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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-16246

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 September 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of investigation time is to process an antisocial behaviour order complaint, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S3W-15617

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been received about the Patient Transport Service in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S3W-15616

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cancellations there have been of travel arrangements made by the Patient Transport Service in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Cancellations of Patient Transport Service (PTS) journeys can be made for a variety of reasons and are made by GPs, hospitals, patients or the Scottish Ambulance Service. The service continues to try and reduce cancellations and they work closely with NHS boards to do this.

The information has been provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service and is set out in the table below. Information is not held for 2003-04.

NHS Board	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Borders	10,853	8,451	8,379	7,470
Fife	11,938	12,803	13,879	13,228
Forth Valley	11,674	11,589	14,905	16,251
Lothian	25,505	37,329	48,512	46,017
Tayside	13,237	13,006	14,477	13,720
Grampian	12,503	16,462	14,781	14,750
Highland	12,997	13,200	13,352	12,823
Argyll and Clyde*	101,711	124,516	90,946	30,956
Ayrshire and Arran	16,358	16,520	19,623	21,338
Dumfries and Galloway	5,089	7,244	7,273	8,157
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	32,227	31,752	37,868	46,345
Lanarkshire	35,170	32,548	29,288	29,361
Orkney	2	4	541	876
Shetland	4	13	428	575
Western Isles	880	1,165	1,280	1,195
Total Cancellations**	290,148	326,602	315,532	263,062
Total PTS Journeys***	1,734,058	1,730,300	1,688,194	1,691,971

Notes:

*The Scottish Ambulance Service IT systems record data under the previous structure of 15 geographic health boards.

**A cancellation is defined as the cancellation of a pre-booked appointment on the previous day. It is counted as a cancellation while the ambulance service has control over the process, and prior to completion of the planning process for the next day. Any journey which is cancelled on the same day as it was due to take place is counted as an aborted journey. Where the SAS has not been notified of a cancellation and proceeds to pick up the patient, which is counted as an abort and the return journey is also counted as an abort rather than a cancellation.

***Cancellations are not included in total PTS journeys but aborts are included as these remain on the vehicle run schedule for the day.

Question reference: S3W-15618

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2008
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 September 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review the operation of the Patient Transport Service.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review the operation of the Patient Transport Service (PTS). However, the PTS will be discussed as part of the public annual review of the Scottish Ambulance Service on 24 September. In addition, the Scottish Ambulance Service is currently in the process of revising its Patient Transport Service Strategy. As part of that process, the results of an extensive survey of service users and strategic stakeholder views on aspects of the service is currently being analysed for consideration by the SAS board.

Question reference: S3W-15180

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 19 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive why the list of species prohibited from being released into the wild, as set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, has not been updated since the end of the last consultation on its content.

Question reference: S3W-15181

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 19 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive when the list of species prohibited from being released into the wild, as set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, was last updated.

Question reference: S3W-15184

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were given a prison sentence of (a) less than one week, (b) one to two weeks, (c) two to three weeks, (d) three to four weeks, (e) four to five weeks, (f) five to six weeks, (g) six to seven weeks and (h) seven to eight weeks in each of the last 10 years.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons given Custodial Sentences in Scottish Courts by Selected Sentence Length, 1997-98 to 2006-07

Financial Year	Sentence in Days
Financial Year	1-6	7-13	14-20	21-27	28-34	35-41	42-48	49-56
1997-98	7	222	274	57	1,725	48	69	12
1998-99	4	193	240	40	1,763	41	59	13
1999-2000	4	162	256	47	1,646	46	61	13
2000-01	11	213	221	40	1,633	27	57	11
2001-02	21	189	251	45	1,770	63	64	8
2002-03	5	128	237	38	1,779	34	65	10
2003-04	2	119	206	56	1,670	36	56	6
2004-05	2	87	164	35	1,765	80	72	34
2005-06	4	69	163	71	1,577	242	135	45
2006-07	5	87	240	79	1,717	388	204	103

Question reference: S3W-15185

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, crimes resulted in a person being found guilty in court in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) main crime and (b) offence category.

The available information is given in the following tables. The statistics dealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable for a number of reasons. A person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim, and a crime may be recorded in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year. Crimes committed by children will also generally be dealt with through the children''s hearings system rather than courts, while some minor crimes can be dealt with by alternatives to prosecution such as fiscal fines. The implementation in April 2004 of the more victim oriented Scottish Crime Recording Standard increased the numbers of minor crimes recorded by the police, such as minor crimes of vandalism and minor thefts.

