Parliamentary questions

Margaret Mitchell

550 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

28 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice’s assertion that the case has been made for the abolition of corroboration, for what reason the review group led by Lord Bonomy cannot be allowed to consider this case as part of its review into safeguards against miscarriages of justice.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Parliament approved the general principles of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill, including the removal of the corroboration requirement, at the Bill’s Stage 1 on 27 February 2014. In establishing Lord Bonomy’s review on additional safeguards, and in agree…

22 Apr 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of Police Scotland and what issues were discussed.

19 Mar 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its response to the Review of Expenses and Funding of Civil Litigation In Scotland.

12 Mar 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote young people’s interests and talents in culture and the arts.

10 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which police (a) stations and (b) public counters have closed down in each year since 2007 and on what date.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. This question relates to data pertaining to the eight legacy forces, and is a matter for Police Scotland.

10 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all police stations with public counters.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Police Scotland has published a document detailing Police Station Public Counter Opening Hours across Scotland from 3 March 2014. The document is available on the Police Scotland website, by following the link at: http://www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happenin…

10 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all operational police stations.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Police Scotland has provided the following list of operational police buildings, used for the deployment of police officers across Scotland: Property name Building name or building number Street Town Maddiston Police Office Main Road Maddiston Falk…

6 Jan 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to deal with perpetrators of serious sexual offences.

19 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) permanent and (b) temporary legal staff have been employed by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in each month since April 2007.

Answer · Lesley Thomson: The figures provided relate to the actual number of legal staff employed i.e. the headcount figure (Table 1) Table 1: Legal Staffing Figures (Headcount) Figures include all full time and part time staff currently at work and those on paid leave. The fu…

3 Dec 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it identifies and supports women who have post-natal depression.

13 Nov 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the effectiveness of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011.

11 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that seven out of 10 police control rooms are being considered for closure and how this meets its commitment to local policing.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Police control rooms are an operational matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority. One of Police Scotland’s top priorities is to protect and enhance services to local communities.

7 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people on the sex offenders register are listed as missing or whereabouts unknown.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Figures obtained from Police Scotland show that, as at September 2013 there were 10 registered sex offenders unaccounted for in Scotland. Of these, 9 were believed to be abroad. This information is only valid as at September 2013 because the information is dy…

7 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times people on the sex offenders register have failed to notify police that they intend to leave the UK and what sentence was imposed for such failure in each of last five years.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17717 on 7 November 2013 which gives the available information on failures to notify police. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for wh…

7 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times people on the sex offenders register have failed to notify police of being away from their usual home address and what sentence was imposed for such failure in each of last five years.

7 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to notifications of personal details, how many people on the sex offenders register have failed to (a) make an annual notification to the police, (b) notify police three days after their release from prison and (c) notify police of a change, in each of the last five years.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Scottish Government holds information on the number of convictions for failure to notify by people on the sex offenders register. The available information is given in the following table. Information on the exact circumstances of the failure to notify is not…

7 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many breaches of sexual offences prevention orders there have been in each of the last five years, broken down by the (a) nature of and (b) sentence imposed for the breach.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Scottish Government holds information on the number of convictions for breach of a sexual offences prevention order and the sentence imposed in each case. The available information is given in the following table. Information on the nature of the breach is no…

11 Sep 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the changes to the treatment room suite in Hamilton, what action it is taking to review the patient experience.

Answer · Alex Neil: The operation of the treatment room suite in Hamilton is a matter for NHS Lanarkshire. We expect all NHS boards to regularly and rigorously review their service provision and to ensure that they are safe and sustainable and that patients are receiving the bes…

18 Jun 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provision is made in local authority schools for access to educational psychology services.

22 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cannabis plants have been recovered in drug seizures by the police in each of the last five years.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Roseanna Cunningham: Information on the number of cannabis plants seized by Scottish police forces in Scotland in 2010-11 and 2011-12 is available from the Drug Seizures by Scottish Police Forces, 2011-12 statistical bulletin, which can be found at: http://w…

22 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received a (a) custodial sentence, (b) non-custodial sentence and (c) fine for (i) possession of cannabis, (ii) supply of cannabis and (iii) possession of cannabis with intent to supply, in each of the last five years.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The available information is given in the following table. People with a charge proved for possession and supply of cannabis1,2, by disposal, 2006-07 to 2011-12 Main result of proceedings 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Possession o…

22 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted for allowing the (a) production, (b) supply and (c) smoking of cannabis on their premises.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The available information is given in the following table. People with a charge proved for cannabis offences under Section 8 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 19711,2, 2006-07 to 2011-12 Section 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Section 8(A)…

22 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of (a) possession of, (b) supply of and (c) possession with intent to supply cannabis, in each of the last five years, broken down by age group.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The available information is given in the following table: People with a charge proved for possession and supply of cannabis1,2, by age group, 2006-07 to 2011-12 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Possession of drugs: …

12 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority will receive in additional income as a result of the 2012-13 business rate incentivisation scheme.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14256 on 19 April 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s Website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentaryb…

12 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities exceeded their 2012-13 annual business rates' target.

12 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority collected through the 2012-13 business rate incentivisation scheme.

Answer · John Swinney: How much each local authority collected in non domestic rates in 2012-13 will not be known until the final 2012-13 audited non domestic rate income returns are received in February 2014. The Scottish Government is actively working jointly with COSLA and loca…

25 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much money the NHS has saved in each of the last five years through generic prescribing.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not available centrally. Due to the complexities of prescribing it is not possible to accurately determine the amount of savings generated from generic prescribing alone. Generic drugs overall are much less expensive to the NHS t…

25 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many prescribing support staff are employed by each NHS board and how much each board has spent on employing such staff in each of the last five years.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not available centrally.

25 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines it has issued on generic prescribing.

Answer · Alex Neil: The long standing advice from the Scottish Government, and the Scottish Executive before it, is that generic drugs should be prescribed wherever clinically appropriate. Generic prescribing is supported by the medical profession. At health board level, generi…

18 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) fixed penalty notices and (b) custodial sentences have been issued for littering offences in each year since 2007, broken down by (i) type of offence and (ii) local authority area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number of fixed penalty notices issued by designated local authority officers and the police are not held centrally. However, information on other direct measures issued can be found in the answer to question S4W-12141 on 21 January 2013. …