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: S4O-02597

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-17721

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many people on the sex offenders register are listed as missing or whereabouts unknown.

Figures obtained from Police Scotland show that, as at September 2013 there were 10 registered sex offenders unaccounted for in Scotland. Of these, 9 were believed to be abroad. This information is only valid as at September 2013 because the information is dynamic and will change as arrests are made, or new cases come to light through intelligence-led policing, or through the routine management of such offenders.

Question reference: S4W-17720

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many times people on the sex offenders register have failed to notify police that they intend to leave the UK and what sentence was imposed for such failure in each of last five years.

Question reference: S4W-17716

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many breaches of sexual offences prevention orders there have been in each of the last five years, broken down by the (a) nature of and (b) sentence imposed for the breach.

Scottish Government holds information on the number of convictions for breach of a sexual offences prevention order and the sentence imposed in each case. The available information is given in the following table. Information on the nature of the breach is not held centrally.

People convicted of breaches of sexual offences prevention orders¹ by result, 2007-08 to 2011-12

Result	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Custody	37	28	25	40	41
Community sentence	5	8	8	4	4
Monetary	3	6	2	6	3
Other	6	12	3	2	4
Total	51	54	38	52	52

Notes: 1. Where main offence.

Source: Scottish Government Court Proceedings Database.

Question reference: S4W-17719

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many times people on the sex offenders register have failed to notify police of being away from their usual home address and what sentence was imposed for such failure in each of last five years.

Question reference: S4W-17717

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to notifications of personal details, how many people on the sex offenders register have failed to (a) make an annual notification to the police, (b) notify police three days after their release from prison and (c) notify police of a change, in each of the last five years.

Scottish Government holds information on the number of convictions for failure to notify by people on the sex offenders register. The available information is given in the following table. Information on the exact circumstances of the failure to notify is not held centrally.

People convicted for failure to notify police/provision of false information¹ by result, 2007-08 to 2011-12

	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Custody	45	52	44	53	44
Community sentence	22	14	21	14	14
Monetary	34	37	29	52	46
Other	25	34	32	31	42
All	126	137	126	150	146

Source: Scottish Government Court Proceedings Database.

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S4W-17787

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that seven out of 10 police control rooms are being considered for closure and how this meets its commitment to local policing.

Question reference: S4O-02399

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 18 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the changes to the treatment room suite in Hamilton, what action it is taking to review the patient experience.

The operation of the treatment room suite in Hamilton is a matter for NHS Lanarkshire. We expect all NHS boards to regularly and rigorously review their service provision and to ensure that they are safe and sustainable and that patients are receiving the best quality healthcare. A patient experience survey into the treatment room service in Douglas Street, Hamilton, was carried out by the board in July 2013. The vast majority of the feedback received from patients was positive, with 98.5% of responses being either wholly or partly favourable.

Similar patient experience surveys have been undertaken by NHS Lanarkshire in the other treatment room areas. The board advises that the patient experience survey, which includes waiting times, attendance and access forms part of an ongoing review process, and will be repeated in the future.

Question reference: S4O-02295

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what provision is made in local authority schools for access to educational psychology services.

Question reference: S4W-14377

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received a (a) custodial sentence, (b) non-custodial sentence and (c) fine for (i) possession of cannabis, (ii) supply of cannabis and (iii) possession of cannabis with intent to supply, in each of the last five years.

The available information is given in the following table.

People with a charge proved for possession and supply of cannabis^1,2, by disposal,

2006-07 to 2011-12

Main result of proceedings	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Possession of drugs:
Custody	22	18	19	38	30	25
Community sentence	63	56	60	60	52	81
Monetary	947	747	637	776	996	794
Other	277	162	172	213	259	229
Supply, possession w.i. to supply etc of drugs:
Custody	78	72	93	121	139	135
Community sentence	123	92	118	132	143	155
Monetary	76	56	55	57	47	54
Other	17	16	18	14	7	8
Total	1,603	1,219	1,172	1,411	1,673	1,481

1. Where main charge.

2. The Criminal History System, from which these data are derived, contains an offence modifier code for a crime or offence which provides additional information for the specific incident as opposed to the actual charge. This code has been used here to identify the type of drug involved in drugs possession offences, however it should be noted that only around half the records on the CHS for drugs offences contain details of the drug(s) involved.

Source: Scottish Government Courts Proceedings data