- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners it estimates to (a) have or (b) have had an alcohol problem.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
The 2008 prisoner survey indicates that 49% of prisoners responding say that they were drunk at the time of their offence.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive which police forces have piloted the use of head or body-mounted cameras.
Answer
Strathclyde, Tayside, Grampian and the British Transport Police have piloted the use of head or body-mounted cameras. Central Scotland police is also actively progressing a pilot scheme.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the pilot knife-crime text hotline being run in Lancashire schools by Lancashire Constabulary and Crimestoppers, with the aim of encouraging anonymous reporting of young people who pupils believe may be carrying knives, as reported on BBC News Online on 14 January 2009.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to reducing violence and knife crime in our communities and takes an interest in initiatives in other areas which could contribute to our efforts. We will look carefully at the impact of this initiative and assess its suitability for use in areas of Scotland that are affected by knife crime.
We are working with local partners on a range of violence reduction measures and are committed to dealing with the underlying causes of crime “ drink, drugs and deprivation. We have recently invested £1.6 million in the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) to tackle the gang culture that fuels knife crime.
We have recently launched Medics Against Violence, a new initiative that has been developed by the Violence Reduction Unit and three senior medics in Glasgow, in which we have invested £80,000. It will see medics working directly with young people to highlight the dangers of knives.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it proposes to reduce the number of people drink and drug-driving in 2009.
Answer
Through Road Safety Scotland (RSS), we will continue to support the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) enforcement campaigns focussing on drink and drug-driving. We will also look for further opportunities to raise public awareness of drink and drug-driving issues.
Road Safety Scotland is currently looking at the best way to tackle the problem of drug-driving. Current research will inform future publicity initiatives on this issue.
We will continue to build on innovative publicity and education tools such as Crash Magnets, which aims to encourage responsible attitudes to driving before young people get behind the wheel.
We will also continue our joint approach to this issue between RSS and ACPOS, which includes two main campaigns, one in summer and one at the festive season, with additional media campaigns and publicity on billboards, radio and the internet.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to tackle repeat drink and drug-drivers.
Answer
A recent debate in the Scottish Parliament called for the lowering of the drink drive limit and the introduction of powers for the police to conduct random breath testing. We have written to the UK Government in support of these measures and will continue to press for a change to the relevant legislation. We firmly believe that these measures will help to tackle the problem of drinking and driving.
Currently, legislation set by the UK Government includes more severe penalties for repeat offenders and we are considering, as part of the forthcoming road safety strategy, what further actions may be appropriate for repeat drink and drug drive offenders.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, following the Festive Road Safety Campaign for 2008, how it intends to maintain the momentum of the campaign and dissemination of its message.
Answer
Through Road Safety Scotland, we intend to keep the drink and drug-driving message in the public domain through partnerships with the private sector; publicity materials; editorial platforms, and advertising in support of national enforcement campaigns run by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
We will continue to use innovative methods of passing road safety messages to target audiences. In a recent world first, the X-Box live gaming environment was used to geographically target drink drive messages at Scotland-based gamers. A Facebook page was also created, during the festive campaign, which provided information about the consequences of drink-driving for a fictitious character “ Norman Naemates.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, prior to the announcement on 24 October 2008 by Kenny MacAskill MSP of an additional £1 million of funding for these purposes, what discussions it had with each community justice authority on how to ensure that (a) offenders start their community service orders more quickly and (b) orders are completed in a shorter timescale.
Answer
The chief officers of the community justice authorities (CJAs) have been represented on the project group which has been overseeing the revision of the National Objectives and Standards which provide the operational framework for criminal justice social work services, including community service orders.
The CJAs, along with a range of other interested parties, were consulted in August 2008 on the final draft of the revised high level Standards, which include reference to early commencement of orders and speed of completion. The CJAs supported the revised standards.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what lessons it has learnt following the Festive Road Safety Campaign for 2008.
Answer
Figures provided by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) indicate that there were 610 positive or refused breath tests during the period of the recent Festive Safety Campaign. Although this represents a welcome reduction of 23% compared with the previous year, it is clear that there are still those who are ignoring messages about drinking and driving. The figures for the recent campaign reinforce our approach which is to target drink-drive publicity particularly at male drivers, particularly those under 25 years.
