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: S5W-34380

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 2 February 2021

The following table sets out the number of charges of culpable and reckless conduct at common law reported by Police Scotland to COPFS in the calendar years 2018, 2019 and 2020. It should be noted that a single charge which is reported to COPFS may relate to a number of different incidents which have occurred.

The following table also sets out the outcomes for the charges reported to COPFS in the calendar years requested. When a charge is reported to COPFS, prosecutors will decide whether there is sufficient evidence in law, and, if so, whether it would be in the public interest to take prosecutorial action in relation to the charge. Where it is decided that prosecutorial action would be appropriate, the prosecutor will select the appropriate action, which may be the initiation of proceedings in court, or an alternative to prosecution (including warning letters, fiscal fines, fiscal compensation orders, referral to the Children’s Report and diversion).

There are a number of cases awaiting a decision, including those where further information has been requested.

	Calendar Year Reported
	2018	2019	2020
Total Charges Reported	1,070	1,040	1,681
No Action	163	74	83
Alternative to Prosecution	109	76	108
Proceeded in Court	591	647	897
Not Separately Actioned	172	185	203
No Decision	35	58	390

“Not Separately Actioned” relates to charges that were not actioned (either through prosecution or an alternative to prosecution) but where other charges for the same accused within the same case were actioned. Those other charges which were actioned may have included details from the charges which were not actioned.

The information provided is taken from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service live operational database. The information provided may therefore be subject to change as the Service’s systems are updated.

Question reference: S5W-34381

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2021

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of arrests made by the police. Information is available on the number of culpable and reckless conduct (not with firearms) crimes recorded by the police, and is provided in Table 1. It should be noted that, in addition to crimes recorded under common law, these figures may include a small number of crimes recorded under statutory legislation. In addition, where the act causes serious injury this is recorded under a different crime category and therefore not included in these figures. In 2019-20, 52 crimes of causing serious injury etc. by culpable and reckless conduct were recorded.

Table 1: Number of crimes of culpable and reckless conduct (not with firearms) recorded by the police, 2017-18 to 2019-20

Year	Crimes recorded
2017-18	2,496
2018-19	2,325
2019-20	2,464

Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2019-20 National Statistics

In addition to the annual National Statistics on recorded crime, more recent information is available from the monthly Official Statistics – which we introduced to inform users about trends in crime during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Between April and December 2020, 2,009 crimes of culpable and reckless conduct (not with firearms) were recorded by the police. In order to produce the new monthly Official Statistics in the necessary shorter time frames, the information supplied by Police Scotland is extracted from a different database than the one used to produce the most recent National Statistics on Recorded Crime in Scotland (referenced in Table 1). The data is therefore not directly comparable although is likely to be very similar. The annual Recorded Crime in Scotland bulletin remains the primary source of information on crimes and offences recorded by the police.

Question reference: S5O-04359

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what help it is giving Glasgow City Council to support communities during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5O-04301

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S5W-27591

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any discussions between Transport Scotland and commercial partners regarding a replacement funding stream for the Pedal for Scotland event.

Cycling Scotland will be trialling a new delivery model for Pedal for Scotland in 2020, focussing on smaller scale, community focused events in towns and cities across the country. There have been no discussions between Transport Scotland and commercial partners regarding a replacement funding stream for Pedal for Scotland.

2019 was Pedal for Scotland’s 20th Anniversary year and the final running of the Glasgow to Edinburgh “Classic Challenge” and “Big Belter” routes.

Question reference: S5O-04248

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the potential impact on tourism in Scotland of the recent ruling against building a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Question reference: S5O-04140

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met UK ministers to discuss post-Brexit international trade policy.

Question reference: S5O-04041

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when the next annual report on its STEM Education and Training Strategy will be published.

Question reference: S5O-03947

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Electoral Commission since the Referendums (Scotland) Bill completed stage 2.

Question reference: S5O-03858

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the support it is providing to the food and drink industry.