Chamber and committees

Sentencing in criminal cases including for housebreaking is a matter for the court. The Scottish Government does not comment on nor intervene in any specific cases.

Housebreaking is generally prosecuted under the common law with maximum penalties up to life imprisonment available depending on the level of court in which a case is prosecuted.

The independent Scottish Sentencing Council has recently published its first Business Plan for the period up to September 2018. Included within this Plan is a future commitment to consider preparing sentencing guidelines in the area of property theft during the Council's next business planning period.

This information is not held centrally. Individual NHS Boards may record this information locally at their own discretion.

Information on the number of prescription items uncollected within the time periods requested and the associated costs of those medicines is not readily available.

Each community pharmacy contractor will have a standard operating procedure for dispensing medicine which will include how to deal with uncollected items. However, it is common practice for any medicines not collected and which have not left the premises to be returned to stock for re-use, and no reimbursement payment is made for the medicine in this case. Prescription forms for uncollected medicines are then passed by community pharmacies to National Services Scotland Practitioner and Counter Fraud Services for processing, endorsed by the pharmacy as “item not collected”.

The reasons why a prescription item may be uncollected are multifaceted. However, a new medicine intervention support tool was introduced allowing community pharmacists to provide structured and tailored support to patients. This should increase adherence to new medicines, in turn reducing the number of uncollected items due to poor adherence.

The Scottish Government has not issued any specific guidance on the reuse of uncollected prescriptions. Practitioner and Counter Fraud Services and Community Pharmacy Scotland publish Endorsing Guidance which provides guidance on how to endorse prescriptions for any items not collected.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing person centred care ensuring access to the best possible care and support, and from healthcare services that are safe and effective. The person centred approach covers all aspects of how NHS Boards should inform, engage, and consult with their local communities to allow them to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations.

The Scottish Health Council has a role in improving patient and public participation across NHSScotland. This includes supporting NHS Boards to adopt new methods of involving people. e-Participation refers to the ability to engage with patients using a wide variety of methods including social media and web-based tools to share information, promote discussion and build relationships. The tools can provide access to information, promote peer support for self-management of long term conditions, influence local service development and take part in a dialogue with local NHS Boards.

The e-Participation Toolkit provides examples of how online technology is being used to involve people both in their own care and when designing and delivering local health and care services. This Toolkit is designed to complement rather than replace more traditional methods of engaging.

The Scottish Government is aware of local concerns about the length of time the crossing barriers are down during normal operation and that the barrier down time has increased recently due to a period of unreliability with the barrier mechanisms. Network Rail is working on some modifications to the barrier equipment to improve the reliability.

Prosecutions in relation to laser pen attacks can be raised under the common law offence of culpable and reckless conduct. In respect of laser pens being shone at aircraft, prosecutions can be raised as a contravention of the statutory Air Navigation Order 2016. We have no plans to create new offences in respect of lasers being shone at aircraft or other forms of transport. As aviation safety is reserved to the UK Government, any legislative changes would apply to the whole of the UK.

Police Scotland is responsible for investigating incidences of laser pens being shone at transport operators. We have not received representations from transport operators or Police Scotland about laser pens and would encourage any transport operator to report incidences to Police Scotland for investigation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06779 on 22 February 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06779 on 22 February 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government is committed to achieving safer road travel in Scotland, which is why Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020, written in 2009, contains challenging casualty reduction targets and an ultimate vision where there are no fatalities on Scotland roads. Recently, the Framework underwent a mid-term review which identified speed, age and vulnerable road users as key priority focus areas.

For 2016-17, Road Safety Scotland - the Scottish Government's principle road safety delivery partner - developed three planned road safety campaigns around the focus areas in an effort to meet the Framework's outcomes:

• Vulnerable road users - £365,000

• Motorbikes - £50,000

• Country roads - £250,000

In addition, the Scottish Government also spent £30,000 on a Drink Drive Festive campaign, which supported Police Scotland's enforcement campaign.