Scottish police forces are considering the introduction this year of new Data Enabled Breath Screening Devices, which are being provided by the UK Department for Transport (DFT). The device will provide full roadside screening which can be used as evidence in a prosecution, without the need for a further test. If accepted by ACPOS, as part of the agreement with DFT, police forces will record negative breath tests, which will provide more comprehensive information about drink-driving.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10903 by Fergus Ewing on 25 March 2008, (a) how the £200,000 allocated to tackle gang culture has been allocated and (b) where the money will be spent, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Following an application process 19 projects totalling £163,579 were successful in securing funding to deliver a range of diversionary and behavioural change activities with young men across Scotland who were known to the police as being involved in a gang. The successful projects were announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 14 April 2008
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/04/14095308, - a full list of those projects is provided in the following table:
| Local Authority | Area where Initiative to be Delivered | Funding Amount | Overview of Application |
| Renfrewshire | Paisley and Renfrew | £6,400 | Based around the existing Hit the Beat music tour, partners intend to identify specific individuals to get involved in the production of the tour. Whilst there, individuals will participate in LEAP style workshops around gang violence |
| Glasgow | Drumchapel, Knightswood, Scotstoun, Anderston | £5,250 | Building on the success of the Pathfinder project - an outward bounds programme for gang members - Pathfinder Plus aims to develop the exist programme through the introduction of specific gang/violence workshops - 3 separate Pathfinder programmes will be delivered |
| Fife | Buckhaven | £11,675 | Individuals will be targeted to produce and perform a drama production entitled A Culture of Violence. Once produced, the production will be performed at the two local high schools. During this time, workshops around violence and conflict will be delivered |
| Glasgow | Barrhead / Pollok | £4,700 | Selected individuals will be identified to participate in a bespoke Firereach Programme and a series of outdoor personal development activities. During these programmes, behaviour workshops will be delivered around gang violence |
| Glasgow | Pollok / Govan | £5,470 | Intensive Streetwork services will be provided over a 12 week period. Specially trained staff in conflict resolution and LEAP principles will seek to develop relations with identified individuals and deliver specially designed workshops |
| Glasgow | Woodlands | £2,080 | The continuation of a relatively new initiative which is engaging with Asian youths, many of whom are on the fringes of group conflict. The initiative is delivered at the Fred Paton Centre and the additional funds will be used to extend the programme and incorporate LEAP workshops |
| South Lanarkshire | Hamilton | £29,150 | This initiative will look to build on the relations formed by the local Campus Police officers in the 3 High schools and deliver a diverse range of interventions, based around football, coaching, drama and outdoor activities. Individuals from the 3 schools will be encouraged to work together on specially selected activities |
| Fife | Glenrothes | £5,100 | A wide range of diversionary activities (football and music) will be delivered each weekend and specifically targeted individuals will be identified to get involved in the organising. During this time, workshops around conflict and behaviour will be delivered |
| Edinburgh | Leith | £10,736 | Partners have developed a programme of 12 workshops with identified individuals to address their behaviours and attitudes. Workshops will cover issues such as violence, alcohol, gangs and drugs and will encourage participation in training and employment through a ˜mentoring'' programme with local tradesmen |
| West Lothian | West Lothian | £4,336 | Workshops with identified individuals will be delivered over 2 x 8 week periods to address issues such as violence, gang membership and alcohol misuse, seeking to encourage more positive behaviour |
| Edinburgh | Pentlands | £2,500 | Intensive week long programme entitled ˜The Bike Station'', in which individuals will be taught how to build a mountain bike from scratch. During the week, workshops around offending and violence will be delivered |
| Edinburgh | Central Edinburgh | £4,600 | This initiative covers a range of interventions including a one-week programme entitled ˜Cooldown Crew'' covering issues such as team work and developing confidence. Specific workshops around offending will also be delivered separately and will incorporate a visit to Saughton Prison to meet an existing prisoner |
| Edinburgh | Roseburn | £5,110 | Intensive workshops delivered during a week''s residential course at the Broomlea facility in the Borders |
| Stirling | Bannockburn | £15,000 | Intensive engagement with identified individuals and their families to address issues such as offending, violence and gang culture. Specific mediation workshops will also be delivered to address local territorialism issues |
| Glasgow | Sighthill/ Springburn | £15,510 | Building on the success of Operation Reclaim, the intervention aims to engage with 120 identified individuals over a 6 month period and deliver intensive workshops around violence and gangs. High profile individuals from the football world will be participating in the initiative as positive role models |
| Glasgow | Easterhouse | £16,269 | Intensive 6 week programme will be delivered covering a range of initiatives such as football, outdoor activity and drama sessions. Workshops on violence and gangs will be incorporated into each session |
| Clackmann-anshire | Clackmann-anshire | £5,370 | Intensive workshops will be delivered to address issues such as offending and violence. Restorative Circles will be used to address underlying issues and encourage people to engage in the process |
| Highland | Pan Highlands initiative | £13,727 | Following the delivery of a pan-highland football league, selected individuals will be identified to attend a residential weekend (4x weekend will be delivered). During this time, a range of issues will be addressed, including offending behaviour |
| Aberdeen | Garthdee | £596 | Workshops will be delivered with identified individuals to address issues such as offending and violence |
| Total | | £163,579 | |
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost per day is of administering a drug treatment and testing order.
Answer
The 12 months average cost of administering a drug treatment and testing order in the 2007-08 financial year was £12,205. The nature of the service and the fact that the order can vary significantly in duration means that it is not possible to provide a realistic average daily cost.
