Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-21307

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 11 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on (a) allowing the families of resident Scots who have died abroad in suspicious circumstances to request a second post mortem and (b) whether the threshold for permitting second post mortems, which is usually at the discretion of the Lord Advocate, needs to be re-examined.

When the remains of a person resident in Scotland who has died abroad are repatriated to Scotland the repatriation requires to be reported to the Death Certification Review Service (DCRS). Medical examiners within DCRS are responsible for ensuring that no burial or cremation of such remains occurs where there is no acceptable form of death certification. DCRS has a budget for post-mortem examinations in such circumstances. Where it appears that the death has occurred in suspicious circumstances (information about which may come from paperwork accompanying the body or from nearest relatives or funeral directors instructed by them) DCRS will intimate the circumstances to the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. SFIU/COPFS may then take control of the remains and instruct a post-mortem examination. In deciding whether or not a post mortem should be instructed, the Procurator Fiscal will consult with the pathologist instructed by the Crown.

SFIU and DCRS are in frequent contact regarding deaths, and the system works well. It is not considered that there is any need for these arrangements to be re-examined.

Question reference: S5O-02859

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that pupils with additional support needs in the Almond Valley constituency have their needs and right to an education met.

Question reference: S5O-02775

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the food and drink industry in the Almond Valley constituency.

I’ve already outlined that a wide range of support that is available to food and drink producers throughout the country. In addition, I am delighted that West Lothian Council has recently achieved the Soil Association Scotland’s Bronze Food for Life award for its primary school meals service.

The Food for Life programme supports councils to get more local produce on the table and this new award will therefore provide further opportunities for many local producers across West Lothian, including the Almond Valley.

Question reference: S5O-02748

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 9 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what impact its draft Budget will have in the Almond Valley constituency.

The impact of the local government part of the Scottish Government's 2019-20 budget in the Almond Valley constituency will depend on how West Lothian Council allocates the total resources available to them.

West Lothian Council will receive £342.4 million to fund local services in 2019-20, an increase of £7.5 million compared to this year. Using their council tax powers this could generate an additional £2.3 million to support the delivery of essential local services, meaning an extra £9.8 million in total to spend next year.

However it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

Question reference: S5T-01415

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support the Kaiam Europe Ltd employees who were made redundant without notice and were not paid before Christmas.

Question reference: S5T-01334

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report on the fact-finding visit to the UK by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and how this will inform its plan to tackle child poverty in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-37111

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Livingston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 November 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents involving (a) firearms and (b) air weapons have been recorded in each police force area in each of the last 10 years.

The following tables provide information on the number of firearm offences by main firearm recorded, for Scotland and by police force area, 2000-01 to 2009-10.

Scotland

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	41	23	21	16	30	57	52	41	55	31
Rifle	7	3	8	2	8	11	16	18	12	6
Pistol/Revolver	110	40	30	23	24	98	75	97	137	109
Air Weapon	566	404	329	436	486	618	683	575	441	426
Imitation Firearm	54	58	143	85	72	59	118	110	79	53
Unidentified	150	444	484	365	418	121	175	106	86	71
Other	27	32	20	30	98	104	140	196	141	143
Total	955	1,004	1,035	957	1,136	1,068	1,259	1,143	951	839

Note:

These figures for Scotland are contained within Table 3 of the statistical bulletin Recorded Crimes and Offences involving Firearms, Scotland, 2009-10 which was published on 26 October 2010, and is available via the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/10/25143316/0

Central

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	3	-	1	2	-	-	1	2	1	1
Rifle	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Pistol/Revolver	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	1	-
Air Weapon	37	21	11	13	26	14	14	8	13	9
Imitation Firearm	3	2	6	-	2	1	4	-	-	2
Unidentified	3	8	-	-	2	1	2	2	-	-
Other	10	2	4	3	5	-	3	-	3	1
Total	56	33	22	19	35	17	25	12	18	13

Dumfries and Galloway

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	-	2	5	2	-	2	-	-	-	1
Rifle	1	-	2	1	-	1	1	-	2	-
Pistol/Revolver	-	5	3	1	2	-	-	1	-	2
Air Weapon	10	34	15	14	21	10	22	20	11	13
Imitation Firearm	3	4	9	4	1	4	4	-	2	-
Unidentified	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Other	-	-	-	-	1	10	-	8	11	4
Total	14	45	34	22	25	27	27	29	26	20

Fife

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	2	1	-	-	1	4	1	-	1	1
Rifle	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-
Pistol/Revolver	1	2	5	-	-	-	3	2	2	4
Air Weapon	11	24	24	12	6	6	34	23	12	36
Imitation Firearm	2	-	4	-	-	-	1	2	2	2
Unidentified	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	1	3	1
Other	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	-
Total	19	27	33	12	11	10	39	30	24	44

Grampian

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	6	2	1	2	5	2	1	-	-	-
Rifle	2	-	-	1	-	5	1	1	-	2
Pistol/Revolver	3	5	5	11	2	2	-	1	3	3
Air Weapon	49	55	50	12	12	14	44	12	6	4
Imitation Firearm	2	-	7	2	3	1	3	2	4	-
Unidentified	1	1	7	7	6	10	2	20	12	6
Other	5	9	4	6	5	4	-	8	1	-
Total	68	72	74	41	33	38	51	44	26	15

