Parliamentary questions

Roseanna Cunningham

965 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it intends to do to aid people burdened with multiple debt in each year to 2005-06, as referred to in target 11 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Debt Arrangement and Advice (Scotland) Bill, currently at Stage 2, provides the framework for a national statutory debt arrangement scheme for those with multiple debt. The consultation document Enforcement of Civil Obligations in Scotland sought c…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people gained access to civil justice through (a) legal aid and (b) other means in each year since 1999-2000, and what other means were used.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The number of people assisted by legal aid is published in the Annual Reports of the Scottish Legal Aid Board. In addition, the Executive provided financial support to the In Court Advice and Mediation Projects in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, which provided help …

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what other means will be used to increase the number of people getting access to justice by 5% over the period to 2005-06, as referred to in target 10 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive has provided additional funds to the Scottish Legal Aid Board to support a programme of pilot projects aimed at improving access to civil justice. It has also a three-year funding package for the Edinburgh In-Court Advice and Mediation Projects.…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether accreditation for community programmes will apply only to programmes for offenders or also to social work programmes for diversion from prosecution, as referred to in target 9 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Richard Simpson: It is anticipated that the Accreditation Panel will initially wish to focus on programmes which support community disposals made by the courts. However, there is no reason in principle why local authorities cannot put forward for accreditation programmes used…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any incentive will be provided to local authorities to attain accreditation for community programmes for offenders, as referred to in target 9 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The Getting Best Results Steering Group which has developed the proposals for the accreditation is a partnership between the Executive, local authorities and academics. The agreed aim of this work is to improve the quality of programmes which work with offend…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is proposed to give the accreditation panel for community programmes for offenders any statutory basis, as referred to in target 9 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The panel will operate as an advisory group providing independent advice to Scottish ministers, with a secretariat from the Justice Department. We do not intend to give it a statutory basis.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any steps will be taken to harmonise the functions of the accreditation panel for community programmes for offenders, as referred to in target 9 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, with the accreditation function …

Answer · Richard Simpson: The work of the accreditation panel referred to in target 9 will focus on the accreditation of community programmes for offenders. The Risk Management Authority will operate under a wider remit. However, in developing National Standards for risk assessment an…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the membership of the accreditation panel for community programmes for offenders will be selected, as referred to in target 9 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Individuals will be selected so that the panel provides a balance of expertise in programme development/delivery and the principles of effective practice or accreditation. The membership will draw on experience gained in academic institutions, existing accred…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what capacity of community disposals was specifically designed for (a) women, (b) young people and (c) drug users in each year since 1999-2000, as referred to in target 8 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The target refers to the capacity for community disposals because it remains a matter for the discretion of the courts to decide whether to impose a community sentence on conviction. Funding from the Executive, therefore, provides capacity for a target number…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what capacity was available for community disposals in each year since 1999-2000, as referred to in target 8 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Richard Simpson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29755 today. All answers to written PQs are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http://www.sco…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prison rehabilitation programmes will be fully accredited, as referred to in target 7 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The targets for fully accredited programmes as a proportion of prison rehabilitation programmes has been set as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACI…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the number of approved activities has been in each year since 1999-2000, as referred to in target 7 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:Approved activities were introduced into targets for the SPS from the year 2002-03. The target for the current year 2002-03 is a joint on…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what is meant by "approved activities", as referred to in target 7 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:An approved activity is a shorter form of group work (minimum 20 hours) which addresses criminogenic need, targets issues thought to be related…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it envisages eliminating overcrowding in all prisons by 2005-06.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The measures announced by the Deputy First Minister on 5 September 2002, including one that will be used to respond to the current rise in rema…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it envisages providing in-cell sanitation in all prison cells by 2005-06.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The timescale for ending slopping out depends on a number of developments, not all of which have firm timescales. These include implementation …

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, following a complaint of a criminal offence to the police, what information is provided thereafter to the victim by the (a) police, (b) prosecution authorities, (c) courts, (d) criminal justice social work departments, (e) prison service and (f) parole board regarding the (i) victim serv…

