- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has held with the banking industry about reducing cash and valuables in transit offences.
Answer
No discussions with the banking industry have taken place. However, we have recently announced a three year funding package of £778,000 for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). The SBCC provide practical advice to the business/commercial sectors on how to develop business crime reduction and prevention strategies. Through two groups managed by the SBCC (the Scottish Financial Crime Group and the Scottish Commercial Crime Group) the Scottish Banking Industry liaises with the Scottish Police Service and the Cash in Transit (CIT) Industry. The CIT industry is represented by the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), which is also a member of the SBCC. CIT access issues discussed at SFCG can then be fed into local policing procedures where appropriate. In addition, in March 2007, the Scottish Financial Crime Group ran Exercise Fecund, a table top exercise examining a tiger kidnap scenario within the financial sector. The seminar involved over 300 delegates from law enforcement, banks and the CIT industry.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with local authorities about reducing cash and valuables in transit offences.
Answer
No such discussions with local authorities have taken place. However, we have recently announced a three year funding package of £778,000 for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). The SBCC provide practical advice to the business/commercial sectors on how to develop business crime reduction and prevention strategies. The SBCC deals with Cash in Transit (CIT) issues through the Scottish Financial Crime Group (SFCG) and Scottish Commercial Crime Group (SCCG). While no direct discussions have taken place with local authorities, member police forces deal with local authorities on CIT issues, together with wider aspects of crime prevention, through work carried out by architectural liaison officers (ALOs). Engagement at local and regional levels has led to Crime Prevention through Environmental Design being incorporated as a central strand of City Plans, for example, Glasgow City Plan 2.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure consistency of approach by police forces and the sharing of best practice in tackling offences against cash and valuables in transit workers in different parts of Scotland.
Answer
There are agreed procedures throughout all Scottish police forces in respect of police action when dealing with vehicles carrying high-risk loads.
The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) chairs a Scottish cash-in transit working group which meets quarterly to address relevant issues, highlight good practice, and to provide support to organisations within the sector. A number of security carriers are represented on the group. The group reports back to ACPOS any relevant issues which require to be addressed on a national basis.
One of the issues presently being addressed through this working group is parking of security vehicles within town and city centres, and the parking tickets and subsequent fines issued. Research is currently being carried out on a national basis to discover the different local authority/council positions on this. It is hoped that following consultation a common sense approach can be developed.
The working group also addresses issues such as CCTV installation, removing obstacles etc, with the intention of ensuring the safety of cash-in transit couriers across Scotland.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 19 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20223 by Linda Fabiani on 4 February 2009, when it will announce its final decisions on applications for funding from Scottish-based organisations that wish to assist in providing emergency relief in Gaza.
Answer
Details of the Scottish Government''s assistance to Scottish Non-Governmental Organisations for their relief efforts in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza were announced on Sunday 15 February 2009.
Further information on the successful projects can be found on the Scottish Government''s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/International-Relations/internationaldevelopment/idffundingguidance/gaza.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 14 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of cases have transferred from the high court to the sheriff court in each year since the Criminal Procedure Amendment (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force.
Answer
Section 3 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 was amended by the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 on 1 May 2004 and increased the maximum sentencing powers of the sheriff, sitting with a jury from three to five years imprisonment, meaning that some cases which would previously have been indicted in the High Court are now indicted in the sheriff court. Individual cases are not, however, recorded as being indicted in the sheriff court on that basis. The main provisions of the Criminal Procedure Amendment (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force on 1 February 2005.
The following table shows the total number of cases disposed of in the High Court and the total number disposed of in sheriff and jury courts in each year since 2003-04.
Court Disposals - Solemn Cases
| Year | High Court Cases | Percentage Change from Previous Year | Sheriff and Jury Cases | Percentage Change from Previous Year |
| 2003-04 | 1,170 | +3.3% | 3,352 | +1.5% |
| 2004-05 | 864 | -26.2% | 3,611 | +7.7% |
| 2005-06 | 836 | -3.2% | 3,905 | +8.1% |
| 2006-07 | 839 | +0.4% | 4,224 | +8.2% |
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a ministerial statement on the open prison system and on HM Prison Castle Huntly in particular.
Answer
I will consider the requirementfor a ministerial statement when I have seen the review currently being undertakenby the Scottish Prison Service.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 12 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how the review of HM Prison Castle Huntly will be conducted and who will be involved in it.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:
The review undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service will be in two parts. It will consider the individual circumstancesof the decision to transfer Robert Foye to the SPS Open Estate and allow his accessto the community, and it will review the operation of the open prison estate, itsrole and the process of transferring prisoners there from closed prisons.
The review will be carried outby members of staff from the Partnerships and Commissioning Directorate of the ScottishPrison Service and not those who are already involved in the management of the openestate or the transfer of prisoners to it.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is delaying the implementation of ending unconditional automatic early release until the Scottish Prison Commission has reported.
Answer
We remain committed to thedelivery of our offender management strategy but we must ensure that any changedoes not compound current problems of unrelenting pressure on high prisonnumbers and put intolerable pressures on prisons, courts and community justiceservices. We will be informed by the Commissions findings and recommendations.
The previous administrationmay have passed the Custodial Sentences and Weapons Act 2007 in the final daysof the last Parliament. However, because of the impact on resources, it hasalways been clear that implementation would unlikely to be before 2009-10.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases accused persons were in custody pending trial for more than 140 days in (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006 and (d) 2007.
Answer
I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.
His response is asfollows:
The information yourequested is not available, because we do not hold information on the start dateof the trial.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, in cases where the 140 days custody limit was exceeded, by what average number of days it was exceeded in (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006 and (d) 2007.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.
His response is as follows:
The information you requested is not available, because we do not hold information on the start date of the trial.
