to provide breath specimen at roadside	931
Failure to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at police station	1,191
Total	17,399

The proportion of all offences in Scotland in 2007-08 that relate to drunkenness/drunk driving was 3 per cent, given that there were a total of 571,881 offences.

The table may include some offences relating to drug, not alcohol, misuse. It does not include any offences by licensed persons or offences against liquor licensing laws.

Question reference: S3W-20087

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners it estimates to (a) have or (b) have had a substance misuse problem.

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

Sixty-four percent of prisoners tested positive for illegal drugs on entry into prison during 2007-08 addiction prevalence testing. 49% of the prisoner population has a problem with alcohol, as indicated by the number of prisoners who responded to the 2008 prisoner survey to say that they were drunk at the time of their offence. In the same survey 79% of prisoners indicate they smoke tobacco.