Parliamentary questions
Richard Baker
2,136 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
4 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for commencement of each section of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 (the Act) was passed by the Parliament on 30 June 2010 and received Royal Assent on 6 August 2010.</b></p> <p >Some provisions within the Act are already commenced or about to be commenced. These are as …
4 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will commence section 17 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 contains provisions for a new community sentence - the community payback order, and a presumption against short prison sentences. These provisions, along with two other related technical sections, will be…
15 Sep 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what changes it has made to the transport budget to achieve its target for 10% of journeys to be made by bicycle by 2020
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Following the publication of the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland and the commitment to achieving a 10% modal share for bicycles, Scottish Government investment in cycling increased from £11.5 million in 2009-10 to £17.3 million in 2010-11, an increase of ove…
15 Sep 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change has for cycling and pedestrian improvements on trunk roads in the Aberdeen commuter area for 2010 to 2015
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Cycling and walking facilities feature in the proposals for A90 Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and A90 Balmedie-Tipperty. Elsewhere Transport Scotland is concentrating standalone trunk road cycling and walking efforts between 2010 and 2015 in completion of…
15 Sep 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what principal cycling and pedestrian improvements for trunk roads are planned by Transport Scotland in 2010-11
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: In 2010-11, Transport Scotland is continuing to prioritise trunk road cycling and walking efforts on completion of the trunk road sections and crossings for the National Cycle Network (NCN) in accordance with the Trunk Road Cycling Initiative (which now forms…
15 Sep 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what Transport Scotland’s budget was in 2009-10 and what proportion of it was allocated to cycling and pedestrian improvements along or near trunk roads
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland''s trunk road capital budget was £256.8 million in 2009-10 of which £1.35 million was spent on standalone cycling and walking improvements along or near trunk roads. In addition cycling and walking provision was a feature of capital road im…
13 Sep 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many homicides there were in 2008-09, broken down by the (a) sex of the offender, (b) age of the offender, (c) police force area and (d) main method of killing.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number of homicides recorded in Scotland in 2008-09 broken down by (a) sex of the offender, (b) age of the offender, (c) police force area and (d) main method of killing is given in Tables 2, 4 and 6 of the statistical bulletin <i >Homicide…
9 Sep 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners were estimated to be illiterate in each of the last three years, broken down by prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29870 on 11 January 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available …
15 Jul 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, since the implementation of the framework contract for the provision of interpreting, translation and transcription services, on how many occasions courts have advised the Scottish Court Service about a case in which an aspect of the performance of the interpretation service has had an e…
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.</p>
15 Jul 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action the Translating, Interpreting and Communication Support Group has taken to improve the standards of translation and interpreting services and how it will evaluate progress.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-35316 on 5 August 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/Apps2/…
15 Jul 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30559 by Alex Neil on 22 January 2010, what further consideration it has given to how best to improve the quality and standards of interpretation services.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government facilitated an event in June for stakeholders to discuss how translation and interpretation services might be improved across the public sector. Partners are now working collectively to look at the suggestions and how we may work toget…
15 Jul 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30561 by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2010, how many interpretation assignments have been undertaken by the Scottish Court Service in each month of 2010, broken down by interpreters (a) with and (b) without a Diploma in Public Service Interpreting.
