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-24128

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 4 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the financial commitment to PFI/PPP is estimated to be for each local authority in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

The information requested can be found in the following table.

Estimated Total Annual PFI/PPP Unitary Payments by Local Authority

Local Authority	2010-11 (£m)	2011-12 (£m)
Aberdeen City	12.5	13.3
Aberdeenshire	10.2	10.5
Angus	11.3	11.5
Argyll and Bute	20.1	20.3
City of Edinburgh	42.6	43
Clackmannanshire	7.8	7.9
Dumfries and Galloway	20.8	21.8
Dundee City	12.6	12.9
East Ayrshire	8.5	8.3
East Dunbartonshire	12.9	13.2
East Lothian	7.8	8
East Renfrewshire	10.5	10.7
Falkirk	25.9	26.4
Fife	15.5	15.7
Glasgow City	47.2	48.2
Highland	25.2	25.6
Inverclyde	2.9	8.2
Midlothian	10.6	10.7
North Ayrshire	10.3	10.4
North Lanarkshire	17.9	18.4
Perth and Kinross	13.3	16
Renfrewshire	14.2	14.5
Scottish Borders	8.4	8.6
South Ayrshire	10.8	11
South Lanarkshire	31.6	32.5
Stirling	12.8	13.1
West Dunbartonshire	10.5	11.5
West Lothian	12.5	12.8

Notes:

1. The figures contained in the table are inclusive of the Scottish Government PFI/PPP funding contribution.

2. The table does not include the local authority figures for the Strathclyde Police procured Police Force Training Centre project in East Kilbride as these are not held centrally. However the estimated total annual unitary payments for this project in 2010-11 and 2011-12 are £3.7 million and £3.8 million respectively.

Question reference: S3W-24127

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the financial commitment to PFI/PPP is for each local authority in 2009-10.

The information requested can be found in the following table.

Estimated Total Annual PFI/PPP Unitary Payments by Local Authority

Local Authority	2009-10 (£m)
Aberdeen City	6.6
Aberdeenshire	10
Angus	11
Argyll and Bute	19.8
City of Edinburgh	32.8
Clackmannanshire	7.6
Dumfries and Galloway	10.1
Dundee City	12
East Ayrshire	8.3
East Dunbartonshire	11
East Lothian	7.7
East Renfrewshire	10.2
Falkirk	24
Fife	15.2
Glasgow City	46.3
Highland	24.5
Inverclyde	0.5
Midlothian	10.4
North Ayrshire	10.1
North Lanarkshire	17.4
Perth and Kinross	6.5
Renfrewshire	14
Scottish Borders	7.3
South Ayrshire	10.2
South Lanarkshire	27.1
Stirling	12.5
West Dunbartonshire	7
West Lothian	9.9

Notes:

1. The figures contained in the table are inclusive of the Scottish Government PFI/PPP funding contribution.

2. The table does not include the local authority figures for the Strathclyde Police procured Police Force Training Centre project in East Kilbride as these are not held centrally. However, the estimated total annual unitary payment for this project in 2009-10 is £3.6 million.

Question reference: S3W-24129

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 May 2009

Question reference: S3W-23658

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what recording mechanisms are in place for the police in relation to male victims of domestic violence.

All police forces in Scotland, regardless of the gender of the victim or accused, record incidents of domestic abuse based on the following agreed definition:

Domestic abuse is any form of physical, non-physical, or sexual abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship, committed either in the home or elsewhere. This relationship will be between partners (married, co-habiting or otherwise) or ex-partners.

This standard definition was developed in consultation with police forces following recommendations given in the Report of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary Hitting Home - A Report on the Police Response to Domestic Violence 1997. This work was progressed through the domestic violence working group of the Scottish Criminal Statistics Committee involving Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) nominated representatives.

In terms of the recording of crimes arising from a domestic abuse incident, action has already been taken to improve consistency in the way crimes are recorded in Scotland. The Scottish Crime Recording Standard (SCRS) was introduced throughout all Scottish Police Forces on 1 April 2004. The main aim of this was to provide a more victim orientated approach that ensured uniformity in crime recording standards throughout Scotland. The list of crime codes used to record crimes is consistent across all police forces in Scotland, and allows Scotland-level statistics to be created. This ultimately ensures a greater degree of comparability between forces than there was previously.

The latest statistical publication on domestic abuse, Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police in Scotland 2007-08, is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47020). This publication shows that there were 6,753 domestic abuse incidents recorded in 2007-08 in which the victim was male.

Question reference: S3W-23659

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 14 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is in place for support services for male victims of domestic violence.

