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-20678

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 7 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15853 by Frank Mulholland on 6 September 2013, how many people have been prosecuted for police assault since 2007.

The following figures reflect the number of charges since 2007 of assaults committed against Police Officers, in terms of section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, section 89(1) of the Police Act 1996 and section 90(1) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, which have resulted in court proceedings being initiated by COPFS.

The figures relate to assaults on police officers as opposed to resisting, obstructing, molesting or hindering police officers:

2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14
5,650	5,515	4,937	4,808	5,429	5,118	5,186

The information has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal’s Service case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the Police and other reporting agencies. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

Question reference: S4W-20677

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13410 by Kenny MacAskill on 15 March 2013, what progress has been made in establishing a sentencing council.

Question reference: S4W-20512

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 28 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has had with the (a) UK Department of Justice and (b) Director of Public Prosecutions regarding (i) assisted suicide and (ii) guidance for prosecution of cases of assisted suicide since 1999.

There is no crime of assisted suicide in Scotland. A case of assisted suicide would be reported to the Procurator Fiscal by the police and dealt with under the law of Scotland, in relation to homicide.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service officials had discussions in 2009-10 with Crown Prosecution Service officials about the Director of Public Prosecution's guidelines on assisted suicide prior to its publication, to underline the different legal backgrounds between Scotland and England and Wales and ensure there were no issues relating to jurisdiction.

Question reference: S4W-20511

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Lesley Thomson on 28 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions for assisted suicide there have been in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S4W-20515

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 28 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of assisted suicide procurators fiscal have considered in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S4W-20513

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 28 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ask the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to update its guidance on prosecutions for assisted suicide.

Question reference: S4W-20514

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) British Medical Association and (b) General Medical Council regarding assisted suicide since 1999.

Question reference: S4W-20510

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what studies it has conducted into (a) cases of and (b) the impact of assisted suicide in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S4W-20417

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans are in place should Police Scotland civilian staff vote to go on strike.

This is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA). However, the Civil Contingencies Act and regulations place several duties on Category 1 responders, such as Police Scotland. The Scottish Government’s ‘Preparing Scotland’ provides further guidance for organisations relating to civil contingencies and business resilience.

We are encouraged that the SPA and Police Scotland are committed to continuing dialogue with the unions and that the ballot on possible industrial action has been postponed.

Question reference: S4W-20416

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many of Police Scotland’s civilian workforce are members of trade unions, broken down by trade union.