Lothian and Borders

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	3	-	3	4	5	10	11	3	15	9
Rifle	-	1	4	-	4	1	2	1	6	-
Pistol/Revolver	12	7	8	5	7	11	5	8	23	13
Air Weapon	150	103	121	261	308	244	176	139	150	130
Imitation Firearm	5	6	14	11	14	27	28	38	18	12
Unidentified	47	85	143	35	24	67	31	13	21	17
Other	5	12	4	12	45	58	62	78	62	83
Total	222	214	297	328	407	418	315	280	295	264

Northern

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	-	-	-	-	1	3	2	-	3	-
Rifle	-	-	1	-	-	-	3	3	-	2
Pistol/Revolver	-	-	-	-	1	5	-	-	7	-
Air Weapon	-	5	-	-	-	1	7	27	13	21
Imitation Firearm	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	7	-
Unidentified	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	1	-	-
Other	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	4	3	-
Total	0	5	1	0	2	11	16	42	33	23

Strathclyde

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	27	17	9	5	18	32	35	31	30	14
Rifle	1	2	1	-	3	4	7	-	1	2
Pistol/Revolver	94	21	9	4	11	79	64	75	90	87
Air Weapon	273	93	70	70	76	293	363	322	207	196
Imitation Firearm	32	42	98	56	50	23	72	55	43	36
Unidentified	88	348	331	315	367	42	132	65	48	44
Other	7	8	2	2	6	1	18	33	26	25
Total	522	531	520	452	531	474	691	581	445	404

Tayside

Main Firearm Used	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Shotgun	-	1	2	1	-	4	1	5	5	5
Rifle	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	12	2	-
Pistol/Revolver	-	-	-	1	1	-	3	10	11	-
Air Weapon	36	69	38	54	37	36	23	24	29	17
Imitation Firearm	7	4	5	12	2	3	6	6	3	1
Unidentified	11	2	3	8	15	1	5	4	2	3
Other	-	1	6	7	36	29	56	64	32	30
Total	54	77	54	83	92	73	95	125	84	56

Notes:

1. There have been a number of changes in police recording practices since 2005-06, along with a clarification of the scope of the firearms return (see Annex 5.15 to 5.19 of the above named publication).

2. Changes to the way in which the type of main firearm used is recorded by the police have impacted upon the number of air weapons and unidentified weapons reported (see Annex 5.15 of the above named publication). From 2005-06 onwards, all police forces agreed to identify weapons where possible, resulting in an increase in the alleged use of air weapons (and other identified weapons) and a decrease in the alleged use of unidentified firearms. Furthermore, from 2006-07 onwards, all police forces were asked to include incidents involving air weapons where no injury or damage was caused. It is thought this has increased the number of recorded offences involving air weapons.

Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.

Question reference: S3O-11446

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Livingston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements have been made in health services in West Lothian since 2007.

There have been a number of positive developments in health services for the area.

A prime example is St. John''s Hospital which has gone from strength to strength in recent years. There has been considerable investment in the hospital, such as a state of the art endoscopy facility which cost approximately £3.1 million and a new £8.2 million short stay elective surgery centre treating an extra 3,000 patients a year.

St John''s is now a vibrant and busy hospital, we only have to look at increases in activity to see that, in the case of outpatients by 43.5% since 2005-06.

Those are all signs of the commitment that the Scottish Government gave to the future of St John''s as an acute hospital in Lothian.

Question reference: S3W-34740

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Livingston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 16 July 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people live in sheltered housing and what the council tax banding is for such accommodation, broken down by local authority area.

The number of people living in sheltered housing is not held centrally.

However information on the number of sheltered housing units provided by councils and housing associations is collected by the Scottish Government. These figures are published annually by local authority area on the Scottish Government''s website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/SpecialNeedsHousing. At 31 March 2009 there were 32,691 sheltered houses for the elderly and an additional 5,346 very sheltered houses. In addition there are also housing units which have been adapted for the elderly.

A breakdown of these units by council tax band is not held centrally. The placing of properties into valuation bands is a matter for the relevant Assessor in each local authority area. Valuations and tax bands for similar properties will vary across Scotland due to other contributory factors, including condition and location.

Question reference: S3W-34741

Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Livingston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 16 July 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people live in one-bedroomed houses for older people in community locations and what the council tax banding is for such property, broken down by local authority area.

The number of people living in one-bedroomed houses for older people in community locations is not held centrally.

However information on the number of sheltered housing units provided by councils and housing associations is collected by the Scottish Government. These figures are published annually by local authority area on the Scottish Government''s website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/SpecialNeedsHousing. At 31 March 2009 there were 32,691 sheltered houses for the elderly and an additional 5,346 very sheltered houses. In addition there are also housing units which have been adapted for the elderly.

A breakdown of these units by council tax band is not held centrally. The placing of properties into valuation bands is a matter for the relevant Assessor in each local authority area. Valuations and tax bands for similar properties will vary across Scotland due to other contributory factors, including condition and location.

Chamber and committees