Christine Grahame

26 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have been identified as being on the autism spectrum in each of the last 10 years, also expressed as a percentage.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: This information is not available.

6 Jul 2012 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consider displaying the Saltire flag in the chamber beside the Presiding Officer when the Parliament is sitting.

Answer · Mary Scanlon: The issue of whether to display the saltire in the debating chamber has been considered by the SPCB previously, most recently on 4 February 2009. On that occasion, the matter had been raised by a petitioner to the Parliament and, after considering the request…

21 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-05956 by Kenny MacAskill on 8 March 2012, what the breakdown of dog control notices is by year.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The answer to S4W-05956 contained the number of dog control notices issued by local authorities between implementation of the legislation on 26 February 2011 and 5 March 2012. Therefore, the information in S4W-05956 covered the first full year of operation of…

21 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) charges have been brought and (b) convictions have been made in each year under the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 does not create any criminal offences and there can therefore be no prosecutions under this legislation.

20 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which community radio stations have received funding in each of the last five years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-08179 on 6 July 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusin…

20 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to community radio in each of the last five years.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Community radio is important to the Scottish Government in reaching micro-local communities with public information messages. For each government campaign we assess the relevance to the audience in order to compile a media schedule, which often includes commu…

20 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a protocol with the UK Government for dealing with reserved broadcasting issues.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has an over-arching Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Government on how to work together, responsibilities of the respective governments and best practice for the relationship. There is also a concordat agreement between the Sco…

20 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many and (b) what percentage of consultations by Ofcom it has responded to in the last two years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communications industries, including telecommunications, broadcasting and the postal service. Since June 2009 Ofcom has conducted 234 consultations on a broad range of subject areas. The Sc…

20 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that any of the recommendations made in the report by the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee of the National Assembly for Wales, The future outlook for the media in Wales could be applied in Scotland.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is aware of the report by the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee of the National Assembly for Wales, The future outlook for the media in Wales. There is a commonality between many of the report’s recommendations such…

5 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of (a) administration and (b) legal fees has been for each public inquiry held since 1999.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There have been four public inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005. The ICL Inquiry and the Fingerprint Inquiry have both reported but have not been officially closed. Their near final costs are: ICL Inquiry - £1.9 million* – shared equally betwe…

5 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to either a taxation process or fixed fee system in respect of public inquiries.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: A public consultation on the Inquiry Rules (Scotland) 2007 was completed on 8 June 2012 and we will be considering all aspects of the current Rules in the light of the consultation responses.

23 Apr 2012 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on televising court proceedings.

Answer · Alex Salmond: The Scottish Government supports openness and transparency in the administration of justice, but the specific circumstances in which court proceedings may be televised is a matter for the Lord President.

28 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-06179 by Kenny MacAskill on 27 March 2012, whether  the findings of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission are matters that have caused or are capable of causing public concern within the meaning of section 1 of the Inquiries Act 2005.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Statement of Reasons produced by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in the Al-Megrahi case provides details of the grounds on which the commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal. The only appropriate forum for the determination of Mr…

16 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many communications officials are employed in the Crown Office's communications department and what the cost of employing its communications officials was in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

Answer · Lesley Thomson: There are currently six staff employed in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) communications department. In 2009-10 the cost of employing its communications officials was £259,142. This figure includes salaries and expenses for the staff e…

14 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of recent allegations that the Crown Office did not act with propriety in the disclosure of evidence to the defence team in the case of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, whether the Scottish Government (a) has the power under the Inquiries Act 2005 to establish an inquiry into t…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The only appropriate forum for determining Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi’s guilt is a court of law. The recent selective and partial reporting of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission’s Statement of Reasons in relation to his conviction referred to…

27 Feb 2012 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister whether, in light of comments in the recently published biography of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the Scottish Government considers that an inquiry into all aspects of the Lockerbie bombing is now urgent.

14 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned in the last three years on the incidence of post natal depression; what treatment options are available for those with the condition, and what funding is available for the provision of such treatment.

Answer · Michael Matheson: While The Scottish Government has not funded research specifically on the incidence of post natal depression (PND) in the last three years, evidence referenced in the current Scottish Intercollegiate Guidance Network (SIGN) guideline on the treatment of PND s…

23 Jan 2012 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions' statement that the UK Government's proposed benefit reforms will not lead to an increase in child poverty in Scotland.

30 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what actions it is taking regarding the operation of the Scottish Greenbelt Company Limited and the maintenance of common parts in various developments in the Scottish Borders.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is taking forward two main areas of work to raise the standard of services provided by land maintenance companies. Earlier this year the Scottish Government issued this consultation http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/03/041…

28 Nov 2011 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister how many cases the Scottish Government considers might be affected retrospectively by the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act 2011.

11 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Justice or (b) Lord Advocate had received any communication from the (i) US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, (ii) Home Office or (iii) interim Libyan government concerning proposals to extradite Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi to the USA.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government have not received any communication from the United States Government, the Libyan National Transitional Council or the Home Office, concerning proposals to extradite Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi to the USA.

31 Oct 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) investigations have been carried out and (b) dog control notices have been issued since the commencement of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Individual local authorities have provided information in the following table that provides a breakdown of the number of investigations carried out and Dog Control Notices served by each local authority since the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 came into …

29 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-02834 by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 September 2011, whether it will introduce legislation to regulate the charging of fees by private care homes.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government at present has no plans to introduce legislation to regulate the charging of fees by private care homes.

19 Sep 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the regulations relating to the charging regime of private care homes.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are no regulations about how much private providers can charge for residential care.

5 Sep 2011 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister, in light of the reported discovery of documents relating to the Gaddafi regime's connections with the US and UK intelligence services, whether the Scottish Government has requested access to any such documents that might be relevant to the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie.

29 Aug 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-01679 by Roseanna Cunningham on 11 August 2011, what the timetable is for its proposed legislation on high hedges.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: It is a manifesto commitment of this government to provide a legal framework for settling disputes relating to high hedges. On 8 September 2011, Mark McDonald MSP announced his intention, with the support of the Scottish Government, to take forward a members…

16 Aug 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much VAT it has paid since 2007, broken down by year.

Answer · John Swinney: The total VAT paid by the Scottish Executive in each of the financial years from 2007, is shown in the following table. FY VAT Paid VAT Recovered £000 £000 2007-08 107,178 53,805 2008-09 110,165 65,757 2009-10 106,765 65,159 2010-11 107,229 …

13 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-38294 by Kenny MacAskill on 11 January 2011, what the timetable is for bringing forward legislation to allow the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to publish a statement of reasons in cases where appeals have been abandoned.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government is working towards bringing forward primary legislation at an early opportunity.

13 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will bring forward primary legislation to amend the no proceedings process so that the Crown Office is not barred from pursuing a prosecution in cases where it issues a no proceedings letter and omits to include a caveat that the case can be pursued if further evidence is recei…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has no current plans to legislate on this but will keep the matter under review. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has recently amended its procedures to ensure that a no proceedings letter without the caveat cannot be iss…

6 Jul 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled job applicants it had in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10 and (d) 2010-11 and has had in 2011-12 and how many it offered or has offered an interview.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government monitors the number of candidates with disabilities at each stage of the selection process where Scottish Government Human Resources provides a recruitment service for externally advertised posts. The table below lists the number of c…