- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the Rural Priorities scheme funding has been allocated for 2009.
Answer
A total of £49 million in Rural Priorities funding has been allocated, over the first four assessment rounds, for spend in 2009.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what compensation will be payable to businesses that have already spent money drawing up applications for the next round of the Rural Priorities scheme.
Answer
The applications process for Rural Priorities has not been closed or suspended. Applicants and agents may still submit proposals through the online applications system.
Any applicant who has put forward a proposal will still have the opportunity to have their proposal considered in full at the next assessment round. Therefore no money or effort will have been wasted by applicants in preparing their applications.
In light of the success of the February assessment round, we are currently considering the arrangements for the next assessment round for Rural Priorities and I will make an announcement on these arrangements in the near future.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive when applications to the Rural Priorities scheme will reopen.
Answer
The applications process for Rural Priorities has not been closed or suspended. Applicants and their agents may submit Statements of Intent or Proposals through the online applications system.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding remains available for applications to the Rural Priorities scheme.
Answer
The amount actually available for new commitments under Rural Priorities will depend on a number of factors, including the level of uptake for demand-led elements within the relevant budget headings, and any future policy changes.
At the start of the SRDP, taking assumptions for the amount of spending on the other elements within the relevant budget headings, around £500 million was expected to be available for new commitments under Rural Priorities overall.
So far we have committed nearly £125 million under the RPAC rounds to date, so assuming spend under other linked budget headings remains steady, there is about £375 million still to commit.
However, in the light of UK budget outcome, there is no guarantee that the resources available for commitment under the SRDP will remain at currently anticipated levels. The Scottish Government will need to consider effects of UK budget on all its expenditures.
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- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive when it first became aware of problems with the fishing quota management system.
Answer
The shortcomings of the current UK quota management system has been recognised for a number of years. Indeed, many of the deficiencies with quota management, common across Europe, have also been highlighted in the European Commission''s recently launched consultation on the future of the CFP (Green Paper).
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive at what age it considers that children are able to receive information in their own right on a case where they are victims and whether this differs from the age of criminal responsibility.
Answer
Victim Information and Advice will provide information direct to victims and witnesses aged 12 years and over. Where a child victim or witness aged seven to 11 years lives with a parent or guardian, VIA sends information to the parent or guardian to pass on to the child. The age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is currently eight years.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, when considering plea bargains, what emphasis is placed on the sentence, particularly in domestic abuse cases, in order to give comfort to victims who are also witnesses so that they know that they have been believed.
Answer
Procurators fiscal have a duty to consider all pleas of guilty offered by the defence and to accept them where it is in the public interest to do so. The likely sentence is one factor in the process of considering whether to accept any pleas which the accused is prepared to offer. Other factors, include, the nature and gravity of the offences libelled, the views of the victim, where known, and the effect of adjusted pleas in avoiding the attendance and testimony of witnesses.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive when considering plea bargains, what emphasis is placed on the sentence, particularly in domestic abuse cases, in order to give comfort to victims who are also witnesses so that they know society and the legal system will not tolerate domestic abuse.
Answer
The possible sentence is one of many factors the Procurator Fiscal considers in deciding whether to accept any plea which the accused is prepared to offer. A plea will only be accepted when it is considered to be in the public interest to do so.
There is a joint protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). The protocol stresses the seriousness of domestic abuse and includes the presumption in favour of prosecuting all cases of domestic abuse which involve violence against the victim where there is sufficient evidence in law to prosecute.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that when an individual is prosecuted for domestic abuse they do not inadvertently become a victim of abuse.
Answer
In dealing with domestic abuse cases, the police and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are committed to identifying best practice and obtaining consistency of approach in the investigation reporting and prosecution of these cases, with a view to improving the service that is provided to the public.
The Procurator Fiscal will consider all the circumstances of the case before deciding whether it is in the public interest to prosecute or, in exceptional cases, to take other action.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that victims who are also witnesses receive the same information regarding possible plea bargains as victims who are not witnesses.
Answer
Procurators fiscal have a duty to consider all pleas of guilty offered by the defence and to accept them where it is in the public interest to do so. The views of the victim may, where known, be taken into account at the discretion of the Procurator Fiscal as one factor in the process of considering whether to accept any pleas which the accused is prepared to offer.
Victims receive the same level of information regardless of whether they are cited to give evidence at trial.