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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: S6W-12298

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 29 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions were not continued with as a result of witness citations not being served in time ahead of trials in each year since 2013.

This information is not recorded by COPFS.

Cases that are discontinued are marked with an appropriate No Further Action reason.

None of the No Further Action Marking categories used within COPFS allow us to identify any cases which were discontinued due to witness citations not being served on time.

For your information, figures for the total cases marked No Further Action for the last 5 years are published on the Crown Office website ( Case processing statistics 2017 to 2022 ).

In addition, the following table provides cases marked for No Further Action since 1 April 2013 broken down by the appropriate category as used by COPFS: -

Criminal cases receiving a No Further Action marking - grouped by financial year and by applied marking

No Further Action reason	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Acceptable Explanation Offered	2,245	1,984	1,589	1,548	1,188	1,003	805	685	803
Accused Dead	560	711	675	765	710	714	760	1,218	1,306
Accused in Prison	775	687	659	698	597	439	326	283	441
Accused Incapacity	186	204	253	336	232	182	148	148	195
Attitude of Victim	991	672	911	1,170	819	710	542	447	748
Crown Counsel's Instructions	401	367	284	295	212	214	213	154	127
Delay in reaching a Conclusion	577	618	859	850	605	217	128	302	342
Failed Alternative	7,027	3,154	2,693	2,089	1,556	1,912	2,324	3,438	4,704
Failed Service	7,627	9,804	4,246	3,530	3,624	2,794	2,777	2,048	3,316
Now Insufficient Evidence	5,417	5,504	6,582	6,899	5,980	4,920	4,188	2,500	3,996
Other Specified Reasons	7,690	7,260	6,576	5,893	5,132	4,728	4,710	4,096	6,826
Petition Timebar - PF Error	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reporting Deficiency	278	282	273	408	212	224	193	172	209
Warrant Withdrawn	1,664	1,195	1,692	1,469	1,297	773	590	926	546
Witness Unavailable	42	53	41	75	45	31	30	20	22
Total	35,480	32,495	27,333	26,025	22,209	18,861	17,734	16,437	23,581

Note: - Not all cases closed as No Further Action in an individual year will necessarily have been reported in the same year. Some cases will relate to cases reported in previous years.

Question reference: S6T-01012

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to tackle the illegal trade in puppies, in light of the Scottish Multi-Agency Strategic Threat Assessment report that the trade is funding serious organised crime.

Question reference: S6W-11872

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) adults and (b) children have been admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of asthma in (i) NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (ii) NHS Ayrshire and Arran, in each year since 2010.

Asthma patient hospitalisations, age-sex standardised rate per 100,000

3 year rolling average	Ayrshire and Arran
	Rate	Numerator
2010-11 to 2012-13	112.55	423.33
2011-12 to 2013-14	111.16	419.00
2012-13 to 2014-15	117.72	439.33
2013-14 to 2015-16	113.08	420.67
2014-15 to 2016-17	118.08	439.67
2015-16 to 2017-18	123.96	461.00
2016-17 to 2018-19	130.07	479.67
2017-18 to 2019-20	133.05	489.33
2018-19 to 2020-21	106.34	389.00

3 year rolling average	Greater Glasgow and Clyde
	Rate	Numerator
2010-11 to 2012-13	105.78	1220.67
2011-12 to 2013-14	105.18	1215.00
2012-13 to 2014-15	108.62	1261.00
2013-14 to 2015-16	112.49	1310.33
2014-15 to 2016-17	113.27	1323.33
2015-16 to 2017-18	106.00	1241.67
2016-17 to 2018-19	99.69	1172.00
2017-18 to 2019-20	93.48	1109.00
2018-19 to 2020-21	80.13	955.67

Notes:

1. Patients discharged from hospital (annually) diagnosed with asthma: 3 year rolls average number and directly age-sex standardised rate per 100,000 population.

