Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-22945

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 12 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what public engagement processes it undertakes to provide feedback to communities when cases are not pursued by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is committed to providing victims and witnesses with the information they need and when they need it about the decisions taken in individual cases. This information is provided pro-actively in certain categories of cases, which includes cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses. In all other cases this information would be provided on the request of the victim.

COPFS also publish statistics to provide information to the public on the numbers of cases in which no action is taken and this can be accessed via the following link:

http://www.copfs.gov.uk/images/Documents/Statistics/No%20Action%20cases%20Reported%20to%20COPFS%202009-14.pdf

Question reference: S4W-22947

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 12 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases have been time-barred from proceeding to court in the last five years.

The number of cases in which Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) have taken no action because the case was time barred at the time of receipt by COPFS from the relevant specialist reporting agency or the police is as follows:

2009-10	305
2010-11	352
2011-12	325
2012-13	426
2013-14	446

COPFS do publish statistics on the numbers of cases in which no action is taken and this can be accessed via the following link:

http://www.copfs.gov.uk/images/Documents/Statistics/No%20Action%20cases%20Reported%20to%20COPFS%202009-14.pdf

Question reference: S4W-22946

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 12 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases the Scottish Court Service has discontinued in the last five years.

From the information held by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service it is not possible, without manual checking of files incurring disproportionate costs, to find out how many criminal court cases have been discontinued as a result of a judicial decision rather than as a result of prosecutor’s decision, which can occur as a result of further information becoming available to the prosecutor after proceedings are raised.

Question reference: S4W-22956

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many child psychiatric beds there are, broken down by NHS board.

The following table shows the three regional adolescent in-patient units operating across Scotland based in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee, and the number of beds available in each unit.

Unit	No of beds	Area served (NHS Board)
Royal Edinburgh Hospital	12	South East of Scotland (Lothian, Fife and Borders).
Skye House, Stobhill, Glasgow	24	West of Scotland (Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Forth Valley, Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire and Arran)
Dudhope House, Dundee	6 A further six beds will be available from mid-2015.	North of Scotland (Tayside, Grampian, Highland, Shetland, Orkney and Western Isles)

Severe psychiatric conditions are rare in children under 12, but those who require intensive support and treatment can be cared for in the nine bedded specialist unit within the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow.

Question reference: S4W-22957

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to help diagnose Asperger syndrome.

The Scottish Government launched the Scottish Strategy for Autism (which includes Asperger syndrome) in November 2011 and announced an investment of £13.4 million over four years to improve autism services, and access to those services.

It is the responsibility of NHS boards to provide services that meet local needs, however, access to timely autism diagnosis is a key priority under the strategy.

Strategy funding has supported several initiatives to improve autism diagnosis:

A new training and education framework, developed by NHS Education, to raise awareness of and build capacity in autism within mainstream services; and a three-day autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule diagnosis training event, run by autism practitioners and diagnosticians to update diagnostic practice

A network of One Stop Shops across Scotland that provides autism support services tailored to local needs, including sign-posting diagnostic services

Publication of a Menu of Interventions - a guide to diagnostic and other supports available for people with autism and their families. The guide has been rolled out across Scotland through a series of road-shows throughout the year

Question reference: S4W-22958

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to (a) adults and (b) children with Asperger syndrome.

The Scottish Government launched the Scottish Strategy for Autism (which includes Asperger syndrome) in November 2011 and announced an investment of £13.4 million over four years to improve autism services, and access to those services for people across the whole lifespan.

This is a 10 year strategy and much has been achieved in the first two years. Key highlights include:

£4.8 million funding to an Autism Development Fund which has supported local and national organisations to deliver local autism services on the ground. 53 organisations across Scotland – ranging from local autism support groups to third sector organisations have benefited from the fund

£1.12 million funding to local authorities to develop local autism strategies and associated action plans to improve local autism service provision

Publication of a Menu of Interventions – a guide to supports available for people with autism and their families. The guide has been rolled out across Scotland through a series of road-shows throughout the year

A network of One Stop Shops across Scotland that provide autism support services that are tailored to local need, including advocacy and sign-posting

A new training and education framework, developed by NHS Education, to raise awareness of and build capacity in autism within mainstream services

An ‘Autism Toolbox’ to help teachers and educational support staff to meet the needs of children with autism

Question reference: S4W-22944

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 12 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service uses when deciding whether to pursue cases presented by the police.

In any case reported the prosecutor must firstly be satisfied that there is sufficient admissible evidence available to justify proceedings. If so the prosecutor must consider what action is in the public interest.

The full criteria applied by prosecutors when deciding whether to take action in cases, is outlined in the Prosecution Code which is published at:

http://www.copfs.gov.uk/images/Documents/Prosecution_Policy_Guidance/Prosecution20Code20_Final20180412__1.pdf

Question reference: S4O-03696

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it plans to review the number of passes issued to people who do not work in the parliamentary complex.

Question reference: S4O-03659

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with train operating companies regarding timetables.

Question reference: S4W-22672

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what conclusions Scotland's enforcement and social service agencies can draw from the findings of the report, Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham (1997–2013).

Clearly all of us working to keep children safe in Scotland are considering what lessons are to be learned from Professor Jay’s report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, to ensure child protection measures are as robust and responsive as they can be.

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and I held a round table discussion with Professor Alexis Jay, the author of the Rotherham report, to consider its findings on 2 October 2014. This discussion included Jackie Brock, DCC Iain Livingstone, ACC Malcolm Graham and Sarah Blackmore of the Care Inspectorate, as well as Crown Office and Scottish Government officials.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to protecting children and young people’s wellbeing. A ministerial working group (chaired by Jackie Brock, Chief Executive of Children in Scotland, and made up of representatives from Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Care Inspectorate and the third sector) was established to specifically examine the issue of child sexual exploitation and to develop a national action plan by examining the recommendations from the Public Petitions Committee, alongside their own expertise in child protection. The conclusions of the Jay Report are also informing that work.

Chamber and committees