- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many summary complaints have been dealt with at Peebles Sheriff Court , whether proceeding to trial or otherwise, in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002 -2003.
Answer
The information provided by the Scottish Court Service for the number of summary complaints dealt with at Peebles Sheriff Court is set out in the following table. The table includes those summary complaints registered under the jurisdiction of Peebles Sheriff Court. Since December 2001, any court appearances have been held at Selkirk Sheriff Court.Sheriff Court - Summary Criminal
| | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | April-June 2002 |
| Complaints Registered | 142 | 190 | 241 | 45 |
| Complaints Concluded | 176 | 203 | 220 | 61 |
| Trials Evidence Led | 14 | 10 | 7 | 3 |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the reports prepared for HM Prisons Barlinnie and Peterhead as part of the estates review and submitted to the Scottish Prison Service at the same time as the report Constructing the Future was submitted will be placed in the Scottish Parliament's Information Centre, detailing the reasons behind its response on this matter.
Answer
refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25721.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 12 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual running costs have been, excluding capital costs, for (a) Lochmaddy, (b) Tain, (c) Dingwall, (d) Portree and (e) Peebles sheriff courts in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01, (iii) 2001-02 and (iv) 2002 to date.
Answer
The Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) has provided information on the running and general maintenance costs for each court. This information is set out in the following table. It excludes capital expenditure and staff-related costs. Information on 2002-03 is not yet available.
| Court | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 |
| | Running Costs | Maint-enance | Total | Running Costs | Maint-enance | Total | RunningCosts | Maint-enance | Total |
| Lochmaddy | £50,100 | £4,800 | £54,900 | £53,500 | £6,300 | £59,800 | £48,300 | £1,300 | £49,600 |
| Tain | £60,000 | £36,800 | £96,800 | £59,300 | £54,300 | £113,600 | £61,000 | £8,700 | £69,700 |
| Dingwall | £66,900 | £3,600 | £70,500 | £72,800 | £2,500 | £75,300 | £63,400 | £35,100 | £98,500 |
| Portree | £45,500 | £16,000 | £61,500 | £44,800 | £6,200 | £51,000 | £46,100 | £1,000 | £47,100 |
| Peebles | £50,700 | £1,500 | £52,200 | £53,100 | £3,400 | £56,500 | £53,100 | £1,800* | £54,900 |
*In addition, SCS spent £35,500 in respect of stabilisation work at Peebles.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Simpson on 9 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any problems arising from the Data Protection Acts with regard to providing papers to approved youth workers and criminal justice social workers in respect of young offenders referred to them by the diversion from prosecution programmes.
Answer
The Executive has not been made aware of any such problems.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 8 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26250 by Hugh Henry on 17 June 2002, whether there is an accelerated procedure for accessing the central heating installation programme in cases of emergency and, if so, how such a procedure is publicised and in what circumstances it can be accessed successfully.
Answer
To be eligible for the central heating programme in the private sector all applicants or their partner must be aged 60 or over. Applications to date show that a very large number are in their 70s. All applicants would naturally like central heating as quickly as possible. The programme generally delivers central heating on a first come first served basis to avoid having to determine the relative needs of thousands of applicants, but exceptional cases will be considered on an individual basis.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what figures it holds on additional costs to the public purse of implementing each of its proposals for court business in Peebles.
Answer
The consultation exercise by the Scottish Court Service on the alternative proposals for the delivery of court business in Peebles will provide an opportunity for any additional costs or savings to be identified. At present, while it is recognised that there may be a small increase in some costs due to the increased travel, for example for witness expenses, it is not anticipated that there will be significant additional costs to the public purse given the low level of business currently undertaken at Peebles.Should any additional costs be identified these would have to be weighed against the potential savings to the Scottish Court Service and the substantial cost required to upgrade the court.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any sheriff courthouses have been built since May 1999 and what the cost of any such developments has been.
Answer
I have been advised by the Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service that no new sheriff courthouses have been built since May 1999, but a number have been extensively refurbished.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive which sheriff courthouses have had renovation work carried out on them since May 1999 and what the cost has been of such works.
Answer
I have been advised by the Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service that the sheriff courthouses which have been the subject of substantial renovation works since May 1999 and the cost spent on each is as follows:
| Arbroath | £1.7 million |
| Ayr | £10.7 million |
| Peterhead | £2.7 million |
| Stirling | £1.6 million |
Work is currently under way or about to commence at Dumbarton and Lanark Sheriff Courts.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected population is of the Peebles area for each of the next 10 years and whether such projections were taken into account when considering renovation or new build of the Peebles courthouse.
Answer
Population projections for areas smaller than council areas are not available. The latest, 2000 based, population projections up to the year 2016 for council areas within Scotland is published by the Registrar General in Table 1 of the booklet Population Projections, Scotland (2000 based). A copy of the booklet is available in the Parliament's Information Centre. This publication predicts a consistently decreasing population size for the Borders after 2003.Information on population trends was considered by the Scottish Court Service when examining the case for renovating Peebles Courthouse, but it was concluded did not materially affect the viability of Peebles Sheriff Courthouse.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has identified any issues in respect of there being no practitioner of civil legal aid in Peebles.
Answer
Ministers have no powers to direct that private solicitors undertake legal aid work; this is a commercial decision by solicitors. I understand that a legal aid practitioner in Peebles, which undertook 15 cases in 2000-01, has decided not to undertake new civil legal aid cases. There are, however, two firms of solicitors who provide civil legal aid in Galashiels and a further two firms in Selkirk.The provision of legal advice and representation in rural areas is a priority area for pilot work as part of the Review of Legal Information and Advice Provision in Scotland.
