- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 February 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many offenders under the age of 18 have been placed in a secure unit in each year since 2010.
Answer
Children can be placed in secure care through the courts (on remand or sentence) or following authorisation through the Children’s Hearings System.
Statistics on numbers of children in secure care in Scotland are published annually by the Scottish Government. These are available at:http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork
The statistics for young people placed through the Children’s Hearings System do not differentiate between secure authorisations on care and protection or offence grounds reflecting the systems integrated approach.
The number of sentenced young people placed in secure care in each year since 2010 is shown in the following table:
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2010 - 11
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13
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2011 - 12
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13
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2012 - 13
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10
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2013 - 14
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9
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2014 - 15
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9
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- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05531 by Michael Matheson on 10 January 2017, whether it will consider increasing the presumption against short prison sentences to 12 months.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06094 on 25 January 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards implementing HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s recommendations regarding biometric governance.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the right balance is struck between protecting the public and safeguarding the rights of individuals and welcomed HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s (HMICS) review of the use of facial search functionality. Scottish Government officials are continuing to discuss how best to implement the recommendations with the Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and HMICS.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Police Scotland estate review.
Answer
Governance of the Police Service of Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority, as established in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. The Chief Executive, John Foley, can be contacted at The Scottish Police Authority, 1 Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1DZ.
The Scottish Government would encourage all members to participate in local engagement activity being led by local divisional commanders in relevant areas.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what the rate of reconviction has been of people detained for (a) up to three, (b) between three and six, (c) between six and 12 and (d) more than 12 months since 2011.
Answer
The reconviction rate for offenders released from custodial sentences between 2010-11 and 2013-14 are presented below. The rate measures the proportion of offenders who were reconvicted within a year.
Reconvictions by Custodial Sentence Length
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Number of offenders
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Reconviction Rate %
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2010-11
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1,823
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61.7
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2011-12
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1,404
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59.6
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2012-13
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1,403
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60.8
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2013-14
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1,295
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61.6
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Over 3 months to 6 months
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2010-11
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2,024
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53.2
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2011-12
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2,334
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53.3
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2012-13
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2,299
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51.8
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2013-14
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2,213
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54.3
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2010-11
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1,218
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41.6
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2011-12
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1,253
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42.9
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2012-13
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1,344
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42.5
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2013-14
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1,289
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43.0
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2010-11
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2,225
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26.4
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2011-12
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2,322
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26.6
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2012-13
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2,387
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26.2
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2013-14
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2,311
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24.4
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- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 25 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05524 by Angela Constance on 9 January 2017, how it is taking forward its implementation of each of the recommendations.
Answer
The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) report is a contribution to the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Kingdom’s human rights record. An interactive dialogue will be held by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during 2017. The Scottish Government is actively participating in that process.
The Scottish Government’s position on matters raised by SHRC, and others, in the context of the UPR will be made public in due course, as will our response to recommendations made by the UNHRC following the interactive dialogue.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05531 by Michael Matheson on 10 January 2017, what it is doing to reduce the reconviction rate of people who are imprisoned for less than six months but more than three.
Answer
The Scottish Prison Service have a range of programmes available to support the rehabilitation of individuals in custody and reduce the likelihood of reoffending. This includes assistance to deal with substance misuse issues, planning for reintegration on release and making referrals to appropriate support agencies in the community and offering individual throughcare support to those that wish it.
Short-term custodial sentences, in particular those of less than six months, offer limited opportunity for rehabilitation. That is why this Government is committed to reducing the use of short-term custodial sentences in favour of robust community sentences, like Community Payback Orders, which are focused on tackling the underlying causes of offending behaviour whilst also requiring individuals to pay back to their communities for the damage caused by their crimes.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government when it will respond to its consultation on Strengthening the Presumption against Short Sentences.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to reducing the unacceptably high rate of imprisonment in Scotland.
We have consistently stated that the responses to the 'Consultation on Proposals to Strengthen the Presumption against Short Periods of Imprisonment' would inform our decision on whether or not to increase the length of the presumption. An independent analysis of these responses was published on the Scottish Government website and can be found at the following address:
http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00497741.pdf
Whilst it is the case that the majority of respondents were in favour of an extension, many of the same respondents raised a number of concerns relating to the implementation and potential consequences of such an extension. Just as it was right that we consulted on this important issue, it is only right that we take the time to ensure that these concerns can be properly addressed. We continue to discuss how best to take this forward with the relevant stakeholders.
