Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-27818

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many times prisoner appearances at court have been conducted via a closed-circuit television link in each year since 2011-12.

The following figures show the number of court appearances conducted by video link between prisons and courts. It should be noted that legislation currently prohibits certain hearing types from being conducted via video link. The Scottish Government, via the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill, intends to amend the legislation to allow all hearings to be conducted via video link except those where evidence is to be led (i.e. trial diets). This will allow a greater number of hearings to be conducted by video link in future.

2011-12 – Figure unavailable.

2012-13 – 259

2013-14 – 186

2014-15 – 260

2015-16 to date – 228

Question reference: S4O-04755

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the flooding incidents in the area in the last two winters, what its position is on the flood prevention measures in New Cumnock.

Question reference: S4W-27814

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that approximately 2,500 drugs cases are awaiting analysis due to the Scottish Police Authority having a lack of forensic science capacity, and what impact this is having on sheriff courts.

Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services has confirmed that they have 2,500 drugs cases in their current workload which includes cases being worked on and those yet to be started. The Crown Office has confirmed that there are no systemic issues of drugs cases being delayed or lost due to problems with drugs reports. Where issues are foreseen, Forensic Services is proactive in contacting local Procurators Fiscal to put a plan in place to ensure that essential timescales are met. Any fluctuations in workloads are monitored and managed with other justice partners.

Question reference: S4W-27995

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when the ministerial engagements for June 2015 will be available.

Question reference: S4W-27979

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland QC on 26 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many restraint orders were issued under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 1995 in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; how many of those orders were issued (a) ahead of and (b) following prosecution or conviction, and what the total value of assets restrained was.

The number and value of restraint orders for the years 2011-12 to 2014-15 is as follows:

2011-12 73 orders £13,927,350.00

2012-13 65 orders £9,471,359.72

2013-14 66 orders £9,630,181.29

2014-15 81 orders £15,513,513.00

The information about which Act the restraint was sought under, or whether the restraint was ahead of or following prosecution or conviction is not information that is centrally recorded by Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost to COPFS.

Question reference: S4O-04700

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of local government budget reductions on poverty rates.

Question reference: S4W-27812

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland QC on 21 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have been employed by the Victim Information and Advice service in each year since 2006-07, broken down by position, and what the service’s budget was in each of these years.

Figures for the total number of staff employed in the Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service in each year and for the VIA budget are published in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service annual accounts.

The details of the positions which were held by those working in VIA are not recorded centrally.

For each year, the number of VIA staff is as follows:

Year	Number of VIA Staff
2006-07	69
2007-08	62
2008-09	91
2009-10	95
2010-11	92
2011-12	88
2012-13	78
2013-14	86
2014-15	96

The VIA service is not allocated a separate budget. Indicative figures of the costs of the service can be found in our published annual accounts as follows:

Year
2006-07	£1,924,000
2007-08	£1,805,000
2008-09	£2,586,000
2009-10	£2,846,000
2010-11	£2,933,000
2011-12	£2,773,000
2012-13	£2,743,000
2013-14	£2,786,000
2014-15	£2,857,000

Question reference: S4W-27811

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland QC on 21 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have used the Victim Information and Advice service in each year since 2006-07.

Statistics are not centrally held for the numbers of individuals within the cases which are referred who then use the Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service.

From the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service records, the number of cases which have been referred to VIA service in each year is:

2006-07	27,559
2007-08	29,624
2008-09	34,393
2009-10	35,366
2010-11	36,000
2011-12	36,543
2012-13	34,251
2013-14	40,061
2014-15	40,009

VIA may provide advice and information to more than one victim or witness in a case which is referred to them.

Question reference: S4W-27705

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage change there has been to the revenue budget of the (a) Scottish Courts Service and (b) Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in each year since 2010-11, expressed in both (i) cash and (ii) real terms.

Please see the requested information in the following table:

RDEL	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	10-11 to 14-15	10-11 to 15-16
Scottish Court Service
Cash	-5.1%	-1.4%	-1.2%	-3.5%	5.4%	-10.8%	-6.0%
Real	-6.7%	-3.0%	-3.2%	-4.9%	4.3%	-16.6%	-13.1%
Crown Office
Cash	-5.0%	-0.9%	0.0%	0.6%	3.2%	-5.3%	-2.3%
Real	-6.6%	-2.5%	-2.0%	-0.8%	2.2%	-11.5%	-9.6%

*Based on Draft Budget publications

**For comparison purposes the Scottish Court Service’s (SCS) figure for 2015-16 excludes the Scottish Tribunals Service (STS) budget, following its amalgamation on 1 April 2015

The budget allocations to the Scottish Court Service (SCS) and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) have been reflected within the draft budgets published since 2010-11. Final allocations have been approved by the Scottish Parliament. The real terms reductions in the initial budgets reflect the impact of overall cuts imposed by the Westminster government, but also efficiencies and reduced costs achieved by the SCS and COPFS to maintain and improve access to justice for those who rely on their services.

The figures in the table reflect the initial budget allocations. Additionally, in-year adjustments have been made, and approved by Parliament, to reflect specific in-year costs. This includes the allocation of an additional £1.47 million in 2014-15 and £2.4 million in 2015-16 to help speed up access to justice including, in particular during 2015-16, for cases involving domestic abuse and sexual offences.

On 1 April 2015 the SCS and STS merged to form the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. To allow for comparability, the 2015-16 resource figure excludes the STS resource budget element of £11.1 million.

Question reference: S4W-27706

Asked by: Graeme Pearson, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the revenue budget has been for the (a) Scottish Courts Service and (b) Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in each year since 2010-11, expressed in both (i) cash and (ii) real terms.

Please see the requested information in the following table:

RDEL	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
	£ million	£ million	£ million	£ million	£ million	£ million
Scottish Court Service
Cash	73.2	69.5	68.5	67.7	65.3	68.8
Real	78.3	73.1	70.9	68.6	65.3	68.1
Crown Office
Cash	111.0	105.5	104.5	104.5	105.1	108.5
Real	118.8	110.9	108.1	106.0	105.1	107.4

* Based on Draft Budget publications

** For comparison purposes the Scottish Court Service’s (SCS) figure for 2015-16 excludes the Scottish Tribunals Service (STS) budget, following its amalgamation on 1 April 2015.

The budget allocations to the SCS and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) have been reflected within the draft budgets published since 2010-11. Final allocations have been approved by the Scottish Parliament. The real terms reductions in the initial budgets reflect the impact of overall cuts imposed by the Westminster government, but also efficiencies and reduced costs achieved by the SCS and COPFS to maintain and improve access to justice for those who rely on their services.

The figures in the table reflect the initial budget allocations. Additionally, in-year adjustments have been made, and approved by Parliament, to reflect specific in-year costs. This includes the allocation of an additional £1.47 million in 2014-15 and £2.4 million in 2015-16 to help speed up access to justice including, in particular during 2015-16, for cases involving domestic abuse and sexual offences.

On 1 April 2015 the SCS and STS merged to form the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. To allow for comparability, the 2015-16 resource figure excludes the STS resource budget element of £11.1 million.

Chamber and committees