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-08655

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 27 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what targets there are for the time taken to process legal aid claims.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board has a number of performance targets, which are agreed by ministers and published each year in its Corporate Plan. The targets for the time it takes to process the various types of claims in respect of the three types of legal aid, as published in the Board's Corporate Plan 2011-14, are set out in the following tables below. For example, in respect of initial applications in summary cases the target is to process 99% of applications in five days.

Table 1 - Criminal Legal Aid Applications

Timeliness (percentage of applications actioned within service standard time)	Service standard (working days)	Target
Initial applications in summary cases	5 days	99%
Sanction for counsel, experts or unusual costs	5 days	99%
Requests to change solicitor	5 days	99%
Reviews of refusal of initial application	5 days	99%
Applications to make an appeal in court	5 days	99%
Special urgency	2 days	99%
Exceptional cases	5 days	99%

Table 2 - Civil Legal Aid Applications

Timeliness (percentage of applications actioned within service standard time)	Service standard (working days)	Target
Initial applications	32 days	96%
Sanction for counsel, experts or unusual costs	6 days	96%
Requests to change solicitor	7 days	96%
Reviews of refusal of initial application	29 days	96%
Requests to extend the scope (14 day)	20 days	96%
Requests to extend the scope (28 day)	28 days	96%
Special urgency cases received	2 days	97%

Table 3 - Children’s Legal Aid Applications

Timeliness (percentage of applications actioned within service standard time)	Service standard (working days)	Target
Sanction for counsel, experts or unusual costs	5 days	99%
Requests to change solicitor	5 days	99%
Applications to make an appeal in court	5 days	99%
Special urgency cases	2 days	99%

Question reference: S4W-08654

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for legal aid there have been in each year since 2007.

The numbers of applications for the different types of legal assistance for each of the years since 2007-08 are set out in tables 1-4. The figures for 2011-12 have not yet been published and are still subject to final checking and verification in advance of publication in the Scottish Legal Aid Board’s Annual Report.

Table 1 - Civil Legal Assistance

Application Type	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Advice and assistance	85,802	90,908	85,277	90,098	80,561
Assistance By Way of Representation	4,144	4,320	4,280	4,331	4,795
Civil legal aid	15,861	17,738	22,028	21,251	20,016
Requests for counsel, experts or expensive work	5,991	6,319	6,284	7,274	6,875
Transfer of solicitor	781	892	980	1,081	1,222
Review of decision to refuse legal aid	2,503	2,426	3,656	4,193	4,387
Extension of grant	927	967	1,210	1,632	1,929
Special Urgency	8,818	10,219	14,696	13,508	10,773

Table 2 - Criminal Legal Assistance

Application Type	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Advice and assistance	104,220	52,065	27,864	27,545	31,590
Assistance By Way Of Representation	17,308	39,279	47,142	42,853	37,450
Summary criminal legal aid	82,657	64,457	61,056	59,159	58,324
Solemn criminal legal aid (granted by the courts up to November 2010)	12,782	12,410	12,066	11,739	12,347
Appeals	2,012	1,920	2,042	1,912	1,784
Review of decision to refuse legal aid	7,419	3,573	2,661	2,777	2,753
Requests for counsel, experts or expensive work	10,280	9,317	9,118	8,928	9,207
Transfer of solicitor	5,553	3,873	3,410	3,228	2,999
Special Urgency	1,882	1,859	1,880	1,782	1,704
Exceptional Status	343	453	368	348	374

Table 3 - Contempt of Court Legal Aid

Application Type	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Contempt of court	1,117	969	981	1,204	1,134

Table 4 - Children’s legal assistance

Application Type	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Advice and assistance	4,682	4,878	4,448	4,601	4,548
Legal aid (including appeals)	4,119	4,603	4,650	4,734	4,946
Requests for counsel, experts or expensive work	416	308	605	505	670

Question reference: S4W-08652

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff the Scottish Legal Aid Board has employed in each year since 2007.

The numbers of staff employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board at its head office for each of the financial years since 2007-08 are set out in table 1. These staff carry out administrative functions such as assessing legal aid applications. They are funded through the board’s grant in aid.

TTable 1

Financial Year	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Total Scottish Legal Aid Board staff	316	310	315	300	286

The Scottish Government has given the board additional responsibilities in recent years. As a result the board also employs a number of staff involved in delivering services directly to the public or to other parts of the justice system. These staff are funded through the Scottish legal aid budget. The staff employed in these capacities are set out in tables 2-4.

Table 2

Financial Year	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Total Public Defence Solicitors’ Office staff	23	24	25	25	33

Table 3

Financial Year	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Total Solicitor Contact Line staff	0	0	0	0	9

Table 4

Financial Year	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Total Civil Legal Assistance Office staff	4	8	19	23	23

Question reference: S4W-08653

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has given to legal aid in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S4W-08550

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 11 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to hold a summit on human trafficking.

Question reference: S4W-07825

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will bring forward proposals for the new renewables obligation certificates regime.

Question reference: S4W-07826

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive at what stage the planning application process is for a biomass plant in Rosyth.

Question reference: S4O-01212

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what action it is taking to become a living-wage employer.

Question reference: S4W-07824

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when the findings of the consultation on renewables obligation certificates are due to be published.

Our consultation on changes to the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) legislation took place between October 2011 and January 2012. A summary of the consultation responses, alongside the responses themselves, was published on the Scottish Government website on 3 February 2012.

Ministers are considering the many issues raised by consultees, and will publish their decisions and response to the consultation shortly. The changes arising from this process will be introduced via an amending Order, and are scheduled to take effect from April 2013.

Question reference: S4W-07563

Asked by: Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 18 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in agreeing the (a) structure, (b) membership and (c) functions of the Tayside regional college board.