Answer · Jim Wallace: Following a complaint of a criminal offence to the police, the information provided by the organisations set out is as follows:(a) the police refer all victims who want to be referred to Victim Support Scotland. Support from specially trained police office…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any provision will be made for victims of crime that want support but who do not receive it, in line with target 5 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Providing better support to victims of crime is the first objective of the Scottish Strategy for Victims. The Executive is therefore working closely with Victim Support Scotland and the criminal justice agencies to improve referral arrangements and to raise a…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its 12% target increase of victims of crime that want support having been offered or successfully sought that support includes support to victims of crime offered by the Crown Office, as referred to in target 5 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Propos…

Answer · Jim Wallace: For the purposes of the Building a Better Scotland target, support refers to any type of practical or emotional support provided to victims by a statutory or voluntary agency. That includes support offered by the Crown Office to victims of crime.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what minimum standard of support will be offered to victims of crime receiving support, in line with target 5 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Jim Wallace: For the purposes of the Building a Better Scotland target, support refers to the practical or emotional support provided to victims by a statutory or voluntary agency. Each agency has published its own action plan setting out the support which it offer…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its 12% target increase of victims of crime that want support having been offered or successfully sought that support is a percentage of the present number receiving support or a percentage of all victims that want support, as referred to in target 5 in the justice section of Buil…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The percentage increase in the number of victims of crime that want support, having been offered or successfully sought that support, is primarily a tool for measuring improvements in the support provided to victims of crime. The key target which has been set…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many victims of crime (a) have indicated that they want support and (b) currently receive support.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Thirty-four per cent of victims who responded to the 2000 Scottish Crime Survey indicated that they wanted support. Sixty-three per cent of those indicated that they received support.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of summary criminal cases in the sheriff court were completed within 20 weeks of first calling in each of the last three financial years and in 2002-03 to date, broken down by sheriff court district.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not currently available. An exercise to extract relevant data to provide a baseline for the new target is currently under way but the results will not be available for some time.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average duration, including adjournments, of a summary trial in the sheriff court has been in each of the last three years, broken down by sheriff court district.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The average duration of summary criminal trials is shown in the following table. The duration of a trial can vary depending on the nature of the case and the volume of evidence which requires to be heard. The average for a court can vary for a number of reaso…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what influence it has over the duration, including adjournments, of a summary trial in the sheriff court.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive has no direct influence over the duration of an individual summary criminal trial in the sheriff court, which is primarily determined by the nature of the case and the actions of the participants under the overall direction of the sheri…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is retaining its target of an average of 12 weeks from plea to trial date for summary criminal cases in the sheriff court.

Answer · Jim Wallace: With the agreement of Sheriffs Principal, it is intended to introduce a new outcome target for the conduct of summary criminal business in the sheriff court which focuses on the completion of cases rather than the length of one element in the process. However…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it expects to reduce fear of crime or seriousness of worry about crime and by what date, as referred to in target 3 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Richard Simpson: No specific target figure or date has been set. Currently, the best tool we have to measure the fear of crime is the Scottish Crime Survey. The 2000 Scottish Crime Survey shows that the proportion identifying crime as a serious or extremely seri…

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to agree a new target for an increase in sei'ures of class A drugs for 2006, as referred to in target 2 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The new target will be agreed in consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the conveners of police authorities. An announcement will be made once agreement is reached.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to agree a new target for a further reduction in serious violent crime for 2006, as referred to in target 1 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28329 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 September 2002, whether its target to reduce serious violent crime by 5% by 2004, as referred to in target 1 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, is addit…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The target referred to in Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys is the same as that announced in reply to question S1W-24582 on 28 March 2002. The effective date for the target is 31 March 2004.

23 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines serious violent crime, as referred to in target 1 in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys, and what measures it will use to reduce serious violent crime.

Answer · Jim Wallace: For the purposes of the target, serious violent crime is currently defined as serious assault (including murder and culpable homicide), robbery, all other non-sexual crimes of violence (except possession of an offensive weapon), rape and attempted rape. The m…