Parliamentary questions
Lewis Macdonald
2,224 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether monitors in the proposed prison monitoring service will be able to carry out unannounced visits.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The monitors will access any prison either unannounced or by appointment, at any time. In most cases it will be unannounced.
6 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether monitors in the proposed prison monitoring service will have unlimited access to prisons during visits.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: During a visit to a prison the prison monitor must be given free access to every part of the prison and every prisoner within the prison.
6 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who will be responsible for appointing the monitors for the proposed prison monitoring service; for how long monitors will be appointed, and whether they will be paid.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Chief Inspector will be responsible for the appointment of the monitors. Monitors will be paid and the duration of their appointment will be for four years, but with flexibility for an extension when appropriate.
6 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether people with relevant experience but who have not worked in a prison setting will be excluded from working as monitors in the proposed monitoring service.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Applicants are likely to have a background in working in a prison environment, possibly within a prison service, but people with experience in other sectors will not be excluded from applying.
6 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how monitors will be recruited for the proposed prison monitoring service.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Chief Inspector will recruit and select the monitors based on applicants' experience, skills and knowledge. The appointments will be made by fair and open competition and recruitment will be conducted by the Scottish Government.
6 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many monitors will be employed per geographical area in the proposed prison monitoring service and whether they will be individuals or organisations.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Under the new monitoring service it is proposed that there will be three monitors employed and each monitor will cover one geographical area. The three monitors will be individuals rather than organisations.
6 Jun 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive into how many geographical areas the proposed prison monitoring service will be divided.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: It is likely that the Chief Inspector will deploy the monitors to prisons as shown in the following table. This system will also allow monitors to be deployed individually or collectively to prisons where the need is deemed greatest by the Chief Inspector. N…
31 May 2012 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister whether members of the existing prison visiting committees will have a role in the statutory monitoring service proposed by the Scottish Government.
30 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the community justice services’ budget is set aside for intensive support packages and how much has been in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Community based monitoring is met from existing local authority budgets. ISPs are provided on a “demand led” basis. For financial years 2007-08 to 2011-12 inclusive the actual expenditure provided by the Scottish Government each year for intensive support pac…
30 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many sex offenders have reoffended when subject to (a) monitoring through (i) intensive support packages or (ii) other statutory supervision orders and (b) no further monitoring following release.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The number of offenders who were recalled to prison when subject to an intensive support package each year since 2007 is as follows. Year Number Recalled 2007-08 4 2008-09 1 2009-10 8 2010-11 1 2011-12 2 The information requested for parts (ii)…
30 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for intensive support packages have been (a) received and (b) rejected in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The statutory responsibility regarding the requirement to monitor those subject to intensive supervision lies with local authority criminal justice social work departments rather than with the Scottish Government. They receive a funding allocation for that pu…
30 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many sex offenders who have served their whole prison sentence have been monitored through the use of the intensive support packages in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: No funding for intensive support packages has been provided by the Scottish Government for an offender who has served their whole prison sentence. However, for sexual offenders outwith their licence period, other measures such as sexual offences prevention or…
30 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) offenders and (b) sex offenders (i) are being monitored and (ii) have been monitored through the use of the intensive support packages in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Each intensive support package (ISP) where the Scottish Government have made a financial contribution since 2007 was related to the management and monitoring of a sex offender. The number of sex offenders monitored through the use of an ISP each year since 2…
28 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of multi-agency partnerships for the prevention of violence against women in the decision making process for the Violence Against Women Funding Stream has been agreed with COSLA.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Yes, the involvement of Multi Agency Partnerships for the prevention of violence against women in the decision making process for the Violence Against Women Fund has been agreed with COSLA.
