Bill Aitken

23 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases Crown motions for adjournment were refused within Glasgow Sheriff Court and Glasgow District Court in each of the last two years.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: The information requested isnot available.</p>

23 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many arrest warrants are outstanding within the Strathclyde Police area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: This is a matter for Strathclyde Police. We understand from Strathclyde Police that on 14 April 2004 there were 5,327 warrants outstanding.</p>

23 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many means warrants are outstanding within the Strathclyde Police area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: This is a matter for StrathclydePolice. We understand from Strathclyde Police that on 14 April 2004 there were 20,249warrants outstanding.</p>

19 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the effect on small companies in the construction industry of the insolvency of the main contractor, it will examine insolvency law in respect of those matters within its control.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Corporate insolvency law isalmost wholly reserved to the UK Government under the Scotland Act 1998. It isfor the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to review the effect ofinsolvency legislation on industry. The Enterprise Act 2002, which followed arecent …

26 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the draft Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2003, what the role of money advisers and Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) administrators will be in respect of debt management, collection and the making of payments to creditors.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Money advisers and the DAS Administratorhave no direct role in these areas. The aim of the scheme is to assist and supportdebtors to enable them to manage the debt themselves. Money advisers will do thisby offering money advice and assistance in implementing …

25 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the draft Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2003, whether it will make explicit references to the need for total disclosure of all debts at the start of any debt arrangement scheme.

Answer · Hugh Henry: It is not intended that the regulationswill require this. During the passage of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Bill,the Social Justice Committee expressed concern that a debtor may genuinely forgeta debt. It would be unduly harsh if a debt pay…

25 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the draft Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2003, what fee is envisaged in respect of access to the register by a creditor or loan provider.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The current consultation on thedraft regulations seeks views on the level at which register search fees shouldbe set. That consultation closed on 2 October and the views of the respondents willbe taken into account in determining the level of the fees.</p>

11 Jun 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases not proceeded with by procurators fiscal in 2002-03 were in respect of (a) non-endorsable road traffic offences, (b) road traffic offences endorsable and subject to disqualification under "totting up", (c) disqualifiable motoring offences, (d) offences against property, (e)…

Answer · Colin Boyd: The information sought can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Current Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service information systems are designed to support core operations of the department and track the progress of cases and it is not possible to ex…

17 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether local enterprise companies should be led by people that have expertise in high-growth entrepreneurial multi-sector enterprises, in the light of recent developments in some business sectors and, in particular, in the manufacturing sector.

Answer · Iain Gray: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

17 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any guidelines on the appointment of chairpersons of local enterprise companies (LEC).

Answer · Iain Gray: Scottish ministers are responsible for appointments to the Boards of Scottish Enterprise (SEn) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) under the terms of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990, and in accordance with the code of practice issued b…

10 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how long judges sat at each of the last five sittings of the High Court in Glasgow.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Judges sat on average as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=398><TR><TD WIDTH="57%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=16><P>Sitting of 21 October</TD><TD WIDTH="43%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=16><P>4 hours per day</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="57%" VALIGN="TOP" HE…

8 Jan 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what disciplinary action was taken against prisoners involved in the disturbance at HM Prison Shotts in April 2002.

Answer · Jim Wallace: A report was sent to the Procurator Fiscal's Office on a prisoner who has now been liberated.

1 Jan 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Glasgow Housing Association has met the conditions set down for the housing stock transfer.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Executive has not yet received the final submission from Glasgow City Council to transfer its housing stock to the Glasgow Housing Association.

20 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many community service orders were made in each of the last two years.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Figures for community service orders in the last two years are as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=141><TR><TD WIDTH="60%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>1999-2000</TD><TD WIDTH="40%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>3,596</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="60%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>…

7 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been reported for breaching community service orders in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriffdom.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Figures for breach applications of community service orders are collected on the basis of numbers of applications, not numbers of people. Figures are not broken down by sheriffdom.

