Robert Brown

31 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available for alcohol-free activities for under-18s in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11, expressed in real terms.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has provided a range of funding to support diversionary activities for young people. It is not possible to specify which of this targets only under -18s.</p> <p >Under the CashBack for Communities initiative we have invested £11 mill…

31 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) percentage and (b) number of under 18s identified by the police as having consumed alcohol had obtained their alcohol from a parental home.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.</p> <p >The Scottish Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey 2006 provides some information on sources of alcohol for 13 and 15-year-olds. 61% of 13-year-olds and 39% of 15-year-olds who had ever had a drink didn…

31 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) percentage and (b) number of under-18s admitted to accident and emergency departments suffering from alcohol-related problems had obtained their alcohol from a parental home.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.</p> <p >The Scottish Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey 2006 provides some information on sources of alcohol for 13 and 15-year-olds. 61% of 13-year-olds and 39% of 15-year-olds who had ever had a drink didn…

31 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any assessment of the success of alcohol referral schemes.

Answer · Shona Robison: There are a range of local alcohol referral, treatment and support services commissioned and funded by NHS boards and alcohol and drug action teams. It is for these bodies to ensure that these local programmes are effectively assessed and monitored and that l…

31 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available for alcohol referral schemes in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11, expressed in real terms.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government provides funding for alcohol services through NHS boards and local alcohol and drug action teams (ADATs). It is for ADATs and boards to decide which services to fund based on identified local need.</p> <p >£24.86 million has been dist…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many licence holders have received a fine under section 113 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and what the amount was in each case.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: None. In line with the previous Executive''s timetable for implementing the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, section 113 does not come into force until 1 September 2009.</p>

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been given to licence holders regarding section 113 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Guidance is given to prospective personal licence holders as part of the training required by the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. Before a personal licence can be granted, the applicant must possess a licensing qualification. The training which leads to the aw…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the likely impact on off-sales of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The accompanying documents for the Licensing (Scotland) Bill included a regulatory impact assessment. Further regulatory impact assessments have been published in respect of licensing fees and alcohol display areas, the latter of which applies to alcohol for …

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to improve public awareness of the new Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 regime, which will come into effect on 1 September 2009.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: A leaflet <i >Alcohol Licensing in your Community</i> is available which sets out information on the key changes, including supporting or objecting the award of a new premises licence, how to take action if there are problems with premises when it is trading,…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11326 by Kenny MacAskill on 17 April 2008, what (a) targets it has in place and (b) action it is taking to increase the numbers of licence-holders prosecuted for selling alcohol to intoxicated customers.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Prosecutors have no targets for the number of prosecutions which should be brought against licence-holders who sell alcohol to intoxicated customers. Decisions to prosecute are taken on a case-by-case basis when reports of such offences are received from the …

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12371 by Shona Robison on 9 May 2008, what targets it has in place and what action it is taking to reduce the number of under-18s admitted to hospital accident and emergency departments suffering from alcohol-related problems.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has no central target in place in relation to this.</p> <p >In June 2008, we published our discussion document <i >Changing </i><i >Scotland</i><i >''s Relationship with Alcohol</i> which outlined a robust package of measures to tackl…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is given to police forces on whether under-18s admitted suffering from alcohol-related problems should be referred to alcohol counselling or support services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has not provided any such guidance to police forces.</p>

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is given to accident and emergency departments on whether under-18s admitted suffering from alcohol-related problems should be referred to alcohol counselling or support services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has not issued any such guidance. These are decisions made by clinicians on the basis of their own clinical judgement and on a case-by-case basis.</p>

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12371 by Shona Robison on 9 May 2008, how many of the 1,094 under-18s admitted to hospital accident and emergency departments suffering from alcohol-related problems were referred to alcohol counselling or support services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.</p>

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many off-licence premises there were in 2008 and, of these, how many received a test-purchase visit as permitted under section 105 (2) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Available figures indicate that there were 6,232 off-sales licences in force in Scotland at 31 December 2007. Between December 2007 and September 2008 1,180 off-sales premises were tested.</p>

