Parliamentary questions
Gil Paterson
788 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
22 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are in place for recording the number and nature of European Convention on Human Rights issues raised in legal proceedings under section 7 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Since Convention issues may be raised in any legal proceedings, whether civil or criminal, involving a public authority in any court or tribunal across the country, it would not be possible at reasonable cost to gather the statistics to which Mr Paterson refe…
13 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11562 by Mr Jack McConnell on 11 December 2000, what aspects of abuse prevention and child protection Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools considers when inspecting a school.
Answer · Jack McConnell: Aspects of abuse prevention covered in inspection, in relation to drugs and alcohol, include evaluation of the structure and delivery of programmes for personal and social development at all stages, examination of procedures for dealing with drug-related inci…
13 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been in Scotland under the Sex Offenders Act of people who have committed offences outwith the United Kingdom.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The information requested is not available.
13 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11531 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 December 2000, whether it has any plans to run TV or radio campaigns to raise public awareness of the effect of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive has no plans to launch such campaigns. However, as I made clear in my answer to question S1W-11531, a range of information about the Human Rights Act has already been made available to the public.
5 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers the police have in relation to the policing of the Internet and how any such powers can be extended.
Answer · Jim Wallace: In general, the position in law is that what is illegal "offline" is also illegal "online". Those who commit, or attempt to commit, crimes online are therefore liable to prosecution. The law also provides for specific offences of accessing…
5 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to educate children and parents on the danger of approach by paedophiles through chat rooms and the Internet.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-11758.
5 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that the computers and e-mail addresses being provided to schoolchildren will not allow access to children by paedophiles.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has issued an information pack "ClickThinking - Personal Safety on the Internet" to all Scottish schools and to a wide range of other bodies dealing with children. The pack gives guidance to children and young people, their parents…
5 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there have been any reported cases of approaches to children in Scotland by known paedophiles, initiated through chat rooms or the Internet, that have not led to criminal proceedings.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.
5 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any criminal prosecutions have been pursued in Scotland as a result of offences committed against children where the first point of contact was through Internet chat rooms.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The detailed information requested is not held centrally.
5 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had, or plans to have, meetings with any Internet service providers or web hosting services to discuss guidelines for the protection of children using such services.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: Not at present. The Scottish Executive has issued an information pack "ClickThinking - Personal Safety on the Internet" to all Scottish schools and to a wide range of other bodies dealing with children. The pack gives guidance to children and young peopl…
4 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10963 by Mr Jim Wallace on 30 November 2000, what action it has taken in the light of its discussions with the End Child Prostitution and Pornography Trafficking Campaign.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The discussion with ECPAT (UK) forms part of a continuing series of Home Office led meetings, the outcome of which will result in a formal public consultation exercise early this year.
27 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of abuse prevention programmes in schools forms part of the criteria by which a school is assessed by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools and, if not, what plans it has to include such a criterion for future assessment.
Answer · Jack McConnell: In evaluating schools' arrangements for the care and welfare of pupils and for programmes of personal and social education, HMI consider a number of aspects of abuse prevention covering child protection issues, drug misuse and, more generally, health educatio…
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the process involved in diverting cases from prosecution and detail the guidelines which were issued to procurator fiscals to aid them in this process.
Answer · Colin Boyd: Diversion is the referral of an accused to the supervision of a social worker, psychiatrist, psychologist or mediator for the purposes of support, treatment or other action as an alternative to prosecution. It has its formal origins in Second Report of the St…
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in the light of the findings of the report commissioned by it, The Attrition of Sexual Offences in the Criminal Justice System, completed in May 1999.
