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: S5W-03577

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many joint investigative interviews of children were conducted in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-02098

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many attempted prosecutions of alleged hate crime in the last three years have resulted in (a) a conviction and (b) an aquittal, broken down by (i) charges marked as having been aggravated by prejudice and (ii) having no marking for being aggravated by prejudice.

All figures provided are based on data extracted from the The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) case management system on 6 May 2016, which was the basis of the 2016 report on hate crime in Scotland.

The following tables contain information in respect of the number of charges reported to the Procurator Fiscal for hate crime offences between April 2013 and March 2016. In addition, the tables provide a breakdown of how these offences were dealt with by the Procurator Fiscal.

Line three provide the number of cases that are still ongoing so it is not yet known whether they will lead to a conviction or an acquittal.

Some statutory charges may also include hate crime aggravations, which will be included in their respective aggravation category. For example a race charge might also have an aggravation for disability. The disability aggravation will be included in the total number for that category and the race charge will be included in the total number for race charges.

Action taken re Charge	Outcome	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	Grand Total
1. Court	1. Conviction	1876	1670	1159	4705
	2. No Conviction	701	554	318	1573
	3. Ongoing	115	376	1466	1957
	4. No Further Court Action	288	229	110	612
1. Court Total		2980	2829	3052	8861

Table 1. Conviction and acquittal information for charges containing at least one aggravation by prejudice

Action taken re Charge	Outcome	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	Grand Total
1. Court	1. Conviction	1371	1163	671	3205
	2. No Conviction	534	365	156	1055
	3. Ongoing	65	199	852	1116
	4. No Further Court Action	189	159	58	405
1. Court Total		2159	1886	1737	5782

Table 2. Conviction and acquittal information for statutory Racial charges under Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 Section 50, Public Order Act 1986 Sections 18, 19 and 23and Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act 2012, sections one and six.

Question reference: S5W-02101

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of alleged hate crime have resulted in a prosecution in each of the last three years.

The following table contains the total number of hate crime charges reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) from April 2013 to March 2016 where the decision made was prosecution. All figures provided are based on data extracted from the COPFS case management system on 6 May 2016, which was the basis of the 2016 report on hate crime in Scotland.

Financial Year

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Total

5104

4677

4740

14521

Table 1. All hate crime charges prosecuted during the last three financial years.

Question reference: S5W-02099

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of alleged hate crime have been reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in each of the last three years.

The following table contains the total number of hate crime charges reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) from April 2013 to March 2016. All figures provided are based on data extracted from the COPFS case management system on 6 May 2016, which was the basis of the 2016 report on hate crime in Scotland.

Financial Year

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Total

5855

5398

5588

16841

Table one. All hate crime charges reported to COPFS during the last three financial years.

Question reference: S5W-02100

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of alleged hate crime have been taken to court in each of the last three years.

The following table contains the total number of hate crime charges reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) from April 2013 to March 2016 where court proceedings were commenced. All figures provided are based on data extracted from the COPFS case management system on 6 May 2016, which was the basis of the 2016 report on hate crime in Scotland.

Financial Year

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Total

5104

4677

4740

14521

Table one. All hate crime charges taken to court during the last three financial years.

Question reference: S5W-03484

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, how the use of spit hoods by the police is (a) monitored and (b) evaluated.

Question reference: S5W-03482

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, how many times spit hoods have been used by the police in each of the last three years, and how many complaints there have been about their use.

Question reference: S5W-03488

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries have been attributed to the use of spit hoods by the police, and what other data on their use is collected by (i) Police Scotland and (ii) the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Operational policing is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) advises that it has no management information on the use of spit hoods use as they are not a ‘weapon’ as defined by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Investigations Procedure, Serious Incidents and Specified Weapons) Regulations 2013. PIRC has never investigated a death or serious injury attributable to the use of a spit hood.

Question reference: S5W-03486

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, what procurement criteria are used by the police when sourcing spit hoods, and which companies supply these.

Question reference: S5W-03483

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to quesiton S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, what (a) technical and (b) medical evaluation has been carried out regarding the use of spit hoods by Police Scotland.