There have been no specialist male services tackling domestic abuse established in Scotland to date.

However, over £4 million was allocated to Victim Support Scotland (VSS) for 2008-09 (an increase of 2% from 2007-08). VSS provides practical and emotional support to all victims of crime, including men who experience domestic abuse. It is the largest voluntary organisation addressing the needs of victims in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-23657

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 14 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of research commissioned by it on male victims of domestic violence will be published.

Question reference: S3W-23656

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 14 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive when and from whom it commissioned research on male victims of domestic violence.

The Scottish Government commissioned research on domestic abuse against men in 2002. This research was carried out by David Gadd, Stephen Farrall, Damian Dallimore & Nancy Lombard, Dept of Criminology at Keele University and published in September 2002. The full copy of the research can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2002/09/15201/9609.

However, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, currently being carried out, will provide more up to date information on the nature and extent of domestic abuse and sexual violence in Scotland, including information on domestic abuse against men. This is expected to report in the autumn.

Question reference: S3W-23425

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 13 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-22489 by Richard Lochhead on 22 April 2009, how the £25 million allocation for the Zero Waste Fund is broken down in terms of revenue and capital monies.

The £25 million distribution to local authorities from the Zero Waste Fund for 2009-10 is broken down in terms of revenue and capital, as follows:

(£ Million Rounded)

2009-10	Capital Distribution	Revenue Distribution	Total Distribution
Aberdeen City	0.176	0.878	1.054
Aberdeenshire	0.184	0.925	1.109
Angus	0.086	0.432	0.518
Argyll and Bute	0.082	0.411	0.493
Clackmannanshire	0.038	0.192	0.230
Dumfries & Galloway	0.120	0.602	0.722
Dundee City	0.116	0.575	0.691
East Ayrshire	0.093	0.468	0.561
East Dunbartonshire	0.082	0.410	0.492
East Lothian	0.073	0.368	0.441
East Renfrewshire	0.069	0.348	0.417
Edinburgh	0.397	2.003	2.400
Eilean Siar	0.022	0.109	0.131
Falkirk	0.117	0.590	0.707
Fife	0.281	1.419	1.700
Glasgow City	0.491	2.459	2.950
Highland	0.189	0.952	1.141
Inverclyde	0.064	0.318	0.382
Midlothian	0.062	0.310	0.372
Moray	0.069	0.345	0.414
North Ayrshire	0.107	0.539	0.646
North Lanarkshire	0.252	1.266	1.518
Orkney Islands	0.016	0.083	0.099
Perth & Kinross	0.116	0.583	0.699
Renfrewshire	0.134	0.672	0.806
Scottish Borders	0.088	0.442	0.530
Shetland Islands	0.017	0.086	0.103
South Ayrshire	0.092	0.463	0.555
South Lanarkshire	0.240	1.209	1.449
Stirling	0.074	0.374	0.448
West Dunbartonshire	0.071	0.357	0.428
West Lothian	0.132	0.662	0.794
Scotland	4.150	20.850	25.000

Note: These sums are the apportionment of the Zero Waste Fund budget on the basis of waste disposal formula as agreed with COSLA.

Question reference: S3W-23106

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 6 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, following publication of the Bichard Inquiry Report in 2004, what progress has been made by Disclosure Scotland in relation to accessing foreign conviction information.

It is still not possible to access foreign conviction information unless that information has been transferred to the UK and recorded in the central records searched by Disclosure Scotland.

We are working with colleagues in the UK Government to secure access to information from a number of countries elsewhere in the world where the national law of those countries allows information about their citizens to be transferred to Scotland for the purposes of criminal record checks.

To prepare for such agreements, we have brought forward an amendment in section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill that will, if enacted, give Disclosure Scotland access to information from outwith the UK subject to our reaching agreement with overseas jurisdictions to share information with us for the purposes of Part 5 of the Police Act and PVG Scheme, and Parliament approving the necessary Order.

Separately, Disclosure Scotland has been working with Irish counterparts and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland to enable information from Ireland to be requested in connection with enhanced disclosure applications. Agreement has now been reached and a Memorandum of Understanding to support it will be signed in the near future.

Question reference: S3W-23105

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 6 May 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reviewed the decision to make it possible to apply for standard and enhanced disclosure checks online and, if so, whether it will publish its review.

All of the existing IT system was reviewed as part of the programme to deliver the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. A new IT system is being developed to deliver the PVG Scheme and the remaining disclosure checks under Part 5 of the Police Act 1997. That new IT system will replace the current IT system and will offer the possibility of standard and enhanced disclosure applications being made online. We have not yet announced a date for when the PVG Scheme will go live.