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-07855

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure that vets have sufficient training to provide appropriate advice and guidance on the use of electronic training collars under its plans to regulate the static pulse, sonic and spray collars used on dogs.

Question reference: S5W-07202

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions under (a) section 19 and (b) the rest of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 there (i) were in (A) 2014, (B) 2015 and (C) 2016 and (ii) have been in 2017; how many led to a conviction, broken down by type of disposal, and how much was collected in fines.

The available information is provided in the following tables by financial year.

People prosecuted for offences under Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) 2006¹, 2013-14 to 2015-16

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Section 19	98	117	88
all sections except 19	26	33	16
Total prosecutions	124	150	104

People convicted of offences under Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) 2006¹, by disposal, 2013-14 to 2015-16

Main result of proceedings	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Section 19	79	94	69
Custody	2	6	8
Community sentence	23	25	13
Financial²	37	50	36
Other	17	13	12
all sections except 19	20	26	14
Custody	-	1	-
Community sentence	7	8	2
Financial²	9	13	6
Other	4	4	6
Total convictions	99	120	83

Amount of fines issued for convictions under Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) 2006¹, 2013-14 to 2015-16

Amount of Fine	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Section 19	37	49	34
up to £200	12	18	7
£201-£500	20	23	22
£501-£1000	5	6	5
£2501-£5000	-	1	-
£5001-£10000	-	1	-
all sections except 19	9	13	6
up to £200	2	4	1
£201-£500	7	4	4
£501-£1000	-	1	1
£1001-£2500	-	2	-
£2501-£5000	-	1	-
over £10000	-	1	-
Total number of fines	46	62	40

1. Where main charge.

2. Includes fines and compensation orders.

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Fines imposed under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006¹

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Value imposed during period

Value paid in relation to fines imposed during period

Value imposed during period

Value paid in relation to fines imposed during period

Value imposed during period

Value paid in relation to fines imposed during period

£15,155

£13,728

£29,410

£27,797

£15,843

£14,828

1. Once a case is disposed, financial penalties from each charge within the case are amalgamated into one fine account. A fine account may contain fines in relation to multiple charges and in this instance other charges other than the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 which we are unable to filter out. Therefore we are unable to distinguish the value paid to individual charges. The values shown in the table are in relation to fine accounts where at least one of the charges relating to the Animal and Welfare (S)Act 2006 are present.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service uses a live operational case management system for the processing of court business. The information held on the system is structured for these operational needs, rather than for statistical reporting or research purposes. The information provided is based on the best information available from the case management system as at 21-02-2017.

Data produced by the SCTS Management Information Analysis Team.

Question reference: S5W-07180

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06271 by Roseanna Cunningham on 31 January 2017, by what date it will publish the report.

Question reference: S5W-07129

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS area who died in the last five years were overweight or obese, also broken down by how many received pallative care.

Question reference: S5W-07128

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged (a) 66 to 75, (b) 76 to 85 and (c) over 85 are overweight or obese.

Question reference: S5W-07127

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the collection and analysis of the data it collects regarding the (a) need for and (b) provision of palliative care for overweight and obese people.

Question reference: S5W-07131

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many overweight or obese people have been delayed in hospital in the last 12 months while waiting for bariatric adaptations and equipment for their homes.

Information on the number of delayed discharges is collected by NHS ISD and is available on the internet at http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/Publications/. At the last monthly snapshot census in December 18 2016 patients were delayed waiting for equipment and/or adaptations. However, information is not collected on the specific types of equipment or adaptations needed.

Question reference: S5W-07191

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to local authorities to enforce legislation on roadside littering.

We are committed to working with local authorities, and our partners within the justice system, to strengthen the deterrent effect of legislation.

Local authorities have power to issue fixed penalties to people they catch littering, and we have already increased the level of the financial penalty from £50 to £80.

As we develop our Circular Economy and Zero Waste Bill, we will engage with local authorities and others about removing barriers to enforcement for littering from vehicles.

Question reference: S5W-07201

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to check that owners use electronic training collars in accordance with instructions given by vets or approved trainers.

Question reference: S5W-07206

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will define an “approved trainer” under its plans to regulate the static pulse, sonic and spray collars used on dogs.

The Scottish Government is in discussion with a wide range of stakeholders from the pet industry, animal training and animal welfare sectors about the format and content of the tough new regulations on the use of electronic training collars, including the qualifications required to become an approved trainer. We aim to present the regulations to the Scottish Parliament in this Parliamentary term.