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: S4W-12361

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff from each police force have been assigned to work in the single service reform team units.

Question reference: S4W-12388

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency's e-learning package on human trafficking was trialled; what feedback was received about the package, and whether it will be rolled out across the Police Service of Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-01738

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the figures recently released by Barnardo's concerning the rest of the UK, whether it will carry out research into the scope of child trafficking in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-11853

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 11 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-10915 by Aileen Campbell on 21 November 2012, whether it will provide the information that was requested.

I refer the member to the letter issued on 19 December 2012 informing her that the answer given to S4W-10915 was a duplicate answer to that in S4W-10928. The answer to S4W-10915 should have read:

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have an operational database which can identify specific criminal offences. However, any offences which could constitute “child abuse” and “child sexual exploitation” could be charged under a number of different criminal offences, both at common law and under statute.

It is therefore, not possible to identify the number of prosecutions there have been which relate to child abuse and child sexual exploitation. Similarly, it is not possible to determine whether an offence was committed as part of ritual abuse or whether there is any link to religion without checking the specific details of an individual case.

The official record has now been corrected.

Question reference: S4F-01106

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 January 2013

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the assertion by the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland that a change in legislation is required to properly define the roles and responsibilities of the service's HR and finance functions.

Question reference: S4O-01633

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 19 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Tayside about waiting times.

Question reference: S4W-11626

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government who owns the property occupied by the Scottish Legal Aid Board in Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh.

Question reference: S4W-11243

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 27 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many unmarked cases the Procurator Fiscal Service has.

As at 18 November 2012, 13,100 cases were awaiting marking. This is within the normal parameters The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) would expect to have as work in progress. COPFS’s published targets require that a decision in respect of 75% of reported cases must be implemented within four weeks of receipt. During this financial year, COPFS is exceeding this target and has marked 83% of cases within four weeks.

Question reference: S4O-01534

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what reduction there has been in the number of college staff in the last year.

Question reference: S4W-10915

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions related to (a) ritual child abuse, (b) child abuse linked to religion and (c) child sexual exploitation there have been in each of the last five years and how many have led to a conviction.

Aileen Campbell:The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) have an operational database which can identify specific criminal offences. However, any offences which could constitute "child abuse" and "child sexual exploitation" could be charged under a number of different criminal offences, both at common law and under statute.