Chamber and committees

Yes. The figures relate to breaches of the sexual offender registration requirements and not new sexual offences. The increase reflects both the increase in the number of offenders subject to registration, but also action taken by agencies to enforce the notification requirements and intervene in cases before any serious further offending occurs.

There is no centrally held information about the costs to the Scottish Government in managing sex offenders under MAPPA in each year since 2007. The provisions in the legislation require the responsible authorities to jointly establish arrangements for the assessment and management of risk posed by these offenders. As such the arrangements are funded from the existing budgets of the Community Justice Authorities (CJA) and the collective responsible authorities. However, in 2007 to facilitate the initial set-up of the arrangements in Scotland, financial support was provided by the Scottish Government to the CJAs of £835,000. This funded 11 MAPPA coordinators posts and an additional eight administration posts. The funding of these posts since 2008 has been met through local budgetary arrangements.

Yes. The number of registered sex offenders managed at level 2 has also decreased in the last 12 months, from 735 in 2011 to 466 in 2012. One of the primary principles of MAPPA is that an offender should be managed at the lowest level commensurate with their risk and this decrease indicates that the agencies have developed a better understanding of the nature of risk and a more sophisticated approach to risk management.

Yes. The number of registered sex offenders managed at level 3 has decreased in the last 12 months from 34 to 26. There is no risk to the public in a case being downgraded from level 3 to level 2 if that is what the risk management requires. Levels are dynamic and the case can be re-listed at level 3 if things change.

Health and safety at work legislation is reserved with legislation relating to the operation of the Health and Safety Executive being the responsibility of the UK Government.

From the period 2008 onwards, details of Scottish Government ministerial engagements, including any meetings with the Health and Safety Executive, can be found at the following web address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/14944/Events-Engagements/MinisterialEngagements.

Ministers are always happy to meet with key stakeholders on matters of mutual interest, but there are no regular ministerial meetings planned with the Health and Safety Executive at this time.

Health and safety at work legislation is reserved, with legislation relating to the operation of the Health and Safety Executive being the responsibility of the UK Government.

We have not identified any record of Scottish ministers meeting with the Health and Safety Executive about this specific matter during 2007. From the period 2008 onwards, details of Scottish Government ministerial engagements can be found at the following web address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/14944/Events-Engagements/MinisterialEngagements.

Ministers are always happy to meet with key stakeholders on matters of mutual interest, but there are no regular ministerial meetings planned with the Health and Safety Executive at this time.

The Scottish Government is keen to see the urgent expansion of GME at all levels throughout Scotland. This is principally a matter for local authorities but the Scottish Government and Bòrd na Gidhlig are taking important steps to support local authorities with this wherever possible.

Since 2007, Scottish Ministers have met with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on a number of occasions to discuss public health matters.

As Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison met Danny Carrigan, Health and Safety Commissioner, on 12 December 2007. The discussion was around the liaison between reserved and devolved areas of competence relating to health and safety in the workplace.

In the same capacity, Shona Robison met Judith Hackett CBE, Chair of the Health and Safety Board, and Dr Paul Stollard, Director of the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland on 11 March 2009. The discussion was about how the HSE Strategy would be delivered in co-operation with other partners in the Scottish Health and Safety System, including the Scottish Government.

Shona Robison also met with Geoffrey Podger, Chief Executive of the HSE in September 2009 to discuss the UV tubing of sunbeds.

Additionally, Scottish Ministers have responded to a number of issues arising from the UK Government's review of health and safety.

There are no current plans for future meetings between Scottish Ministers and the Health and Safety Executive.

Deaths of Scots abroad are registered in the local jurisdiction according to local law. There is no additional duty in Scots law on the next of kin to register in Scotland as well, so there is no information available on the total number of such deaths.

It is not therefore possible to estimate how many deaths of persons domiciled in Scotland who die abroad each year will result in additional fatal accident inquiries, though numbers are expected to be very low.

Lord Cullen, in his Review of the Fatal Accident Inquiry Legislation, expressed the view that it would be unjustifiable to hold mandatory fatal accident inquiries in such cases and that such inquiries should only be held at the discretion of the Lord Advocate. He went on to say that the Lord Advocate would require to consider “whether there had been circumstances which called for investigation, whether there had been a satisfactory investigation and whether there was a prospect of an FAI yielding significant findings.” He went on: “I envisage that, out of respect for the investigating authorities in the foreign jurisdiction, such discretion might be exercised rarely”.

No formal resource impact analysis has as yet been carried out in relation to additional resources or staff which might be needed by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in relation to the proposal that fatal accident inquiries should be held on a discretionary basis into the deaths of Scots abroad. The question of resources and staffing will be fully considered when a business and regulatory impact assessment is carried out for the necessary primary legislation when it is brought forward.