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.</p>
12 Jul 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the provisions in the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill for a presumption against custodial sentences of three months or less will come into force.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I will inform Parliament once a decision has been taken on the date on which the relevant provisions will come into force.</p>
21 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how long each prisoner released from custody on compassionate grounds under section 3 of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 was on licence before their death, broken down by (a) main offence and (b) name of prisoner where available.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is available from the Scottish Government''s website: www.scotland.gov.uk/lockerbie.</p>
21 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners accessed the Violence Prevention Programme while serving a custodial sentence in each of the last three years, broken down by prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Willie Pretswell, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond.</p> <p >The SPS has delivered a range of violence/anger related prisoner programmes during the last three years which has included the Violence Prevention Prog…
21 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted for an offence with a domestic aggravator in each of the last three years, broken down by police force area.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table.</b></p> <p > </p> <p >Persons Convicted for an Offence with a Domestic Aggravator Recorded<sup>1 2</sup>, 2006-07 to 2008-09</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=373 > <tr …
21 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of those convicted for an offence with a domestic aggravator received a custodial sentence of six months or less in 2008-09.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Of the 7,101 persons convicted of an offence with a domestic aggravator recorded in 2008-09, 9% received a custodial sentence of six months or less.</b></p>
21 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many offenders received a custodial sentence of six months or less in 2008-09, broken down by (a) main offence and (b) police force area.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table.</b></p> <p > </p> <p >Persons Given a Custodial Sentence of 6 Months or Less, by Crime<sup>1</sup> and Police Force Area, 2008-09</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=616 > …
17 Jun 2010 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it anticipates that work will commence on improvements at the Haudagain roundabout in Aberdeen.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: As I have made clear on a number of occasions we will start improvements to the Haudagain Roundabout on completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.</p>
16 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are taken by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to inform the families of victims of announcements that it makes.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has the power to refer a case to the High Court for determination where, following investigation, it believes there may have been a miscarriage of justice, and that it is in the interests of justice for a referral…
15 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much colleges received in core grants for teaching and student support in the last four years, including allocations for 2010-11, broken down by (a) year and (b) college.
Answer · Michael Russell: The funding of individual colleges is a matter for the Scottish Funding Council. I have asked its chief executive to write to the member with this information.</p>
15 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33972 by Kenny MacAskill on 8 June 2010, how many whole-time equivalent police support staff were employed in each police force on 31 March (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The numbers of police support staff employed in each force at 31 March in each of the years are shown in the following table.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td valign=top > <p > </p> </td> <td valign=to…
11 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34069 by Kenny MacAskill on 2 June 2010, whether it considers that it would be useful to hold such information regarding the number of fiscal fines issued to offenders and whether it intends to do so in the future.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The results of a wide ranging review of the Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings statistical bulletin and database were published in November 2009 and can be found at <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/scotstatcrime…
7 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the capacity of each secure accommodation unit (a) is and (b) was in each of the last three years, broken down by institution.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34241 on 15 June 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/Apps2/B…
7 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children (a) are held and (b) were held in secure accommodation in each of the last three years, broken down by institution.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The current number of children in secure care accommodation is not held centrally. However, the Scottish Government annually publishes secure care accommodation statistics which can be found at:</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/0…
7 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33689 answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 May 2010, how many racist incidents were recorded in the Grampian Police force area in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09, broken down by ethnic origin of the victim, as per table 8 of Racist incidents by ethnic group of…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The following table shows the number of racist incidents recorded by Grampian police force, broken down by ethnic group of victim.</p> <p >Racist Incidents Recorded by Grampian Police, by Ethnic Group of Victim, 2007-08 and 2008-09</p> <table border=1 cell…
7 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers are seconded to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, broken down by police force.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: On 10 June 2010 there were 211 police officers on secondment at the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. The following table breaks down these secondees by their home police force.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > …
3 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-33744, S3W-33745, S3W-33747, S3W-33748, S3W-33749, S3W-33752, S3W-33756, S3W-33757, S3W-33758 and S3W-33759 by Kenny MacAskill on 1 June 2010, whether it will provide answers to these questions that specifically address the issues raised.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: In my answer to question S3W-33743 on 1 June 2010, I made clear that the Scottish Government is absolutely committed to delivering 1,000 additional police officers in our communities by April 2011. The Scottish Government is providing the funding and I expect…
2 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many fiscal fines were issued to offenders released on licence in each of the last three years, broken down by sheriffdom.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is not held centrally.</p>
2 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was secured by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08, (c) 2008-09 and (d) 2009-10.
Answer · Frank Mulholland: The total amount of money secured by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (including both the National Casework Division and Civil Recovery Unit) through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, broken down per year is as follows:</p> <table border=1 cells…