Robert Brown

2 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many trainee firefighters have undergone training at the Scottish Fire Services College in each of the last five years.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The number of trainee firefighters who underwent training at the Scottish Fire Services College in 2005-06 was 104 (whole-time) and 23 (retained). For the financial years since then I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34006 on 9 June 2010. All an…

1 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action the community payback order working group is taking to ensure that, once introduced, their impact on reducing reoffending is monitored.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38003 on 9 December 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Busin…

1 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action the community payback order working group is taking to ensure that, once introduced, their operation is monitored.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38003 on 9 December 2010. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Busin…

1 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action the community payback order working group is taking to monitor preparation for the introduction of the orders.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38003 on 9 December 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Busin…

1 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings of the community payback order working group have taken place.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Since the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 received Royal Assent on 6 August, the community payback order (CPO) working group has met on four occasions. It will meet again on 13 December.</p> <p >At these meetings, the group has considered …

1 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who sits on the community payback order working group.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: A number of key stakeholders are represented on the community payback order working group. These include the Association of Directors of Social Work, Community Justice Authorities, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Court Service, th…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours per week on average prisoners serving sentences of (a) less than six months, (b) six months to two years and (c) over two years spend working.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >This information is not held in the format that has been requested. Typically, those prisoners employed in work parties will comple…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35269 by Kenny MacAskill on 22 July 2010, what the minimum number of hours is that a prisoner has to work.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >There is no fixed minimum number of hours that a prisoner has to work.</p> <p >Work allocation is dependent upon capacity and work avail…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum length of time was between a report being made to the procurator fiscal and the commencement of a criminal case by (a) sheriff and (b) district courts in each of the last three years, broken down by police force area.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: There is no legal maximum length of time between a report being received by the Procurator Fiscal and the commencement of a criminal case in a summary Court. However, the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, Section 136 stipulates that for some statutory o…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time was between a report being made to the procurator fiscal and the commencement of a criminal case by (a) sheriff and (b) district courts in each of the last three years, broken down by police force area.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)database records when an accused is marked for Court Proceedings i.e. when the Procurator Fiscal makes the decision that Court Proceedings are the appropriate course of action for an accused. We have, ther…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum length of time was for a criminal case to be dealt with by (a) sheriff and (b) district courts in each of the last three years, broken down by police force area.

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.</b></p>

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time was for a criminal case to be dealt with by (a) sheriff and (b) district courts in each of the last three years, broken down by police force area.

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.</b></p>

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many local businesses supply HM Prison Noranside with goods and services.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The only figures available are for Open Estate that includes Noranside and Castle Huntly. Separate data is not available for HMP Noransid…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its officials have met the Scottish Prison Service to discuss the possible closure of HM Prison Noranside.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The potential closure of prisons would be an operational matter for the Scottish Prison Service, who meet Scottish Government colleagues from the Justice Directorate on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues.</b></p>

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service has met the Governor of HM Prison Noranside to discuss the possible closure of the prison.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >I have advised the Governor of HMP Open Estate and SPS trade union officials that the capacity within the Open Estate would need to…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are employed at HM Prison Noranside, broken down by job type.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Noranside Staff</p> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=559 > <thead> <tr > <td width=164 nowrap valign=bottom > …

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average daily population of HM Prison (a) Noranside and (b) Castle Huntly has been in each of the last five years.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The following table shows the average daily populations for HMP Castle Huntly, HMP Noranside and HMP Open Estate.</p> <table bord…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to make full use of the open prison at HM Prison (a) Noranside and (b) Castle Huntly.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Access to HMP Open Estate forms part of the progression system of integrated case management for all prisoners in Scotland. Prisoners acc…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it remains committed to the value of open prisons.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The SPS remains committed to supporting prisoners to successfully make the transition from custody back into the community by provi…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are taken to prepare those long-term prisoners who have not had access to the open estate for reintegration into society.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >All prisoners are given the opportunity to prepare for release. Prisoners serving long-term sentences are subject to an intensive case ma…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) long-term and (b) life sentence prisoners have been released without first being sent to open prison in each of the last three years.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is shown in the following table. This shows the most recent available data. Data for 2009-10 are due to be published on 20 December 2010.</p> <p >Figures include long-term and life prisoners recalled from licence. For such prisoner…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) long-term and (b) life sentence prisoners have been released without first being sent to an open prison in each of the last three years.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The information requested is shown in the following table. This shows the most recent available data. Data for 2009-10 are due to be publ…

26 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether HMP Grampian is on schedule to open in 2014.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The Scottish Government is committed to replacing HMP Aberdeen and HMP Peterhead with HMP Grampian which is expected to open in 2014. The…

23 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that football banning orders issued in England and Wales apply in Scotland and vice versa.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37755 on 6 December 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliame…

23 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether people subject to football banning orders issued in England and Wales can be prosecuted in Scotland for attending a match in Scotland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37755 on 6 December 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/App…

23 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether football banning orders issued in England and Wales apply in Scotland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Yes. The UK Policing and Crime Act 2009 made provision to ensure that football banning orders (FBOs) issued in England and Wales apply in Scotland. This part of the Act came into force on 1 April 2010. In a recent case in Edinburgh, a person was convicted for…

22 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take account of the legal system of England and Wales and the Aarhus Compliance Committee’s recent ruling in relation to non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matte…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government does intend to take these matters into consideration. Such matters, both from England and Wales and further afield, are routinely considered when developing Scottish solutions, even when not directly applicable to Scotland.</p>

22 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it will give to the timely access to justice requirements of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters when introducing a time limit to bring a case as stated in its response to…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The requirements for timely access to justice in the Aarhus Convention are being considered. As noted in its response to the report of the <i >Scottish Civil Courts Review</i>, published on 11 November and available at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publ…

22 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether communities of interest and non-governmental organisations will have greater access to justice as required by the broad access to justice requirements of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental …

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to the question S3W-37745 on 1 December 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/…

22 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it will give to the access to justice requirements of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters when replacing the current tests of title and interest with a single and simpler …

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Development of future legislation will take account of the international obligations of the Scottish Government, including any imposed as a consequence of the Aarhus Convention. Greater access to justice for non-governmental organisations is already provided …