- 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 Stewart Stevenson on 8 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive which agencies will be responsible for funding improvements at the Haudagain roundabout.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18961 on 8 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what role it considers that COSLA should play in relation to local licensing forums.
Answer
The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 provides a national framework for licensing and significant scope for local policy setting and decision making. It is for COSLA to decide what role, if any, it should play over and above the respective roles of licensing boards and local authorities set out in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 but we would encourage boards and local authorities to share good practice as the new forums settle into their role.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to facilitate the sharing of good practice between local licensing forums.
Answer
The Scottish Government is funding a National Licensing Officer post within Alcohol Focus Scotland. Part of the remit of this post is to support and inform local licensing forums and encourage best practice on community engagement processes.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to set up a national forum of local licensing forums.
Answer
The National Licensing Forum was abolished by the previous administration. At a meeting with COSLA and Alcohol Focus Scotland on 12 June 2008, I made clear that the Scottish Government would welcome the sharing of good practice between licensing boards and would further welcome any effort by COSLA to establish an appropriate mechanism for doing that. Any action in this area may include sharing good practice between local licensing forums as well as between licensing boards.
- 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 Kenny MacAskill on 6 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, as part of its Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol consultation, what research it commissioned in relation to tackling the problem of proxy purchasing of alcohol; what the key findings were, and what additional research it is considering.
Answer
No research has been commissioned. It is clear that in the short-term there needs to be a focus on enforcement of the law in respect of those who buy alcohol on behalf of someone underage and over the longer term we need to tackle the underlying attitudes to alcohol which leads relatives and friends to act as proxy purchasers.
Local communities can also play a role by helping the police with enforcement by calling the police or Crimestoppers if they suspect someone of buying alcohol on behalf an underage person.
- 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 Kenny MacAskill on 6 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, as part of its Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol consultation, what research it commissioned in relation to the scale of the problem of proxy purchasing of alcohol; what the key findings were, and what additional research it is considering.
Answer
The Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Misuse Survey (SALSUS) includes a question on where young people purchase their alcohol, which provides an indication of the extent of proxy purchase. In 2006, 22% of 13-year-olds and 29% of 15-year-olds reported buying alcohol from a friend or a relative.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for parole were refused in each of the last five years, broken down by length of sentence.
Answer
This information is not held centrally in the detail requested. The Parole Board for Scotland''s Annual Report provides information on the number of cases referred by Scottish ministers for consideration for parole and the eventual outcome. Annual reports for 2003 to 2007-08 are available at
http://www.scottishparoleboard.gov.uk/reports.asp.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Parole Board for Scotland members there were in each of the last two years, broken down by month.
Answer
Information of the membership of the Parole Board for Scotland is contained in its annual reports. The following table provides information on membership between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008:
| Date | Reason | Number of PB Members |
| 1 January 2007 | | 23 |
| 24 January 2007 | Resignation | 22 |
| 3 September 2007 | 9 New Appointments | 31 |
| 22 November 2007 | Resignation | 30 |
| 31 December 2007 | 2 Members end term | 28 |
| 2 June 2008 | 4 New Appointments | 32 |
| 24 October 2008 | Resignation | 31 |
- 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 Kenny MacAskill on 5 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, apart from during its Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol consultation, what discussions it has had with (a) producers, (b) on-sales and (c) off-sales retailers in relation to the introduction of a minimum alcohol pricing strategy.
Answer
We regularly meet the alcohol industry to discuss rebalancing Scotland''s relationship with alcohol and have had constructive discussions with a wide range of producers and retailers. That process will continue through the Scottish Government Alcohol Industry Partnership and through other meetings and events. However, as made clear in our discussion document, any minimum price would be set independently of those connected either directly or indirectly with the manufacture, supply or distribution of alcohol products or any other connected activity.
- Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive in which local authority areas local licensing forums have been set up and how many times each forum has met.
Answer
Section 10 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 requires local authorities to establish one or more local licensing forums for their area. Information about the number of times each forum has met is not held centrally.