2. All rates are standardised against the European standard population (ESP2013) and 2011-base population estimates. Patient is selected only once per year, based on their first asthma related hospital admission for that year. Patient's demographic data (age, sex, location) are extracted from the first valid information within that stay.

Children (aged 0-15 years) hospitalised due to asthma, age-sex standardised rate per 100,000

3 year rolling average	Ayrshire and Arran
	Rate	Numerator
2010-11 to 2012-13	218.47	141.67
2011-12 to 2013-14	230.40	148.67
2012-13 to 2014-15	242.12	154.33
2013-14 to 2015-16	219.36	138.67
2014-15 to 2016-17	217.97	137.33
2015-16 to 2017-18	224.01	140.67
2016-17 to 2018-19	228.59	142.33
2017-18 to 2019-20	219.85	135.33
2018-19 to 2020-21	170.21	103.67

3 year rolling average	Greater Glasgow and Clyde
	Rate	Numerator
2010-11 to 2012-13	204.72	404.67
2011-12 to 2013-14	200.44	395.33
2012-13 to 2014-15	217.29	430.00
2013-14 to 2015-16	216.16	429.00
2014-15 to 2016-17	203.33	405.33
2015-16 to 2017-18	166.94	335.67
2016-17 to 2018-19	150.30	303.00
2017-18 to 2019-20	136.86	276.00
2018-19 to 2020-21	118.10	237.00

Notes: General acute inpatient and day case admissions for asthma in children aged 0-15 years; 3-year rolling average number and directly age-sex standardised rate per 100,000 population.

Source: PHS SMR01

This data is publicly available on ScotPHO’s profiles tool.

Additional data is also available in PHS’s annual Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information publication , which includes number of admissions by condition, age group and health board of residence (with asthma being one of the conditions).

3 year rolling average	Ayrshire and Arran
	Rate	Numerator
2010-11 to 2012-13	218.47	141.67
2011-12 to 2013-14	230.40	148.67
2012-13 to 2014-15	242.12	154.33
2013-14 to 2015-16	219.36	138.67
2014-15 to 2016-17	217.97	137.33
2015-16 to 2017-18	224.01	140.67
2016-17 to 2018-19	228.59	142.33
2017-18 to 2019-20	219.85	135.33
2018-19 to 2020-21	170.21	103.67

Question reference: S6W-12015

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that police officer numbers have dropped to 16,570, and whether it remains its policy intention to restore the number of police officers to 17,234.

Policing is a priority and will continue to be a priority for this Government. Scotland has the most police officers per capita, with the latest data from Scotland, showing that as of 30 September, there were 30 officers per 10,000 population in Scotland. The latest available data from England and Wales (from 31 March) shows there were around 24 officers per 10,000 population.

The HMICS review of Strategic Workforce Planning published this year rightly focused on capacity and capability. It is vitally important that the Chief Constable has the flexibility to develop his workforce in a way that responds to the challenges he faces by ensuring the right workforce mix.

Whilst the recruitment and deployment of police officers and staff in Scotland is a matter for the Chief Constable, the Scottish Government will continue to work with Police Scotland and the SPA to protect and prioritise the police response on those areas where police services can add the most value.

Question reference: S6O-01618

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Carbon Neutral Islands project.

Question reference: S6W-12113

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what specific date it will make an announcement regarding the continued provision of Caledonian Sleeper rail services beyond 25 June 2023.

In accordance with the requirements of the Railways Act 1993 and the Scottish Ministers’ Franchising Policy Statement, consideration is being given to the successor arrangement for the continued provision of Caledonian Sleeper services.

The Scottish Ministers have to work within the relevant current legislation, principally the Railways Act 1993, which neither they nor the Scottish Parliament have powers to change.

Question reference: S6W-11938

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost of any backlog of maintenance work for the prison estate has been in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S6W-11947

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 November 2022

Question reference: S6W-12022

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry will conclude.

Question reference: S6W-12023

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will spend to continue the roll-out of free mobile phones for prisoners, in light of reports that the project is set to continue.