- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by James Wolffe QC on 3 December 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been contacted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and invited to make a victim impact statement under the terms of section 14 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, and how many of those contacted chose to make such a victim statement in each of the last five years, broken down by the number of (a) adult victims, (b) victims aged between 12 and 18, (c) victims under the age of 12 and (d) victims whose cases involved an allegation of domestic abuse.
Answer
2014-15 to 2017-18
| | 2014 - 2015 | 2015 - 2016 | 2016 - 2017 | 2017 - 2018 |
Victim Statements
Issued | 6647 | 6799 | 6624 | 6217 |
Victim Statements
Returned | 1161 | 1127 | 1077 | 1037 |
Explanatory Notes:
1. For the years 2014-2015 to 2017-2018, automated retrieval of the requested breakdown of Victim Statements issued is not possible.
2. COPFS records the number of Victim Statements issued and returned rather than the number of people who were issued with and returned a Victim Statement. In some circumstances a person may be issued with and return more than one Victim Statement, for example, if they wish to describe additional information that they had omitted from their original Victim Statement. Accordingly, the number of Victim Statements issued and returned is likely to be greater than the number of people to whom Victim Statements were issued and who returned them.
2018-19
| | Adult (18 years and older) | 12-17 years | Under 12 years | Age not recorded |
Victim Statements Issued | 5449 | 732 | 102 | 363 |
Victim Statements Returned | 867 | 136 | 21 | 53 |
| | Domestic |
Victim Statements Issued | 1470 |
Victim Statements Returned | 238 |
Explanatory Notes:
1. For the year 2018–2019, a change to the method of recording the number of Victim Statements issued and returned enables COPFS to provide the requested breakdown.
2. All cases that contain offences that are domestically aggravated are identified on COPFS systems by the inclusion of a domestic identifier code. In identifying cases that involve an allegation of domestic abuse for this question COPFS have identified cases that have this domestic identifier code attached to them in which a Victim Statement has been issued.
3. COPFS records the number of Victim Statements issued and returned rather than the number of people who were issued with and returned a Victim Statement. In some circumstances a person may be issued with and return more than one Victim Statement, for example, if they wish to describe additional information that they omitted from their original Victim Statement. Accordingly, the number of Victim Statements issued and returned is likely to be greater than the number of people to whom Victim Statements were issued and who returned them.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of Brexit on the future of the Air Discount Scheme.
Answer
Brexit will have no impact on the operation of the Air Discount Scheme. The scheme is notified to the European Commission in order to ensure compliance with EU State Aid rules rather than being necessary for the scheme to function.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2019
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to make an announcement on the future of the Air Discount Scheme post March 2020.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to the continuation of the Air Discount Scheme and earlier this year we renewed it until 31 December 2020. We will make a formal announcement on the continuation of the scheme beyond that date in due course.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that removing business-related travel from the Air Discount Scheme has had on businesses in the Highlands and Islands, and what consideration it has given to reinstating business-related travel within the scheme.
Answer
Business-related travel was not removed from the Air Discount Scheme as it has never been eligible under the scheme. The then Minister for Transport and the Islands stated in June 2017 that we did not have the financial resources to extend the scheme to business-related travel and that remains the case.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) that “at St Leonard’s Police Station, the delegation was informed that it was not the duty of custody staff to register or to report any complaints of potential abuse by arresting officers.”
Answer
The Scottish Government condemns any form of abuse.
The care and welfare of persons held in custody is of paramount importance to Police Scotland and any complaints made, or that become known to the police, are investigated in line with paragraphs 21.1 and 21.2 of Police Scotland's Care and Welfare of Persons in Police Custody Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and with the procedures outlined in the Complaints about the Police SOP.
A detailed vulnerability and risk assessment takes place at the point of processing into a custody facility which involves all visible and notified injuries being recorded on the National Custody System, with police officers always seeking to ascertain how any injuries occurred to best inform the care plan. Where appropriate, any referrals will be made to the NHS.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many fines or repayments have been imposed for the alleged misuse of Air Discount Scheme (ADS) membership cards in each of the last five years, also broken down by how many times the difference between the full price and the ADS fare has been sought as a penalty.
Answer
We do not fine people for misuse of the Air Discount Scheme. There are around 77,000 scheme members. Any member that has received a discount that they were not entitled to is requested to repay it. In the last five years the number of repayments has been:
Year | Number of members | Amount reclaimed (£) |
2014-15 | 113 | 6,509.60 |
2015-16 | 178 | 11,436.89 |
2016-17 | 182 | 15,282.30 |
2017-18 | 198 | 13,766.36 |
2018-19 | 217 | 18,375.57 |
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out into the effectiveness of current arrangements for ensuring that address and contact details for Air Discount Scheme members are kept up to date.
Answer
It is a requirement under the terms and conditions of the scheme for members to inform us if they change address. Whenever a member phones the ADS Admin Team they are asked to confirm their address. If we receive an application from an address where someone with a different surname is already registered we write to that member asking if they are still living at that address. If we receive no response then the member is removed from the system. When the scheme is renewed, we write to all scheme members. Where letters are returned marked that the addressee has gone away, they are removed from the system. We are content that these arrangements are effective.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that Air Discount Scheme membership cards that have been blocked or cancelled cannot still be used to book flights.
Answer
Card numbers that are blocked or cancelled are removed from the system which means that an airline’s booking system will not be able to validate the card number during the booking process. This would result in the airline booking system rejecting the discount.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many members of the Air Discount Scheme have had their membership cards blocked or cancelled in each of the last five years.
Answer
There are around 77,000 Air Discount Scheme members. The number of scheme members who have had their membership cards blocked or cancelled is:
Year | Number of members
blocked | Number of members
cancelled |
2014-15 | 948 | 127 |
2015-16 | 718 | 109 |
2016-17 | 798 | 133 |
2017-18 | 968 | 123 |
2018-19 | 964 | 104 |
A member has their card blocked if they are suspected of misusing it. If the issue is resolved then their card is released. If it is not, then their card is cancelled. A card could also be cancelled if a member did not respond to a request to confirm that they still lived at the address they were registered at.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the occupancy rate is of the separation and reintegration units operational in Scottish prisons, broken down by institution.
Answer
I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:
On 30 October 2019 there were 121 people in our care temporarily residing in SPS’ Separation and Reintegration Units (SRUs).
Prison | SRU Capacity | Population | Percentage Capacity |
Addiewell | 11 | 11 | 100% |
Barlinnie | 15 | 12 | 80% |
Cornton Vale | 4 | 4 | 100% |
Edinburgh | 14 | 12 | 86% |
Glenochil | 14 | 11 | 78% |
Grampian | 10 | 9 | 90% |
Inverness | 2 | 2 | 100% |
Kilmarnock | 14 | 14 | 100% |
Low Moss | 12 | 11 | 92% |
Perth | 14 | 13 | 93% |
Polmont | 12 | 8 | 66% |
Shotts | 14 | 14 | 100% |
Total | 136 | 121 | 89% |
There are no SRUs at HMP Castle Huntly, HMP Dumfries or HMP Greenock.