Crimes Recorded by the Police, Scotland, 1997-98 to 2006-07

Financial Year	Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence	Crimes of Indecency	Crimes of Dishonesty	Fire-Raising, Vandalism etc.	Other Crimes
1997-98	13,394	7,414	266,886	81,036	52,272
1998-99	14,693	7,071	276,974	77,624	57,734
1999-2000	15,831	5,882	275,557	81,197	57,014
2000-01	14,812	5,727	253,295	85,781	58,879
2001-02	15,653	5,994	242,878	94,944	66,719
2002-03	16,074	6,623	224,785	97,598	73,201
2003-04	15,187	6,786	211,004	103,732	77,505
2004-05	14,728	7,324	210,365	128,566	77,138
2005-06	13,726	6,558	187,798	127,889	81,814
2006-07	14,099	6,726	183,760	129,734	84,938

Persons Convicted of Crimes in Scottish Courts¹, 1997-98 to 2006-07

Financial year	Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence	Crimes of Indecency	Crimes of Dishonesty	Fire-Raising, Vandalism etc.	Other Crimes
1997-98	2,039	1,329	25,272	4,871	14,551
1998-99	2,000	1,280	24,726	4,591	13,698
1999-2000	2,003	790	22,652	3,979	12,888
2000-01	1,976	633	20,571	3,942	12,558
2001-02	2,092	614	21,536	4,051	13,823
2002-03	2,381	562	21,700	4,212	13,954
2003-04	2,596	666	19,887	4,759	15,453
2004-05	2,425	809	19,665	5,024	16,798
2005-06	2,439	852	18,044	4,998	16,963
2006-07	2,364	841	18,401	5,429	19,752

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts Expressed as a Percentage of Crimes Recorded by the Police, 1997-98 to 2006-07

Financial year	Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence	Crimes of Indecency	Crimes of Dishonesty	Fire-Raising, Vandalism etc.	Other Crimes
1997-98	15	18	9	6	28
1998-99	14	18	9	6	24
1999-2000	13	13	8	5	23
2000-01	13	11	8	5	21
2001-02	13	10	9	4	21
2002-03	15	8	10	4	19
2003-04	17	10	9	5	20
2004-05	16	11	9	4	22
2005-06	18	13	10	4	21
2006-07	17	13	10	4	23

Question reference: S3W-15186

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) crimes and (b) offences were prosecuted in court in each of the last 10 years and, of these, what percentage resulted in a conviction.

The available information is given in the following table.

Persons Prosecuted and Persons Convicted of Crimes in Scottish Courts¹, 1997-98 to 2006-07

Financial Year	Prosecutions	Convictions	% Convicted
1997-98	58,859	48,062	82
1998-99	56,087	46,295	83
1999-2000	52,103	42,312	81
2000-01	49,230	39,680	81
2001-02	51,113	42,116	82
2002-03	47,465	42,809	90
2003-04	49,159	43,361	88
2004-05	50,782	44,721	88
2005-06	48,909	43,296	89
2006-07	53,242	46,787	88

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Persons Prosecuted and Persons Convicted of Offences in Scottish Courts¹, 1997-98 to 2006-07

Financial Year	Prosecutions	Convictions	% Convicted
1997-98	111,744	101,272	91
1998-99	100,148	90,879	91
1999-2000	95,651	85,792	90
2000-01	83,014	73,526	89
2001-02	88,989	79,482	89
2002-03	90,844	84,963	94
2003-04	97,573	90,253	92
2004-05	98,569	90,324	92
2005-06	97,759	89,488	92
2006-07	100,700	92,043	91

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S3W-15182

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2008
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 5 August 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has reviewed the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on crops, following their ban in Germany due to evidence that their use is connected to the reduction of the honeybee population.

All pesticides are subjected to a rigorous approval process before they are approved by ministers for use. In the case of neonicotinoid pesticides the risks posed to insects and bees were researched and assessed as part of that approval process.

The situation in Germany appears to be the result of an error in the application of a seed treatment containing the active substance clothianidin, a neonicotinoid pesticide. Clothianidin is not widely used in Scotland and Scottish ministers are not aware of any problem affecting bees as a consequence of its use here. We will, however, keep a close watch on the situation with seed treatments and clothianidin in particular.