- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 7 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will be required to take in order to comply with those aspects of the Council of the European Union Directive 2003/9/EC which relate to devolved matters.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is considering what steps it may be required to take to comply with anyaspects of the Council of the European Union Directive 2003/9/EC which relate todevolved matters.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 23 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what proportion of, drink-driving cases reported to procurators fiscal have been prosecuted.
Answer
I refer the member to the answergiven to question S1W-34889 on 31 March 2003. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
This answer provided figuresfor cases of drink-driving for the year April 2001 to March 2002, but it did notinclude figures relating to the Glasgow area due to upgrading work to the computersystem within the Glasgow office. Updated figures have now been obtained, whichinclude data from Glasgow. In the year April 2001 to March 2002, a total of 10,796charges were reported to the procurator fiscal in Glasgow and 97.4% were prosecuted.A decision not to prosecute was taken in only 1.7% of cases.
The balance of 0.9% is accountedfor by cases which were transferred to another court jurisdiction or where theprocurator fiscal was able to include the charge along with another case againstthe same accused person.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many careless driving offences have involved a fatality since statistics on careless driving were disaggregated to allow this information to be gathered.
Answer
A separate charge code foroffences of careless driving involving a road accident fatality was introducedin March 2002. This additional information should enable such cases to beseparately identified in the available statistics on careless driving offenceswhich are proceeded against for 2002 onwards. Final data on court proceedingsconcluded in 2002 are expected to be available by December.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether HM Prison Kilmarnock offers good value for money based on its performance.
Answer
Yes, it offers excellentvalue for money.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 8 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided for initiatives to divert young people from crime, in each year since 1999.
Answer
Diversionary activitiesincludes a wide variety of services, ranging from early intervention and positivealternatives for young people, to more intensive services aimed at tacklingyoung people's offending. Since 1999, allocations given as part of the LocalGovernment Finance settlement to local authorities for social work andcommunity education, to provide these services has totalled £312.5 million in1999-2000, £317.1 million in 2000-01, £331.1 million in 2001-02, £342.6 millionin 2002-03 and £360.1 million in 2003-04. Elements of local authority fundingfor health and leisure and the quality of life funding have also had a role toplay.
In addition, the Executivehas provided direct funding for these services to local authorities and thevoluntary sector through initiatives like the Changing Children's ServicesFund, the Youth Crime Prevention Fund and the Partnership Drugs Initiative. In1999-2000 there was no direct funding. Since then funding has totalled £0.9million in 2000-01, £7.5 million in 2001-02, £25.2 million in 2002-03 and £22.7million in 2003-04. £1 million was allocated for the summer 2003 initiative, toincrease access to leisure and sporting facilities for 12- to 16-year olds.
There will be continuedinvestment in these and other initiatives to take forward our commitment totackling crime and anti-social behaviour amongst young people.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 27 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-34889 and S2W-111 by Mrs Elish Angiolini on 31 March and 21 July 2003 respectively, which sheriff court districts were not included in the data provided in the answer to question S1W-34889 because of the upgrading of the computer system in Glasgow.
Answer
The data for the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin was not included in thedata provided in the answer to question S1W-34889. Glasgow Sheriff Court is the only sheriff court within this jurisdiction.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce legislation to increase the age limit for possessing or using an airgun from 14 to 17 and ban some types completely.
Answer
Firearms legislation is reserved. The Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, currently before the UK Parliament, introduces a number of changes to the Firearms Act 1968 which are intended to deal with the misuse of air weapons and to provide for stricter control over air weapons that are especially dangerous. These include raising the age limit at which a young person may own an air weapon from 14 to 17 and a ban on certain types of air weapon.The Executive welcomes these proposals and will continue to work with the UK Government to prevent the escalation of gun culture.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 19 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when work on the new search engine for the Scottish Executive website (a) started and (b) will be complete and what features the search engine will have once complete.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has procured a new search engine for deployment on the Scottish Executive website. The simple search component was introduced to the website on 12 February 2003. We are currently working with the solution provider to develop and test the advanced search functionality. The advanced version will be made available on the website as soon as we are satisfied that it meets requirements. The advanced search will provide concept, boolean and pattern searching along with the ability to search some other public sector websites. The Scottish Executive's own website will also be searchable by metadata.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 15 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29433 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 October 2002, when it will next attend a meeting of the reconstituted Firearms Consultative Committee and whether the Executive will make any representations to the committee and, if so, on what areas of concern.
Answer
The next meeting of the Firearms Consultative Committee is planned for mid September. A Scottish Executive official is a member of the Committee and is due to attend that meeting. The committee does not disclose details of the business it carries out at individual meetings. Instead, as required by Section 22 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, it prepares an annual report on its work which is submitted to the Home Secretary. That report is then published, usually around the end of each year.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 13 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on resourcing expert groups in each year since 1999.
Answer
The definition of an expert group is vague, potentially covering a wide range of bodies including non-departmental public bodies, working parties and advisory groups. Information on the establishment and resourcing of all such bodies is not registered and held centrally.