The proposal to strengthen the presumption is only one part of our on-going and wide-ranging work designed to reduce the use of short-term imprisonment through the delivery of effective, community sentences that promote rehabilitation.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent each year from the £20 million fund to tackle violence against women, broken down by programme.
Answer
The following table confirms expenditure from the £20m in 2015-16 and the confirmed sums allocated for 2016-17 and 2017-18. Total expenditure and sums allocated to date total £14.582m from the £20m. Additional allocations will be confirmed over the remainder of the funding period to March 2018.
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Organisation
(total announced)
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2015-16
Expenditure
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2016-17
Allocated
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2017-18
Allocated
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ASSIST
Funding of specialist advocacy service for victims of domestic abuse. (£3.000m)
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£1.000m
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£1.000m
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£1.000m
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Edinburgh Domestic Abuse Court Service
Funding of specialist advocacy services for victims of domestic abuse (£0.441m)
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£0.147m
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£0.147m
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£0.147m
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Rape Crisis Scotland
Funding of specialist advocacy service for victims of sexual offences, including new provision in Orkney and Shetland (£1.851m)
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£0.475m
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£0.688m
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£0.688m
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Rape Crisis Scotland
Public Awareness Campaign
RCS campaign to improve public understanding of responses to rape. (£0.030m)
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-
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£0.030m
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-
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SCTS and COPFS
Additional resources to prioritise the processing of domestic abuse and sexual offences cases through the courts. (£7.200m)
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£2.400m
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£2.400m
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£2.400m
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Violence Reduction Unit
Expanded programmes in schools training young mentors to safely challenge and speak out against bullying, abuse and violence. Plus, expand programmes delivered to healthcare students; NHS staff, allied health professionals and non-health care professions to spot the signs of potential abuse. (£0.565m)
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£0.108m
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£0.226m
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£0.231m
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NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Specialist trauma service for female victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. (£0.046m)
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-
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£0.046m
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Police Scotland
Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse (Claire’s Law). (£0.080m)
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£0.080m
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-
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-
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The University of Strathclyde Funding for the development of a “toolkit” to embed Equally Safe in HEIs to tackle stalking, harassment, domestic abuse and sexual violence and to pilot this approach. (£0.300m)
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-
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£0.300m
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Allocation to be confirmed
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Scottish Women’s Aid
Pilot service to assist women survivors of domestic abuse into fair employment. (£0.190m)
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-
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£0.190m
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Allocation to be confirmed
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Independent National Scoping Exercise of Advocacy Services Independent scoping exercise of the availability, provision of and risk assessment standards of specialist advocacy services for victims of gender based violence across Scotland. (£0.045m)
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-
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£0.045m
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-
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National Specialist and Screening Services Directorate
NHS National Services Scotland – short term appointment to work with Health Boards and assess services currently in place for forensic examinations of victims of rape and sexual assault (£0.080m)
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-
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£0.040m
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£0.040m
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Scottish Women’s Rights Centre
Expanded finding to extend the capacity and geographical reach of specialist independent legal advice service for victims of gender based violence. (£0.665m)
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-
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£0.665m allocated over 2016-17 and 2017-18 – breakdown between years is not available*
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Caledonian System
Improvement of specialist court mandated perpetrator programme for men and associated women’s and children’s services and increasing capacity of programmes in existing areas. (£0.360m)
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-
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£0.360m allocated over 2016-17 and 2017-18 – breakdown between years is not available*
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Total (£14.853m)
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£4.21m
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£5.112m
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£4.506m
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* break down not available to add to year end totals
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how many air weapon licence applications made (a) between 1 July and 31 October 2016 and (b) since 1 November 2016 have been (i) received, (ii) processed, (iii) approved and (iv) rejected, broken down by Police Scotland region.
Answer
The information requested has been provided by Police Scotland and is as follows.
(a) I understand that 6,948 applications were received between 1 July and
31 October 2016. Of these 6,520 had been approved and 36 had been refused, at 12 January 2017. The remaining 392 applications were still in progress at that date.
(b) 5,436 further applications were received between 1 November and 31 December 2016. Police Scotland are processing these as quickly as possible.
