- 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, further to the answer to question S2W-942 by Mr Andy Kerr on 14 July 2003, why information on the number of expert groups it has set up since 1999 is not held centrally.
Answer
There is no requirement and no perceived benefit in allocating resources for collecting and holding this information centrally.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 12 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many reports procurators fiscal received from each reporting agency and, of these, how many proceeded to trial in 2002-03.
Answer
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 12 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons were for each report received by procurators fiscal from each reporting agency that did not proceed to trial in 2002-03.
Answer
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
- 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 6 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) minimum, (b) maximum and (c) average length of time taken to deal with cases referred to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) was, in each year since 1999.
Answer
The information you requested has been provided by SCCRC in the following table. Information is also provided about the numbers of cases received and concluded by the SCCRC each year.
| Year Cases Concluded | Total Number of Cases Received | Total Number of Cases Concluded | MinimumTime | MaximumTime | AverageTime |
| 1999-2000 | 130 | 14 | 4.9 months | 11.5 months | 6.8 months |
| 2000-01 | 89 | 62 | 1.2 months | 22.5 months | 16.6 months |
| 2001-02 | 88 | 87 | 3 months | 38.3 months | 19.7 months |
| 2002-03 | 95 | 117 | 2.1 months | 46.2 months | 21.4 months |
The average time has been increasing because of a number of complex cases including those transferred to the Commission when it was set up on 1 April 1999. The Commission is currently working to conclude all cases received prior to 30 September 2002 by 31 March 2004. Thereafter, the Commission will aim to reduce the review period for all cases, from date of acceptance, to 12 months by 2006.
- 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 6 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 18 were sentenced to detention under sections 205 and 208 of the Criminal Procedures (Scotland) Act 1995; of these, how many have been detained for any length of time in a penal establishment rather than in secure accommodation and, of these, how many have been ordered to be detained in a penal establishment, in each year since 1999.
Answer
Sentencing data in the form requested are not collected.There were no cases of persons sentenced to detention without limit of time under section 205(2) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 in the years 1999 to 2002 where the Scottish ministers formally directed that those concerned should be detained in a penal establishment. In the same period, the Scottish ministers formally directed that one person sentenced to detention in 1999 and three persons sentenced to detention in 2001, under section 208 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, should be detained in a penal establishment.
- 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 Margaret Curran on 5 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will enforce the ban on the sale of spray paint to under 16s, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland.
Answer
We will be considering the means of enforcing the proposed ban in the context of the on-going consultation on Putting Our Communities First: a Strategy for Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour. We will put forward our formal proposals in the autumn.
- 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 Margaret Curran on 5 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the punishment will be for (a) people who sell spray paint to children under 16 and (b) children under 16 who use spray paint illegally.
Answer
We are consulting on our proposal to make it an offence to sell spray paint to young people aged under 16 in Putting Our Communities: a Strategy for Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour. The punishment for selling spray paint to under 16s is still to be decided.The punishment for children who use spray paint illegally will not be affected by the proposed new offence, which relates to the sale of spray paint. Acts of vandalism can be dealt with under common law or the statutory offence in section 52 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995.
- 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 5 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what educational and behavioural opportunities are available to children sentenced to detention under solemn procedure.
Answer
All young people in secure accommodation have access to a full-time broad and balanced education curriculum as well as support through a wide range of behavioural programmes. All services are inspected by integrated teams of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, Social Work Services Inspectorate, Care Commission and Health.
- 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 Hugh Henry on 5 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how long it takes to confirm, or not confirm, a person's identity in cases where the Livescan fingerprint service is used.
Answer
In the year to 31 March 2003, where Livescan equipment was used, the Scottish Fingerprint Service confirmed identity, or did not, in under 2 hours in 98.05% of cases.
- 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 5 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many shootings were reported to the police in 2002.
Answer
The most recent available information, which relates to 2001, is given in Table 5 of the statistical bulletin recorded crimes and offences Involving Firearms, Scotland, 2001. Copies of the bulletin are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib Number 24105).
