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There are agreed procedures throughout all Scottish police forces in respect of police action when dealing with vehicles carrying high-risk loads.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) chairs a Scottish cash-in transit working group which meets quarterly to address relevant issues, highlight good practice, and to provide support to organisations within the sector. A number of security carriers are represented on the group. The group reports back to ACPOS any relevant issues which require to be addressed on a national basis.

One of the issues presently being addressed through this working group is parking of security vehicles within town and city centres, and the parking tickets and subsequent fines issued. Research is currently being carried out on a national basis to discover the different local authority/council positions on this. It is hoped that following consultation a common sense approach can be developed.

The working group also addresses issues such as CCTV installation, removing obstacles etc, with the intention of ensuring the safety of cash-in transit couriers across Scotland.

We have recently announced a three year funding package of £778,000 for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). The SBCC provide practical advice to the business/commercial sectors on how to develop business crime reduction and prevention strategies.

Much of the input regarding access, particularly within City and Town centres, is incorporated within the master planning process, to which Police Architectural Liaison Officers (ALO''s) have input. However, the issue of controlled access is also being incorporated within the ALO Secure By Design (SBD) Public Realm accreditation toolkit, standards which have been developed by The Association of Chief Police Officers Crime Prevention Initiative. The toolkit will be rolled out throughout Scotland. The Scottish SBD Officer is based within the SBCC.

In addition, Scottish Policing has provided input to a review of the Scottish Building Standards Regulations, where the concept of designing out crime was raised, particularly in relation to its status within planning process. This review is on-going.

Finally, access requirements for Cash in Transit vehicles must now also be balanced with more general vehicle restrictions which are a requirement of the Protect and Prepare elements of the CONTEST anti-terrorism strategy.

Details of the Scottish Government''s assistance to Scottish Non-Governmental Organisations for their relief efforts in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza were announced on Sunday 15 February 2009.

Further information on the successful projects can be found on the Scottish Government''s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/International-Relations/internationaldevelopment/idffundingguidance/gaza.

Section 3 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 was amended by the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 on 1 May 2004 and increased the maximum sentencing powers of the sheriff, sitting with a jury from three to five years imprisonment, meaning that some cases which would previously have been indicted in the High Court are now indicted in the sheriff court. Individual cases are not, however, recorded as being indicted in the sheriff court on that basis. The main provisions of the Criminal Procedure Amendment (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force on 1 February 2005.

The following table shows the total number of cases disposed of in the High Court and the total number disposed of in sheriff and jury courts in each year since 2003-04.

Court Disposals - Solemn Cases

Year	High Court Cases	Percentage Change from Previous Year	Sheriff and Jury Cases	Percentage Change from Previous Year
2003-04	1,170	+3.3%	3,352	+1.5%
2004-05	864	-26.2%	3,611	+7.7%
2005-06	836	-3.2%	3,905	+8.1%
2006-07	839	+0.4%	4,224	+8.2%

 

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

The review undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service will be in two parts. It will consider the individual circumstancesof the decision to transfer Robert Foye to the SPS Open Estate and allow his accessto the community, and it will review the operation of the open prison estate, itsrole and the process of transferring prisoners there from closed prisons.

The review will be carried outby members of staff from the Partnerships and Commissioning Directorate of the ScottishPrison Service and not those who are already involved in the management of the openestate or the transfer of prisoners to it.

I will consider the requirementfor a ministerial statement when I have seen the review currently being undertakenby the Scottish Prison Service.

We remain committed to thedelivery of our offender management strategy but we must ensure that any changedoes not compound current problems of unrelenting pressure on high prisonnumbers and put intolerable pressures on prisons, courts and community justiceservices. We will be informed by the Commissions findings and recommendations.

The previous administrationmay have passed the Custodial Sentences and Weapons Act 2007 in the final daysof the last Parliament. However, because of the impact on resources, it hasalways been clear that implementation would unlikely to be before 2009-10.

I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.

His response is asfollows:

The information yourequested is not available, because we do not hold information on the start dateof the trial.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.

His response is as follows:

The information you requested is not available, because we do not hold information on the start date of the trial.

No. The updated guidelinesfor supervised bail identify certain priority groups for this measure but subjectto considerations of public safety and capacity issues do not preclude other accusedfrom being granted supervised bail. The decision on whether an accused person shouldbe bailed or remanded is for the court to make.