Parliamentary questions

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

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

6 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any police forces are currently operating under full strength and, if so, which forces and by how many officers they are under strength.

Answer · Iain Gray: The information requested is not held centrally. From 1 April 1996 the controls previously exercised by ministers over police force numbers were removed. Since then it has been entirely for chief constables in consultation with police authorities to decide on…

6 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs would be of increasing (a) procurator fiscal and (b) deputy procurator fiscal numbers overall by (i) 10, (ii) 20, (iii) 30, (iv) 40 and (v) 50 and what the increase in numbers would be in each sheriffdom under an equitable distribution of these increases.

Answer · Colin Boyd: There are 49 Fiscal offices in Scotland. Each of these is headed by a single procurator fiscal who holds a commission from the Lord Advocate. All of these appointments are made from within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The salary and associa…

6 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the budgetary provision is in the current financial year for the employment of (a) procurators fiscal and (b) deputy procurators fiscal both in total and broken down by each sheriffdom.

Answer · Colin Boyd: Pay costs in each of the six fiscal areas embrace the cost of all legal staff, precognition officers and support staff. The costs of each category are not separately identified. The revised provisions for pay costs for the current financial year are:<TABLE…

6 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any sheriffdoms currently have a shortfall in the number of (a) procurators fiscal and (b) deputy procurators fiscal and, if so, which sheriffdoms and how large the shortfall is.

Answer · Colin Boyd: There is no shortfall: all Procurator Fiscal Offices have a procurator fiscal. As at 12 November 2001 there were eight depute fiscal posts vacant. Job offers have been made for these vacancies and the successful applicants will be in post by January 2002.

6 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) procurators fiscal and (b) deputy procurators fiscal are currently employed in each sheriffdom and how many were employed in each sheriffdom at 31 March and 30 September in each year since 1990.

Answer · Colin Boyd: The figures since September 1996 are as shown in the following tables. Records for dates before that are not broken down by sheriffdom. Since many staff are employed part-time, the figures given here are on a whole-time equivalent basis, which represents the …

6 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which departments are currently operating under full strength in each police force and by how many staff they are under strength.

Answer · Iain Gray: The information requested is not held centrally. It is for chief constables to decide on staffing levels of departments within police forces.

6 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers are currently employed in each police force and how many were employed in each force at 31 March and 30 September in each year since 1990.

Answer · Iain Gray: The information requested is shown in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=604><TR><TD WIDTH="8%" VALIGN="TOP">As at:</TD><TD WIDTH="8%" VALIGN="TOP"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE…

6 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost would be of increasing police numbers overall by (a) 500, (b) 1,000, (c) 1,500, (d) 2,000, (e) 2,500 and (f) 3,000, and what the increase in si'e of each police force would be under an equitable distribution of these increases.

Answer · Iain Gray: Estimated figures for the information requested are shown in the following table.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=425><TR><TD WIDTH="22%" VALIGN="TOP">Force</TD><TD WIDTH="78%" VALIGN="TOP" CO…

2 Nov 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive further to the answer to question S1W-18538 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 October 2001, whether The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will be published in November.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will be introduced to the Parliament shortly.

31 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether ethnic communities have convenient access to interpretation facilities and whether there are a sufficient number of interpreters available for each language.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Executive has convened a group to examine the provision of translation, interpreting and communication support across the public sector in Scotland.The group, which includes representatives from local government, health boards, the police, the Commissi…

31 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what ethnic community languages are spoken in Scotland and how many people who speak each language regard it as their first language.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland's Report Bilingualism, Community Languages and Scottish Education, published in 1999, quotes 60 languages used in daily life, including community languages.

31 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the illegal use of cocaine by young people has increased since 1997 and what the medical effects of cocaine abuse are.

Answer · Iain Gray: Information from the Scottish Misuse Database indicates an increase in the last five years in reported use among new clients attending drug services. In 1996-97, 78 (2.1%) of people under 25 attending services reported cocaine as one of their drugs of use. By…

31 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in bringing forward a Family Law (Scotland) Bill and when any such Bill will be introduced.

Answer · Iain Gray: As announced in Working together for Scotland: A Programme for Government, we will bring forward a draft bill to reform family law. We intend to publish a draft in the second half of 2002. Such a Bill would be the subject of consultation and would be i…

26 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the appointment of the new Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice-General will be announced.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The appointment of the new Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice-General is made by Her Majesty The Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

25 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments by the Lord Advocate on 24 October 2001 (Official Report, col. 3230), what its own definition of institutional racism is.

Answer · Colin Boyd: The Scottish Executive has accepted the definition of institutional racism as set out by Sir William Macpherson in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report. The Executive welcomes the definition in Dr Raj Jandoo's report which was formulated for the purposes of hi…

25 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to paragraphs 5 and 8 of the First Report of the Law Reform Committee for Scotland (Cmnd 88, 1957), whether the position that a "trespasser" in Scots Law is "not necessarily versans in illicito" has changed since the publication of that report.

Answer · Jim Wallace: It is for the courts to interpret the law. The law of trespass continues to operate on the same basis as in 1957.

19 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases there were of intra-uterine transfusion to rectify rhesus incompatibility in each year from 1976 to 2001.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The number of intra-uterine transfusions performed each year from 1976 to 2000 is shown in the following table which has been provided by ISD Scotland. Information for 2001 is not available centrally at present. It is understood that the majority of intra-ute…

18 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether urban fringe areas can be included in Natural Heritage Areas or whether this would require legislative amendment to the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Natural Heritage Area designation was intended to apply to large areas of land of outstanding natural heritage value. Such areas would be likely to have a wide range of nature conservation and landscape interests. Where an urban fringe area meets the relevant…

18 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what National Heritage Areas have been created under the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: No Natural Heritage Areas have been created under the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991. Following the introduction of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 there is no intention to designate any Natural Heritage Areas.

18 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to refer the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish Law Commission for its views.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Scottish Law Commission has already expressed its views on the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill during the extended consultation period for the draft Bill and Draft Scottish Outdoor Access Code earlier this year. Copies of the commission's response (n…

5 Oct 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake an investigation into the effectiveness of personal identity cards in combating and preventing crime in countries where such cards have been introduced.

Answer · Iain Gray: We have no plans to undertake such an investigation.

26 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17782 by Mr Jim Wallace on 21 September 2001, whether access agreements and management agreements will be abolished under the proposed Land Reform (Scotland) Bill and what the annual cost of such agreements has been in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: As stated in the answer given to question S1W-17782, the need for access agreements will disappear with the introduction of the right of responsible access. Management agreements will continue to be provided for under section 49A of the Countryside (Scotland)…

26 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17373 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 August 2001, whether the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill is likely to give rise to an increase in legal actions against land managers under the Occupiers' Liability (Scotland) Act 1960 and what advice or assurances it can gi…

Answer · Jim Wallace: We have always made clear our intention that the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill should not increase the liability of landowners towards those exercising access rights. Following consultation on the draft Land Reform Bill we are considering the need to give effec…

26 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a policy of encouraging crofters to purchase their crofts is being pursued.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive neither encourages crofters to purchase their crofts nor discourages them from doing so. We believe the decision about buying is a matter for the individual crofter, who is best able to judge where the balance of advantage lies in his/h…

25 Sep 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will be published in October, November or December this year.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill issued for consultation on 22 February 2001. Over 3,500 responses have been received and, as indicated in my answer to question S1O-03734 on 13 September 2001, the Bill is now being prepared for introduction to the Scotti…