Parliamentary questions

Gavin Brown

1,064 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

13 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much shoplifting costs the economy annually.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is not held centrally. Table 1 of the Scottish Government''s Recorded Crime in Scotland 2007-08 publication shows the number of recorded instances of shoplifting per year from 1998-99 to 2007-08. <a href="h…

13 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will review the impact that home reports have had on the housing market.

Answer · Alex Neil: We will commission a review after 12 months of operation, starting in December 2009, to consider the impact of home reports on the housing market as far as is possible at that time and to address operational issues that may have arisen where this would impro…

13 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-6169 by Alex Neil on 12 March 2009, what evidence it has that home reports are stimulating the housing market.

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21930 on 23 March 2009. 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/Apps2/…

13 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-6169 by Alex Neil on 12 March 2009, to what extent selling agents believe that home reports are stimulating the housing market.

13 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-6169 by Alex Neil on 12 March 2009, what percentage of selling agents believe that home reports are stimulating the housing market.

13 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-6169 by Alex Neil on 12 March 2009, how many selling agents believe that home reports are stimulating the housing market.

Answer · Alex Neil: The answer to question S3O-6169 in this respect reflects the published views of a number of senior property professionals, as estate agents or reporting the views of estate agents, with whom they deal, supported by informal comment and examples.

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases in the Lothians region have resulted in fiscal fines being imposed since the implementation of summary justice reforms and what the total value is of such fines.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: A total of 5,284 offers of fiscal fines were issued from 10 March 2008 to 28 February 2009, and the total value of these was £519,975. In the same period, a total of 260 offers of a combined fiscal fine and compensation offers were issued, with a total fine v…

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been collected in the Lothians region in fiscal fines imposed since the implementation of summary justice reforms and in how many cases (a) no payment has been made and (b) payments are overdue.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: From the 4,539 fiscal penalties registered and accepted (including deemed acceptance) between 10 March 2008 and 31 December 2008 with a value of £493,000 in the Sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders, Scottish Court Service (SCS) has collected £173,000. 6…

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the age profile was of those against whom (a) charges were brought and (b) prosecutions were made under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in the Lothian and Borders police force area in each of the last three years.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The following tables show the age profile of the accused for charges which were reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in the last three years, and charges which were prosecuted - in the Lothian a…

12 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what disposals were applied to people prosecuted under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in the Lothians and Borders police force area in each of the last three years.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The available information is given in the following table. Persons with a Charge Proved in Lothians and Borders Police Force Area, Where the Main Offence was Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 19711, by Disposal, 2004-05 to 2006-07 <table …

12 Mar 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the introduction of home reports has had on the housing market.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors considers that the home report has tempted potential buyers back to the housing market, that buyers are making the most of having home reports available to them and that this is keeping interest in the housing mark…

10 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions brought under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 were dealt with by a direct measure in 2007-08, broken down by (a) police force area and (b) type of offence.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The following table shows the total number of charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 where the initial decision taken by the Procurator Fiscal was to deal with the offending behaviour with the offer of a fiscal fine in 2007-08. The figures includ…

10 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20834 by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2009, how many of the 248 repeat offenders committed (a) two crimes, (b) three crimes, (c) four crimes, (d) five to 10 crimes and (e) more than 10 crimes.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The 248 repeat offenders had a charge proved for crimes/offences (in the period back to 1 April 1997) on the following number of occasions: (a) 125 people - two occasions; (b) 60 people - three occasions; (c) 20 people - four occasi…

10 Mar 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20834 by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2009, how many offences were committed by the 248 repeat offenders.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The 248 repeat offenders had a charge proved on 751 separate occasions in the period back to 1 April 1997. These 751 occasions accounted for 1,893 individual offences for which a charge was proved.

5 Mar 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many eligible businesses did not receive the Small Business Bonus in 2008.

Answer · Jim Mather: We are currently gathering information on the uptake of Small Business Bonus Scheme. Initial indications are that uptake of the scheme amongst eligible businesses has been strong.