28 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations are members of the multi-agency partnership for the prevention of violence against women in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The following organisations are members of the Multi Agency Partnership (MAP) for the prevention of violence against women in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire: Aberdeen City Council MAP representatives - Grampian Police (Domestic Violence Unit, Local Authority Lia…
28 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been available to the Violence Against Women Funding Stream in each of the last three years and how much will be available in each of the next three years.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Details of funding available to the Violence Against Women funding stream in each of the last three years (2008-11 to 2011-12) and for each of the next three years (2012-15) has been placed in the public domain on the Scottish Government’s Violence Against Wo…
28 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which applicants to the Violence Against Women Funding Stream have been successful in each of the last three years and how much each received .
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Violence Against Women (VAW) funding information for the last three years has been placed in the public domain on the Scottish Government’s Violence Against Women Web Pages. Information, including who has been successful, the local authority area in which the…
17 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been given to police forces regarding meeting the 14-day period required by the service level agreement to process Disclosure Scotland applications.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The service level agreements make it clear that Disclosure Scotland has obligations to individuals and organisations making disclosure applications. It is on the basis of the need for prompt responses to Disclosure Scotland enquiries that penalties have been …
17 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether police forces that fail to meet the 14-day period required by the service level agreement to process Disclosure Scotland applications can be penalised and, if so, whether these penalties have ever been applied.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The service level agreements that Disclosure Scotland have in place with Scottish relevant police forces do provide for penalties to be applied if targets are not met for a period of two consecutive months. There are different levels of penalties dependent up…
17 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) civilian staff and (b) police officers have been employed by each police force to carry out checks on Disclosure Scotland applications in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Disclosure Scotland does not hold information about the number of civilian staff and constables employed by relevant police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For relevant police forces in Scotland, we have figures at February 2011 which are set o…
17 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the Disclosure Scotland applications sent to police forces for additional checks has been processed outwith the 14-day period required by the service level agreement in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill : Information about the performance of relevant police forces against the service level target for each year since 2007 is set out in the following table. Percentage of Enquiries Processed outwith the 14 Day Target Year 2007 35% 2008 27% 2009 30% 20…
17 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police (a) staff and (b) officers have been employed as call handlers by each force in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is not held centrally. Resourcing issues such as this are the responsibility of the police forces.
17 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) 999 and (b) non-emergency calls have been (i) dropped or (ii) missed by each police force in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The number of 999 calls missed or dropped is not held centrally. Information on the percentage of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds between 2007-08 and 2010-11 is given in Table 1.5.2 of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework (SPPF) 2010-11 (http://w…
17 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many 999 calls have been received by each police force in each year since 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information requested can be found in Table 1.5.1 of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework Annual Report, 2010-11, which can be found on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/10/25105642/7 Please note tha…
3 May 2012 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take in response to the independent report published following the Ryan Yates case in Aberdeen.
2 May 2012 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions ministers have had with NHS Grampian regarding waiting times.
1 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will launch a consultation on the recommendations made in the Scottish Law Commission 2009's, Report on Succession, and which of the recommendations it plans to consult on.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government’s consideration of the options arising from the Scottish Law Commission’s Report on Succession and the conclusion of dialogue with stakeholders will determine the content of a consultation. We will consult when other priorities allow.
1 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce legislation to meet some of the recommendations made in the Scottish Law Commission's, Report on Succession, earlier than others.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government’s consideration of the options arising from the Scottish Law Commission’s Report on Succession will include an analysis of whether aspects of the Report might be progressed separately.
1 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recommendations made in the Scottish Law Commission's, Report on Succession, whether any legal obstacles have been identified that would prevent the law of succession in intestate cases being changed to favour partners and spouses over more distant relatives.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government’s consideration of options arising from the Scottish Law Commission’s Report on Succession will include an analysis of whether there are any legal obstacles to prevent the law of succession in intestate cases being changed to favour pa…
1 May 2012 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in consulting the relevant parties regarding the recommendations made in the Scottish Law Commission's, Report on Succession.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is considering options arising from the Scottish Law Commission’s Report on Succession. Officials have met with a number of stakeholders because, although a number of the Report’s recommendations had significant support, some are contr…