- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, when considering plea bargains, what recognition is given to the views of victims who are also witnesses.
Answer
Procurators fiscal have a duty to consider all pleas of guilty offered by the defence and to accept them where it is in the public interest to do so. The views of the victim may, where known, be taken into account at the discretion of the Procurator Fiscal as one factor in the process of considering whether to accept any pleas which the accused is prepared to offer. Other factors include the nature and gravity of the offences charged, the likely sentence and the effect of adjusted pleas in avoiding the attendance and testimony of witnesses.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that witnesses who are also victims receive the same information regarding a case as witnesses who are not victims.
Answer
Victim Information and Advice (VIA) staff provide information to victims of, and witnesses to, crimes reported to the Procurator Fiscal which involve:
domestic abuse;
racial or religious aggravation;
sexual offences;
child victims and witnesses, and
crimes where any trial is likely to involve a jury.
The information provided to victims includes:
dates of court hearings;
decisions made about bail;
trial verdicts;
sentencing, and
the outcome of any appeal.
Victims receive the same level of information regardless of whether they are cited to give evidence at trial.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what training prosecution service staff receive regarding domestic abuse in order to understand its effects and the likely behaviour of witnesses who have spoken out about their personal experiences after a long period of abuse.
Answer
All new procurators fiscal receive training on domestic abuse during their induction training. This training provides them with a basic understanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse and the policy and practice which should be followed when taking decisions and prosecuting domestic abuse cases.
A comprehensive one-day training course on domestic abuse is also provided at the Scottish Prosecution College. That course is aimed at procurators fiscal, precognition officers and Victim Information and Advice (VIA) staff and includes input from the police and Scottish Women''s Aid. The course covers the power and control involved in domestic abuse, raises awareness of the different issues which can affect victims, explains the response from the police and prosecution staff and includes practical exercise sessions.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for the Victims Advice and Information service to contact family members in the case of a domestic abuse situation.
Answer
All victims of domestic abuse are referred to Victim Information and Advice (VIA) where proceedings are taken. VIA staff provide information to victims of domestic abuse following any key court hearings and when there is any other significant progress in a case. This includes:
dates of court hearings;
decisions made about bail;
trial verdicts;
sentencing, and
the outcome of any appeal.
In domestic abuse cases VIA will notify victims of the outcome of the case, where the accused is granted of any bail and the terms of any special bail conditions on the same day or within 24 hours of the accused appearing in court. Where an accused has been released from custody and VIA has been unable to contact the victim, the police will be asked to do so.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank Mulholland on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive at what age it considers that children are able to receive information in their own right on a case where they are victims and whether this differs from the age of criminal responsibility.
Answer
Victim Information and Advice will provide information direct to victims and witnesses aged 12 years and over. Where a child victim or witness aged seven to 11 years lives with a parent or guardian, VIA sends information to the parent or guardian to pass on to the child. The age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is currently eight years.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive when it first became aware of problems with the fishing quota management system.
Answer
The shortcomings of the current UK quota management system has been recognised for a number of years. Indeed, many of the deficiencies with quota management, common across Europe, have also been highlighted in the European Commission''s recently launched consultation on the future of the CFP (Green Paper).
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the King Air 200c fixed-wing aircraft operating from (a) Aberdeen and (b) Glasgow has been called out in each of the last three years.
Answer
The information requested is set out in the following table:
| | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| Aberdeen | 1,015 | 992 | 951 |
| Glasgow | 656 | 697 | 779 |
Note: *Information provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the Eurocopter EC135 helicopter operating from (a) Glasgow and (b) Inverness has been called out in each of the last three years.
Answer
The information requested is set out in the following table:
| | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| Glasgow | 696 | 786 | 1,121 |
| Inverness | 643 | 674 | 766 |
Note: *Information provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what facilities are available for ill and older people who are required to wait in excess of (a) two, (b) three, (c) four, (d) five, (e) six, (f) seven and (g) eight hours for public transport to attend and return home from hospital appointments.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-23342 on 7 May 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it in keeping with patient confidentiality that patients accessing patient transport services are required to discuss their conditions with staff administering such schemes.
Answer
Yes. As decisions about access to the Scottish Ambulance Service Patient Transport Service are made on the basis of medical eligibility, it is necessary for staff to seek the information required to establish this.
All NHS Employees, including those within the Scottish Ambulance Service, are bound by the NHS Scotland Code of Practice on Protecting Patient Confidentiality.