26 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people charged with assault to injury from 1 October 2008 to 31 January 2009 have received a direct measure, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The following table shows the number of charges of Assault to Injury, where the initial decision taken by the Procurator Fiscal was to deal with the offending behaviour by means of a direct measure from 1 October 2008 to 31 January 2009. The Crown Of…

26 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures have been issued by procurators fiscal for vandalism in each month since August 2008.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The following table shows the number of charges under section 52(1) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (wilfully or recklessly destroy or damage property), where the initial decision taken by the Procurator Fiscal was to deal with the off…

26 Feb 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people charged with assault to injury from 1 October 2008 to 31 January 2009 have received a direct measure.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0226-01.htm">http://www.scot…

11 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes were committed by people under 18 in the Lothians region in 2008 and how many of these were by (a) first-time offenders and (b) repeat offenders.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: This information has been taken from the Scottish Government''s Court Proceedings database and does not include young people who have been referred to the reporter. In 2006-07, the latest year for which information is available, there were 641 individuals und…

11 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much alcohol-related illness cost NHS Lothian in each of the last five years.

Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Government provided £3,401,218 to NHS Lothian in 2009-10 for the provision of alcohol brief interventions and alcohol-specific treatment and support services. However, the total costs of alcohol-re…

11 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many alcohol-related incidents have taken place in schools in the Lothians region in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) type of incident and (b) local authority.

Answer · Keith Brown: This information is not collected centrally.

11 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences of selling alcohol to people under 18 have been detected in the Lothians region in the last 12 months as a result of the national roll-out of the test purchasing of alcohol.

Answer · Shona Robison: Information obtained from Lothian and Borders Police indicates that between January and December 2008 the force undertook 255 intelligence-led test purchase visits to off“sales premises. Of those premises tested there were 39 first failures and four second fa…

3 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people caught by police with (a) knives or (b) other offensive weapons represents (i) repeat and (ii) first-time offenders in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on whether people caught by the police with knives/other offensive weapons are repeat or first-time offenders is not held centrally.

3 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people caught with drugs by police represents (a) repeat and (b) first-time offenders in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on whether people caught with drugs by the police are repeat or first-time offenders is not held centrally.

3 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were caught by police with (a) knives and (b) other offensive weapons in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The number of offensive weapon offences recorded by the eight police forces in Scotland in each of the last five years are shown in the following tables. Offences Involving an Offensive Weapon, by Local Authority Area, 2003-04 <table border=1 c…

3 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the business survival rate is and what information it has on such figures for the United Kingdom.

Answer · Jim Mather: Data on the survival rate of businesses are released annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The latest available data refers to the one-year survival rate of all newly-born enterprises in 2006. However, the two, three, four and five-year surviv…

3 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the workforce was employed in the public sector in each year since 1997 and what information it has on such figures for the United Kingdom.

Answer · John Swinney: The official source for public sector employment statistics is the Quarterly Public Sector Employment series. Estimates for Scotland are published by the Scottish Government and UK estimates are published by the Office for National Statistics. Table 1 shows t…

3 Feb 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many business start-ups there were in each year since 1997 and what information it has on such figures for the United Kingdom.

Answer · Jim Mather: Data on the number of VAT registrations are released annually by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). These figures are used to monitor the number of business start-ups. The latest available data refers to all VAT registrations…

29 Jan 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to consider project bank accounts for its own construction contracts.

Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Government is liaising with Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and industry groups and in due course will consider the implications for Scottish policy arising from OGC''s on-going monitoring and subsequent evaluation, in practice, of the Guide to F…

22 Jan 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19457 by Frank Mulholland on 20 January 2008, how many direct measures have been issued by procurators fiscal in relation to alleged offences under section 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 since April 2008, broken down by (a) type of drug, (b) cl…

Answer · Frank Mulholland: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. While the use of direct measures for possession of Class A drugs in very exceptional circumstances cannot be discounted, the clear policy is that they should only be issued fo…