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-33972

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police support staff are employed in each police force.

The numbers of police support staff employed in each force at 31 March 2010 are shown in the following table.

Force	Whole-Time Equivalent
Central Scotland Police	357
Dumfries and Galloway constabulary	257
Fife Constabulary	469
Grampian Police	733
Lothian and Borders Police	1,281
Northern Constabulary	352
Strathclyde Police	2,524
Tayside Police	543

Question reference: S3W-34069

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fiscal fines were issued to offenders released on licence in each of the last three years, broken down by sheriffdom.

Question reference: S3W-33886

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 4 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Grampian were directly connected to a diagnosis of assault by sharp object in each of the last five years for which information is available.

The number of occupied bed days in NHS Grampian where a diagnosis of assault by sharp object is recorded is presented in the following table.

Number of Acute Occupied Bed Days^1,2 in NHS Grampian Connected with an Assault by Sharp Object³, Patient Discharged during Year Ending 31 March 2005-09

Financial Years	Total Number of Bed Days⁴
2004-05	64
2005-06	153
2006-07	98
2007-08	70
2008-09	149

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.

Notes:

1. Hospital admission data are derived from linked records on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland.

2. Bed days are calculated using the length of stay variable.

3. Assault by sharp object connected incidents are defined as ICD-10 code X99 in any secondary diagnosis positions.

4. The number of bed days can be influenced by the severity of the injury received and hence total bed day figures do not necessarily reflect the underlying number of admissions.

For information; the numbers of admissions connected to assault by a sharp object in NHS Grampian was provided in the answer to question S3W-32124 on 15 March 2010. 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.

Additional data and commentary on assault by a sharp object is published as part of ISD''s Unintentional Injuries publication http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5327.html.

Question reference: S3W-33753

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the comment by the chief constable of Grampian Police reported in The Herald on 18 May 2010 that “We have a positive relationship with the Justice Secretary but we come out of a meeting with him and then the civil servants give us a completely contrary message” and what action it plans to take.

The remark attributed to the chief constable of Grampian refers to a dinner between myself and six out of the eight chief constables. I was supported by two civil servants on that occasion. The meeting provided an opportunity for chief constables to raise any issues they wished to discuss. There were not two separate meetings and it is entirely wrong to suggest that civil servants were acting outwith my authority.

In a statement issued by the President of Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, Pat Shearer confirmed that I hosted the meeting and civil servants acted in their official capacity in my support. He also made clear that all parties are working together and share a common interest in providing the best policing service possible for the communities of Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-33695

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 1 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have been brought under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 for offences relating to mephedrone and other cathinone derivatives since their ban on 16 April 2010, broken down by (a) type of offence and (b) police force area.

Since 16 April 2010 five charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 relating to Mephedrone have been libelled in court proceedings. Of these five, two are under section 5(2), namely being in possession of a controlled drug, and the remaining three are under section 4(3)(b), that is being concerned in the supplying of a controlled drug.

Both of the section 5(2) possession charges, as well as two of the section 4(3)(b) supply charges were reported to COPFS by Grampian Police. The remaining section 4(3)(b) supply case was reported by Tayside Police.

There have been no reported cases and therefore no prosecutions raised to-date under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in respect of the other cathinone derivatives.

Notes

1. The information for this question has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s Case Management Database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. The figures quoted in this answer reflect the information recorded on 18 May 2010.

Question reference: S3W-33752

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimate is of how many civilian job losses police forces will make by the end of the current parliamentary session, broken down by police force.

Question reference: S3W-33723

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-6711 by Stewart Stevenson on 30 April 2010 (Official Report c. 16959), whether the Scottish Futures Trust is actively being considered as a potential funding mechanism for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Question reference: S3W-33754

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the civil servants in the Directorate General for Justice and Communities are aligned to the policy direction of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice.

Question reference: S3W-33743

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of claims by chief constables reported in The Herald on 18 May 2010 that they were urged by senior civil servants not to reduce police numbers until autumn 2010, when a decrease could be blamed on UK Government spending cuts, and what action it plans to take.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to delivering 1,000 additional police officers in our communities by April 2011. Police funding is at a record level - £1.4 billion in 2010-11, including funding specifically for the training, recruitment and salaries of the 1,000 additional officers.

There is now certainty over the stability of the 2010-11 budget and we fully expect police forces to deliver on the 1,000 extra officers commitment.

Decisions on the future size of the budget for the police in Scotland will be taken once we know the overall size of the Westminster cuts and the effect that has on the overall size of the Scottish budget.

Scottish Government civil servants act on behalf of Scottish ministers and operate in accordance with the Civil Service Code.

Question reference: S3W-33757

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that civil servants play an appropriate role in the tripartite arrangement between ministers, chief constables and local police boards.