Parliamentary questions
Gil Paterson
788 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
29 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to hold an inquiry into whether any sex offenders have been released from prison without a risk assessment or appropriate consultation with local police forces having been undertaken.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>I am unaware of any such cases.
29 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken in order to track any sex offenders released from prison without a risk assessment or appropriate consultation with local police forces having been undertaken.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Contrary to press reports I am unaware of any cases of sex offenders having been released from Scottish prisons without appropriate arrangement…
29 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received concerning any sex offenders released from prison without a risk assessment or appropriate consultation with local police forces having been undertaken; when it first received any such information, and what action it has taken in respect of this matter.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The Scottish Prison Service has not received any information that any sex offender has been released from prison without a risk assessment or …
29 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many sex offenders have been released from prison without a risk assessment or appropriate consultation with the local police force having been undertaken prior to their release in the last year.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The Scottish Prison Service is not aware of any sex offenders having been released from prison in the last year without a risk assessment or a…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19180 by Iain Gray on 15 November 2001, what further research has been carried out into "attrition rate" as recommended by Dr Lynn Jamieson and Dr Michelle Burman in the Central Research Unit report The 'Attrition' of Sexual Offences in the Criminal …
Answer · Jim Wallace: No further research has been carried out into the rate of attrition in sexual offence cases. Responses to the consultation document, <I>Towards a Just Conclusion</I>, provided numerous examples of the problems experienced by victims giving evidence. As noted …
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive in which police force areas women doctors are available at all times to conduct medical examinations following a sexual assault.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Local arrangements, varying on a force-to-force basis, exist whereby doctors are contracted to provide medical assistance when required. Victims sometimes express a preference to be examined by either a male or a female doctor. The Scottish Police Service bel…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which police force divisions have specialist sexual offence officers and how many such officers each division has.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Every Scottish force has specialist officers dedicated to the investigation of sexual offences. The number and allocation of these officers is a matter for individual Chief Constables.
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what methods are available to the police to screen for drugs.
Answer · Richard Simpson: Scottish police forces do not routinely screen arrestees for drugs.<P>However, in relation to driving offences, drug recognition techniques and field impairment testing were introduced by Scottish forces in June 2001.
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to highlight drug-assisted assaults and the measures that can be taken to prevent them.
Answer · Richard Simpson: The Executive awaits the outcome of a strategic assessment on the wider issue of drug-related sexual assault, which is being carried out by a working group led by the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency.<P>In addition, the Home Office is currently considering wh…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available for male victims of rape.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Two projects are funded by the Executive specifically to support survivors of sexual abuse, including male as well as female rape victims. A number of other projects with a broader remit will also provide support to male rape victims. In addition, the Executi…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug-assisted sexual assaults took place in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by the gender of the assaulted persons.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not collected centrally.
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to relax the rules on the coaching of witnesses prior to court proceedings.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There are no rules preventing witnesses from being prepared for court by explaining to them what will happen and providing visits to court for young or vulnerable witnesses. Preparation of this type is often done. To coach witnesses in the sense of telling th…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to establish sexual assault treatment centres.
Answer · Richard Simpson: There is a growing recognition of the needs of victims of sexual offences and every Scottish police force therefore has access to a dedicated rape suite. These facilities may be situated in police stations, hospitals or other suitable locations arranged throu…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been carried out into the needs of older women in relation to domestic abuse and other forms of violence.
Answer · Jim Wallace: No specific research has been carried out into the needs of older women in relation to domestic abuse and other forms of violence. Results from the <I>Scottish Crime Survey 2000</I> suggest, however, that older women are less likely to be victims of violence.…
11 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what match funding was provided by NHS boards for projects concerning domestic abuse in the last year for which figures are available.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund administered by the Scottish Executive Justice Department provides £6 million over four years to strengthen local services, of which £79,000 currently supports seven projects where all or part of the matched funding…
11 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what training is currently available to staff employed by government agencies in how to deal with people suffering from domestic abuse and whether any such staff training is compulsory.
Answer · Margaret Curran: Workplace polices is one of the areas to be looked at by the prevention working group established by the National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland. The group is expected to report to the National Group in May.
11 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the 37% of recorded incidents of domestic abuse in 1999-2000 referred to the Procurator Fiscal's Office were subsequently referred to diversion from prosecution schemes and on what grounds any such referrals were made.
Answer · Colin Boyd: "Domestic abuse" may be constituted by several offences. Records relating to those offences do not distinguish those which fall into the domestic abuse category. The information is, accordingly, not available.
11 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18510 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 October 2001, whether the Central Research Unit has now completed its Crime and Criminal Justice research programme for 2001-04 and, if it has, how much funding it is planning to devote to research on domestic violence is…
Answer · Jim Wallace: The new Crime and Criminal Justice Research Programme is not yet available for publication. The previous Research Programme ran from 1998 to 2001. A new research agenda is being worked out for publication early in 2002. Even when the research agenda is publis…
11 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle repeat victimisation in cases of domestic abuse reported to the police.
Answer · Margaret Curran: The Executive is committed to ensuring that women who have experienced domestic abuse get the support and protection they need. This includes providing a sufficient number of refuge places but also providing support to those who do not wish to leave. There ar…
11 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police which are subsequently prosecuted.
Answer · Elish Angiolini: The objective of the police is to investigate such incidents properly and fully. The objective of procurators fiscal is to scrutinise reports for a sufficiency of evidence and then to select from the range of available options the one which is most appropriat…
11 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had, or plans to have, meetings with any internet service provider or web hosting services to discuss guidelines for the protection of children using such services.
Answer · Richard Simpson: Internet regulation is a reserved issue. Matters relating to the protection of children using the internet is the responsibility of the Home Office which has established a task force involving representatives from across the UK internet industry. As a result …
29 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many no proceedings have taken place in the criminal justice system in each the past 10 years, broken down by crime/offence.
Answer · Colin Boyd: Overall numbers of cases marked "no proceedings" are published in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Annual Reports and (for the last five years) included in the Services' Submission to the Justice 2 Committee. They are not, however, broken down b…
29 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 18,275 fiscal warnings in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The figures are not broken down by crime and the information is accordingly not available.
29 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 16,356 fiscal fines in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The figures are not broken down by crime and the information is accordingly not available.
29 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 45,475 no proceedings in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The figures are not broken down by crime and the information is accordingly not available.
26 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding has been given to local authorities to help fund the revenue costs of an increased number of refuge places as a result of the funding made available for capital projects.
Answer · Margaret Curran: We have the full support of COSLA to ensure that local authorities provide the funding necessary to support the extra refuge spaces. The Local Government Spending Review 2000 provides an extra £1.2 billion in support for local government over the next three y…
26 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the minutes of the National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland and any of its sub-groups will be made publicly available.
Answer · Margaret Curran: No, but we will post progress reports on the Scottish Executive website.
23 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to encourage private companies to support and provide services for employees suffering from domestic abuse.
Answer · Margaret Curran: The Good Practice Guidelines in the <I>National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland</I> contains a section on employment practices. It asks employers to develop a domestic abuse policy as part of the human resources function of the organisation and…
23 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to review legislation and procedures with a view to improving the conviction rate for rape.
Answer · Jim Wallace: We are currently legislating through the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Bill to provide greater protection for victims of rape and sexual assault when they give evidence in court. We also keep the criminal law under review. The Lord Advoc…
23 Nov 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how often domestic violence and/or child sexual abuse was cited in contact disputes in the last year for which figures are available.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.