Parliamentary questions
Lewis Macdonald
2,224 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
26 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-12627 by Kenny MacAskill on 26 February 2013, what the figure is for 15 to 17-year-old prisoners.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The following answer was corrected on 23 September 2013 I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “The Scottish Prison Service does not collect information on the amount of hours a…
21 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hours per week on average convicted prisoners are held in lockdown in their cells, also broken down by prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “The standard regime in Scottish prisons is for prisoners to be locked in their cells on a Monday to Friday basis from 9pm to 7am and at the…
21 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve protection from assault for shopworkers.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Everyone should have protection under criminal law and that is why the Scottish common law of assault provides legal protections to everyone, including public facing workers, as they go about their daily lives. Anyone committing an assault (including those on…
15 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the (a) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, (b) Scotland Act 1998 and (c) Human Rights Act 1998 are applied in judging petitions to the nobile officium.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The application of statute in court proceedings is a matter for the judicial authorities.
11 Mar 2013 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to tackle contraband in prisons.
4 Mar 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government which minister has portfolio responsibility for the Rural Payments and Inspections Division.
4 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have been found in possession of a mobile phone in each of the last five years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The number of incidents of mobile telephones recovered which can be linked to a prisoner by year is as follows: 2012 2011 2010 2009…
4 Mar 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to installing devices to block mobile phone signals in prisons.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The Scottish Prison Service is in the early stages of planning the implementation of the provisions of The Prisons (interference with Wirele…
28 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-12215 by Kenny MacAskill on 8 February 2013, how many (a) High Court fines, (b) Sheriff Court fines, (c) Justice of the Peace Court fines, (d) District Court fines, (e) Stipendiary Magistrate Court fines and (f) fiscal direct penalties for drugs off…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the chief executive of the SCS who will reply in writing within twenty days.
28 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-12215 by Kenny MacAskill on 8 February 2013, how many (a) High Court fines, (b) Sheriff Court fines, (c) Justice of the Peace Court fines, (d) District Court fines, (e) Stipendiary Magistrate Court fines and (f) fiscal direct penalties imposed for c…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the chief executive of the SCS who will reply in writing within twenty days.
25 Feb 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what contribution Scotland’s offshore wind resources will make to meeting European Union renewable energy targets.
12 Feb 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-12384 by Kenny MacAskill on 8 February 2013, how many custodial sentences of (a) less than three months and (b) between three and six months have been imposed in each sheriffdom in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table. People given a custodial sentence of six months or less in Scottish Courts, 2007-08 to 2011-12 Sheriffdom/sentence length 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Glasgow and Strathkelvin …
11 Feb 2013 · Portfolio Question
To as the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities has had discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth on the impact on cities of the Business Rates Incentivisation Scheme and whether she has communicated the outcome to the ci…
4 Feb 2013 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister who will administer any fund established from the proceeds of a victims’ surcharge on offenders.
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients referred for a scan without referral by a consultant since January 2012 have not been seen within the 18-week target time, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12631 on 25 February 2013. 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/parliamenta…
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients who have been refered by a consultant for a scan since January 2012 have not been seen within the 18-week target time, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Alex Neil: The specific information requested is not collected centrally. Information is published for the total of numbers waiting and patients waiting more than the six weeks standards for the eight key diagnostic tests. This includes CT, MRI and ultrasound scans as w…
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what options for the organisation of the independent custody visiting schemes after 1 April 2013 have been proposed by (a) the Scottish Government, (b) the Scottish Police Authority and (c) independent custody visiting scheme administrators and what stage of consideration each proposal h…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Justice officials have been working closely with the current scheme administrators throughout 2012 to develop proposals for the new statutory custody visiting scheme. Draft proposals were shared with the Scottish Police Authority in December 2012. A meeting o…
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what average number of hours per week convicted prisoners spend out of their cells (a) across the prison estate and (b) in each penal establishment.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “The Scottish Prison Service does not collect information in this way regarding the time offenders in custody spend out of their cell.”
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what targets the Scottish Prison Service has for the number of hours per week that convicted (a) short-term and (b) long-term prisoners should be engaged in purposeful activity.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: “The delivery of purposeful activity in the Scottish Prison Service is currently monitored through a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). …
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what average number of hours per week convicted prisoners are engaged in purposeful activity (a) across the prison estate and (b) in each penal establishment.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “The average number of hours per week which convicted prisoners are engaged in purposeful activity across a) the prison estate and b) in eac…
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) programmes and (b) activities constitute purposeful activity in prisons.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “Purposeful activity as defined in the Prison and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011 includes work, education, learning and …
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the definition is of purposeful activity in prisons.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “Rule 84(2) of The Prison and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011 defines purposeful activities as Work Education of any k…
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-11856 by Kenny MacAskill on 23 January 2013, what percentage of all fiscal fines, including those discharged, has been paid or is on track to be paid.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The percentages in the following table have been taken from Scottish Court Service’s Quarterly Fines Report 14. Year Fiscal fines paid/on track to be paid expressed as a percentage of the value imposed (including discharges) Fiscal fines paid/on track to b…
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have appeared in court to face charges in relation to their original offence after their fiscal direct penalty has been (a) refused and (b) recalled in each year since 2009.
Answer · Lesley Thomson: This information is not held centrally.
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fiscal direct penalties have been withdrawn at the Procurator Fiscal’s discretion for (a) a failure to pay or complete a fiscal direct penalty and (b) other reasons in each year since 2009.
Answer · Lesley Thomson: This information is not held centrally
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fiscal direct penalties for (a) motor and (b) other offences have been withdrawn for mandatory reasons in each year since 2009.
Answer · Lesley Thomson: This information is not held centrally
28 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many alleged offenders have appeared in court to face charges in relation to their original offence following a failure to pay or complete a fiscal direct penalty, in each year since 2009.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally.
28 Jan 2013 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government has approved plans for staff redundancies suggested by the Scottish Police Authority.
18 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has given to councils regarding the type of work to be carried out by people sentenced to community payback orders.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Practice guidance on the operation of the Community Payback Order (CPO), drawn up in consultation with a range of relevant organisations and agencies, was issued to local authorities on 24 December 2010, in advance of the legislation coming into force. This g…
18 Jan 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hours of community payback orders have (a) been completed in (i) full and (ii) part and (b) not been completed since February 2011, broken down by community justice authority area.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information from local authorities on the number of hours completed as part of unpaid work or other activity requirements successfully completed in 2011-12 is published at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Datasets/SocialWork…