7 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many breaches of community service orders there were in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriffdom.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Figures for the number of breach applications relating to community service orders are not broken down by sheriffdom. The total figures for breach applications are available for the last two years, and are given in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACIN…

29 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to consider licensing companies that provide security services to householders and commercial businesses.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is committed to introducing effective and affordable regulation of the private security industry. Following a consultation last year, we are considering the best way to achieve this. We plan to make our position known shortly.

10 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been allocated to educational projects aimed at reducing the misuse of (a) drugs, (b) alcohol and (c) tobacco in the current financial year.

Answer · Richard Simpson: A range of educational activity aimed at reducing the misuse of drugs, alcohol and tobacco is funded by local authorities and other bodies, full details of which are not held centrally. <P>The Health Education Board for Scotland's alcohol and smoking specific…

1 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what average forfeiture of remission period was awarded as punishment for breaches of discipline as detailed in table 34 of the Statistical Bulletin: Prison Statistics Scotland 2001.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>6.2 days.

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are on bail following a petition appearance charged with murder and waiting to be served with indictment.

Answer · Colin Boyd: There are at present 17 cases in which an accused has appeared on petition charged with murder and been released on bail and in which indictments have not yet been served.

11 Sep 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been committed to prison for non-payment of fines over the last six months for which figures are available.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The provisional number of prison receptions for fine default in the first six months of 2002 was 3,631.

3 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent estimate is of the number of injecting drug abusers in the Greater Glasgow NHS Board area.

Answer · Richard Simpson: The Executive funded a study by the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health which estimates the national and local prevalence of problem drug misuse in Scotland. The study estimates that there are 7,187 drug inject…

3 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current annual cost is of running methadone projects in the Greater Glasgow NHS Board area and what the average cost of such projects is per drug abuser.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Information from Glasgow City Council, supported by Greater Glasgow NHS Board, indicates that the annual direct costs of the methadone programme are £1.6 million per 1000 patients. This cost rises to £1.9 million per 1,000 patients if onward rehabilitation co…

3 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many injecting drug abusers in the Greater Glasgow NHS Board area are currently on a methadone programme.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Greater Glasgow NHS Board has informed us that there are approximately 5,000 patients on the methadone programme in the NHS board area.

28 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners were detained in HM Prison Cornton Vale on 15 August 2002 (a) in total and (b) serving (i) custodial alternatives to fines and (ii) sentences of (1) between seven days and three months, (2) between three and six months, (3) between six months and two years, (4) between…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The information requested is given in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=141><TR><TD WIDTH="73%" VALIGN="TOP" …

27 Aug 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what the current estimated total cost is of materials being fitted in the new Parliament building and how much of this material is (a) Scottish in origin or (b) from other parts of the United Kingdom.

Answer · David Steel: Materials for the new Parliament building are included in Trade Contracts which are let under normal competitive tender procedures. The bids made by the competing Trade Contractors for each individual works package include the costs of labour and materials, b…

26 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes and offences have not been recorded as a result of failure of the updated police computer system.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The recording of crimes and offences is a matter for local police forces. The member may be referring to police reports of crimes and offences to the procurator fiscal which are now being handled electronically as part of the Integration of Scottish Criminal …

26 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons are currently on the Sex Offenders Register.

Answer · Jim Wallace: At 28 August 2002, 1,816 registered sex offenders were recorded by the Scottish Criminal Record Office as being administered by Scottish Police Forces.

26 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5064/2001, what the current position is in relation to the High Court Review report.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Lord Bonomy is expected to submit the report of his review of the High Court to ministers during the autumn.

22 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances a legally unqualified person can appear on behalf of another person in legal proceedings, broken down by criminal and civil court.

Answer · Jim Wallace: In terms of both the civil and criminal courts, the only persons who are generally permitted to appear and conduct cases are members of the Faculty of Advocates, solicitor advocates or solicitors and parties who are natural persons (party litigants). In gener…