Answer · Jim Wallace: <I><FONT FACE="Arial">The Attrition of Sexual Offences in the Criminal Justice System</I> was a feasibility study, completed in June 1999, which provided preliminary findings from a pilot sample. Since then, consideration of the responses to the consultation …
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to detail by local authority area, for each year since the diversion from prosecution scheme was introduced, the number of people who have been diverted from prosecution and what crimes they committed.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Piloting within 18 local authority areas of 100% funded schemes of diversion from prosecution to social work and other service agencies commenced in 1997. Information supplied by the local authorities on the number of cases commenced each year is set out belo…
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has committed to educating voluntary organisations on the implications of the European Convention on Human Rights for their work and what form any such education will take.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer Mr Paterson to my answer to question S1W-11531.
23 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has committed to educating the public on their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and what form any such education will take.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Human Rights Act, which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law, is UK legislation. The Home Office's Human Rights Unit has taken the lead in an extensive information and advertising campaign right across the UK on people's …
22 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken or plans to undertake any studies into the impact of opencast mines on national energy strategy.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Energy policy is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive has no plans to study the impact of opencast mines on national energy strategy.
22 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans for a moratorium on all opencast mine applications to allow a full and comprehensive assessment of the social, health, economic and environmental impacts of opencast mining.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: No. National planning policy guidance already sets out a detailed framework against which new proposals must rigorously be assessed.
22 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to fund research into the volume of applications being submitted for opencast mines and the number which are being granted.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: This information is already available, and is given <I>in Opencast Coal Mining Statistics</I>, published annually by the Planning Officers' Society. A copy of the latest edition, covering 1998-99, is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 98…
22 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to fund research into any adverse social, health, economic and environmental effects of opencast mines.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: A number of studies have already been undertaken on these issues. The Executive currently has no plans to initiate specific research in this area, although the need for further work is kept under constant review.
20 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-2517 by Nicol Stephen on 16 November 2000, what safeguards it will have in place by 2002 to protect children who now have access to the Internet either at home or at school from accessing sites which are unsuitable and communicating with people who m…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has issued an information pack "ClickThinking - Personal Safety on the Internet" to all Scottish schools and to a wide range of other bodies dealing with children. A thousand copies were also sent to police stations through the Sco…
15 Nov 2000 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to meet its target of providing every school pupil with Internet access and a personal e-mail address.
Answer · Jack McConnell: We expect that by 2002 all schools will be connected to the Internet and that e-mail will be available to all pupils.
8 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S1W-7421 lodged on 31 May 2000.
Answer · Angus MacKay: Question S1W-7421 was answered on 27 November 2000.
8 Nov 2000 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to meet its target of providing every school pupil with internet access and a personal email address.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: We expect that by 2002 all schools will be connected to the internet and that email will be available to all pupils.
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the End Child Prostitution and Pornography Trafficking Campaign, what issues were discussed and what the outcome was of any such discussions.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive has been involved in discussions with ECPAT through our joint review with the UK Government of the Sex Offenders Act 1997. The main issue discussed was the extension of the sex offenders register to those resident in the United Kingdom who have …
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had and with whom regarding a UK sex offenders register and what the outcome was of any such discussions.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There have been no such discussions. Arrangements already exist whereby police forces can access registration details on a UK basis through the Police National Computer and the Scottish Criminal Records Office computer.
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had and with whom regarding a European sex offenders register and what the outcome was of any such discussions.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There have been no such discussions. Arrangements already exist through the National Criminal Intelligence Service and Interpol for intelligence to be sent to other countries when the police believe a known sex offender has travelled to that country and antic…
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations it has undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of a sex offenders register which does not include those convicted abroad and under which those travelling abroad do not have to inform the relevant authorities of their whereabouts.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Under the provisions being introduced in the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill, Ministers will have the power to make regulations requiring certain sex offenders to notify the police when travelling abroad. More widely, the effectiveness of the registe…
7 Nov 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions are in place at present to place sex offenders who were convicted abroad on the sex offenders register.
Answer · Jim Wallace: There are no such provisions in the Sex Offenders Act 1997. However, we are considering this subject in our joint review of the 1997 Act with the UK Government.