- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 October 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many jury trials have taken place at each court in each of the last five years.
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 October 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many criminal trials have been adjourned because of (a) a crown motion, (b) a defence motion, (c) failure to appear by an accused, (d) failure to appear by a witness, (e) lack of court time and (f) any other reason at each court in each of the last five years.
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 October 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many jury trials were called but adjourned because of a lack of court time at each court in each of the last five years.
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 4 October 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many children born in Fife in the last five years have been diagnosed with foetal alcohol syndrome.
Answer
There were no babies reported with a diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Fife in the last five years.
The facility to record Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is available on the Scottish Birth Record (SBR). However, some under-reporting of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is considered to exist, although the extent of the under-reporting is not known. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome will be present at birth although it may not be detected until later, and unless the baby requires admission to hospital subsequent to the birth episode, the condition may go unreported.
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Significant work on raising awareness of FASD has been undertaken over the past two years. A number of activities aimed at preventing FASD, and diagnosis, so far have included:
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Training midwives to ask pregnant women about their alcohol intake and offer appropriate advice and support if required.
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Organising education events for health, social care and education
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Launching an eLearning resource for health professionals
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Setting up the Maternal and Child Fetal Alcohol Harm Care Pathway Group, the main aim of which is to develop a care pathway for children who have been affected by this condition, from pre-birth to the end of primary school.
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Developed and launched a diagnostic tool to allow for consistency of diagnosis and more accurate recording of the numbers of children living with this condition.
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We have taken steps to learn and share what is happening in other countries. Experts from Manitoba, Canada have twice visited Scotland (2013 and March 2017) to share their expertise of diagnosing FASD using a team approach. 150 medical professionals were trained in using the Manitoba model in 2013 and 70 paediatricians and clinical psychologists were trained this year
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Held a one day event for caregivers of children with FASD.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 28 September 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support GP surgeries in Fife.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the pressures facing general practice and are fully committed to supporting a model of sustainable general practice.
On 10 March, I announced an additional £71.6 million will be invested in direct support of general practice, helping to transform the way services are delivered in the community. This forms the first stage of the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide an extra £250 million in direct support of general practice per year by 2021 - increasing the overall investment in primary care by £500 million.
As part of this, I have increased the GP recruitment and retention fund this year from £1 million to £5 million, enabling expansion and continued support to existing and new initiatives across Scotland.
One existing initiative is The Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative – a ten board collaboration involving NHS Fife. The project will bring together recruitment strategies and support networks for GPs working in remote and rural areas.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 September 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it takes to support the tourism sector in Fife.
Answer
The development of Fife's tourism sector is supported through the work of a range of our public bodies, for example, VisitScotland's marketing campaigns, including working with the industry to build on the success of film and TV shot there, such as Outlander; business and destination support from Scottish Enterprise; training and development through Skills Development Scotland; and promotion and protection of cultural heritage and historic properties through Historic Environment Scotland. In August I announced £500,000 Scottish Government funding for the 'Reaper' repair restoration at Anstruther which is another example of supporting tourism attractions and of course the opening of the Queensferry Crossing is putting a spotlight on Fife worldwide.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2017
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the terrorist incident at Parsons Green in London.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2017
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 September 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote the responsible selling among retailers and wholesalers of (a) quad bikes and (b) other similar single person-operated vehicles.
Answer
Regulation of the sale and ownership of quad bikes and other similar single-person operated vehicles has not been devolved to Scottish Ministers and remains an issue that is reserved to the UK Government.
The DVLA is responsible for the registration and licensing of vehicles; however, it has confirmed it does not control any aspect of the private sale of motor vehicles.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 September 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many quad bikes have been registered in Scotland on the DVLA’s voluntary registration scheme, and what action it is taking to promote the scheme.
Answer
The legislation governing the registration of quad bikes has not been devolved to Scottish Ministers and remains reserved to the UK Government.
Information about the scheme is available on the UK Government website and the DVLA leaflet, INF 85, "Protect your off road vehicle". The UK Government has confirmed to the Scottish Government that it does not hold any records relating to the DVLA's voluntary registration scheme for quad bikes.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 July 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 August 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many acid attacks there has been in each of the past five years; how many convictions there were, broken down by average length of sentence, and whether it plans to review the law on dealing with this type of crime.
Answer
Information on the number of acid attacks over the last five years is not held centrally. Where someone uses acid or other corrosive substances to attack another person, a range of general criminal offences can be used to prosecute including the common law of assault. The statistics for assault held do not differentiate when corrosive substances have or have not been used.
Depending on the facts and circumstances of a given case, anyone carrying corrosive substances in public can be prosecuted for carrying an offensive weapon and anyone who uses a corrosive substance to attack another person can be prosecuted for a number of offences such as assault. Under the common law of assault, courts have powers to sentence up to life imprisonment
The Scottish Government always keeps the criminal law of Scotland under review and will consider carefully what, if any, steps may be needed in this area.