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people have received a fine under section 105 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and what the amount was in each case.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are no such recorded figures because only subsections (1) to (3) and (6) of section 105 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 are in force. The remaining subsections of section 105 will come into force on 1 September 2009. Until then, transitional arrang…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been given to licence holders regarding section 105 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Test purchasing is, of course, an enforcement tool which is available to the police to assess compliance with the licensing law and, as such, no specific guidance is available to licensees. However, the roll-out of alcohol test purchasing arrangements across …

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been given to police officers with regard to enforcement of section 105 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Guidance is available in <i >A</i> <i >Practical Guide To Test Purchasing in Scotland</i><b> </b>which can be accessed on the Scottish Government website. This guidance, which draws on the experiences gained from the Scottish test purchasing pilots on tobacco…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on alcohol referral services for children and young people since May 2007.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Government provides funding for alcohol services through NHS boards and local Alcohol and Drug Action Teams (ADATs). It is for ADATs and boards to decide which services to fund based on identified local nee…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on the National Conversation.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Expenditure on the National Conversation supports delivery of our manifesto commitment to give the Scottish people the opportunity to debate, reflect and then decide Scotland''s constitutional future in a referendum.</p> <p >The design, publication, translat…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has (a) taken and (b) plans to take to inform young people that a child or young person who buys or attempts to buy alcohol, whether for personal use or for another person, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the stand…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government recognises the need for increased awareness in this respect and will continue to look for appropriate opportunities to do so. For example, we would propose to cover it in the multi-faceted campaign that is currently being developed in …

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) reported incidents, (b) prosecutions and (c) convictions there have been under section 105 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 in each year since it came into force.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There are no such recorded figures because only subsections (1) to (3) and (6) of section 105 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 are in force. The remaining subsections of section 105 will come into force on 1 September 2009. Until then, transitional arrang…

30 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) was spent in 2008 and (b) is planned to be spent in 2009 on alcohol test purchasing by (i) it and (ii) police forces.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has incurred no specific expenditure on alcohol test purchasing in 2008 nor does it anticipate doing so in 2009. It is not possible to provide costs incurred by Scottish Police Forces for mounting alcohol test purchasing programmes, be…

27 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were born to women in prison in the last five years.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Since November 2003, 24 babies have been born to mothers in custody.</p>

27 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what fee exemptions are available for individuals to access justice in the civil courts.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Fees are not payable by a person if:</p> <p >(a) the person or his or her partner is in receipt of income support under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;</p> <p >(b) the person is in receipt of an income based jobseeker''s allowance…

27 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of subsidy it is projected will be provided to civil court business in each year until 2011.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The consultation paper of 11 February 2008 published by the Scottish Court Service projected the following subsidy levels arising from the proposals.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=124 valign=top > <p >&…

27 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of subsidy has been provided to civil court business in each of the last five years.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: </p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top > <p >&nbsp;</p> </td> <td valign=top > <p align=center >2003-04</p> <p align=center >(£ Million)</p> </td> <td valign=top > <p align=center >2004-05</p> <p …

21 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is encouraging police forces to work in partnership with local authorities, health and other agencies to establish best practice in dealing with drunk and incapable people.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government, working with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service and the NHS, commissioned research on drunk and incapable people in June 2008. This aims to identify the potential scale of the problem …

21 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the Tayside Psychiatric Assessment Protocol is used as a model of good practice by other police forces across Scotland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Provision of medical services in police custody is determined at a local level. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is considering the </b>report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland on medical services for people in police custody…

21 Oct 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is undertaking with (a) the NHS, (b) the Scottish Prison Service, (c) individual police forces, (d) the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and (e) local authorities to improve access to suitable medical services for people in police custody.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Provision of medical services in police custody is determined at a local level, and each police force in Scotland has arrangements in place for the health care of those in its custody. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland Health and Medical Se…