Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-21737

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 January 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 25 January 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18510 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 October 2001, whether the Central Research Unit has now completed its Crime and Criminal Justice research programme for 2001-04 and, if it has, how much funding it is planning to devote to research on domestic violence issues in each of the next two years.

The new Crime and Criminal Justice Research Programme is not yet available for publication. The previous Research Programme ran from 1998 to 2001. A new research agenda is being worked out for publication early in 2002. Even when the research agenda is published it will not be possible to say how much monies will be devoted to a specific issue such as domestic violence. Research is not commissioned to a fixed timetable but, rather, according to identified and emerging priorities and the cost of that research is determined by the nature of the study and how long it takes to complete.

Question reference: S1W-20365

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to review legislation and procedures with a view to improving the conviction rate for rape.

We are currently legislating through the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Bill to provide greater protection for victims of rape and sexual assault when they give evidence in court. We also keep the criminal law under review. The Lord Advocate has made a reference to the High Court seeking clarification of the law on rape, following the ruling in the Lord Abernethy rape case. We need to await the outcome of this reference before we are in a position to consider whether changes may be required in this area.

Question reference: S1W-20558

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 18,275 fiscal warnings in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.

Question reference: S1W-20556

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 45,475 no proceedings in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.

Question reference: S1W-20559

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many no proceedings have taken place in the criminal justice system in each the past 10 years, broken down by crime/offence.

Question reference: S1W-20557

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 16,356 fiscal fines in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.

Question reference: S1W-20361

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many exclusion orders were (a) applied for and (b) granted in the last year for which figures are available.

Question reference: S1W-20362

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any issues have been identified that prevent exclusion orders from being applied for.

The Executive has identified a number of problems with exclusion orders and matrimonial interdicts under the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981, and these are referred to in the white paper Parents and Children. Some have been addressed by the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001, and others will be dealt with in the forthcoming draft Family Law Bill. The National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland has set up a working group to review existing legislation relating to domestic abuse, and this is expected to complete its work next year.Research on the effectiveness of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 is on-going and research work on exclusion orders has been identified as a priority for 2002-03. The Multi Disciplinary Review of Child Protection which is currently under way will include consideration of Exclusion Orders where they have been used in the cases the team will be auditing.

Question reference: S1W-20363

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to review the use of exclusion orders.

Question reference: S1W-20364

Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 December 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how often domestic violence and/or child sexual abuse was cited in contact disputes in the last year for which figures are available.