Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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: S5W-03425

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many domestic abuse cases have been heard by each (a) domestic abuse and (b) other court in each of the last five years, and how many convictions there were.

The Scottish Government does not hold specific information about the number of domestic abuse cases heard in each domestic abuse court.

Statistics on the number of people proceeded against and the numbers convicted, in all types of courts in Scotland, with a domestic abuse aggravator recorded are presented in the following table.

Total persons proceeded against and convicted for offences¹ with a Domestic Abuse aggravator recorded

Year	Total proceedings	Convicted
2010-11	10,046	8,565
2011-12	10,502	8,873
2012-13	10,909	9,291
2013-14	13,593	11,074
2014-15	15,619	12,432

1 - Where main charge in a case

Source: Criminal proceedings database

Question reference: S5W-03423

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 21 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many days each court has sat in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-03420

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 21 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many criminal trials have been adjourned broken because of (a) a crown motion, (b) a defence motion, (c) a failure to appear by an accused, (d) a failure to appear by a witness, (e) a lack of court time and (f) another reason at each court in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-03419

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 21 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many jury trials there have been at each court in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-03421

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 21 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many summary procedures without a jury were called but adjourned because of lack of court time at each court in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-03424

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 21 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many indictments have been registered at each court in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-03422

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 21 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many jury trials were called but adjourned because of a lack of court time at each court in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5O-00228

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the vacancy rate is for GPs in Fife, and how many posts have been vacant for at least six months.

Question reference: S5W-02729

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many females have been held on remand in each of the last five years, also broken down by how many subsequently received a custodial sentence.

The average daily female remand population in Scotland over the past five years is shown in the following table

2011-12	108
2012-13	107
2013-14	106
2014-15	105
2015-16	98

Source: Scottish Government (2015) Prison statistics and population projections Scotland 2013-14 for data up to 2013-14.

Figures for 2014-15 and 2015-16 are based on administrative data from the Scottish Prison Service PR2 management information system and are compiled on a slightly different basis from those reported in earlier years. This will not affect the observed trend to any great extent.

Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service data are not held in a way which allows routine identification of the outcome of remand episodes. Earlier analysis carried out by Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services suggests that at least a third of women remanded to prison custody subsequently receive a custodial sentence.

Question reference: S5W-02503

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland use spit hoods and, if so, what published guidance there is on their use.

This is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, and the Scottish Police Authority. Police Scotland has advised that written guidance on the operational use of spit hoods is provided via the Scottish Police College Officer Safety Training Manual and all Police Scotland Officers and Special Constables receive training in their use. Any application of a spit hood must meet the Police Scotland criteria for the use of force.