- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been for theft by housebreaking at Edinburgh sheriff court in each year since 1997.
Answer
The available information is given in the following table. Data for 2001 are not yet available.Persons with a charge proved in Edinburgh sheriff court where the main offence was housebreaking, 1997-2000
1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
306 | 241 | 202 | 264 |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been for assault to severe injury at Edinburgh sheriff court in each year since 1997.
Answer
Assault to severe injury is included under the category of serious assault within the SEJD classification of crimes and offences. The available information is given in the following table. Data for 2001 are not yet available.Persons with a charge proved in Edinburgh sheriff court where the main offence was serious assault, 1997-2000
1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
102 | 82 | 79 | 84 |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how it envisages the operation of Quality Contract Schemes for buses in order to ensure an equitable tender process.
Answer
The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 sets out the tendering requirements. The Executive has also issued comprehensive guidance on Part 2 (Bus Services) of the act. It is for local transport authorities to ensure that Quality Contracts awarded comply fully with all relevant regulations.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 24 December 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what volume of freight trains it estimates will no longer use the Forth Rail Bridge when the Stirling/Alloa/Dunfermline railway line is reopened.
Answer
The MVA study into the proposals for a Stirling/Alloa/Kincardine railway reopening addresses this issue. I expect the report of the study to be finalised in February and to be able to make a statement about its findings shortly afterwards. It would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the findings of the study.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 4 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many reports were submitted to the Lothian and Borders Regional Procurator Fiscal regarding assaults upon a police officer; how many such reports were proceeded with by the service of a complaint or petition, and how many such reports resulted in a conviction, all in each year since 1997.
Answer
Serious assaults on police officers are prosecuted at common law and cannot be distinguished in the records from serious assaults on other persons. Less serious assaults on police officers are prosecuted under section 41(1) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 but cannot be distinguished in the records from other contraventions of that section (such as obstructing police officers or assisting persons to escape). The information sought is, accordingly, not available.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 4 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated costs will be of the construction of rail links to Edinburgh Airport and Glasgow Airport and who will be responsible for these costs.
Answer
A study has been commissioned to identify and appraise the options at Edinburgh and Glasgow. The appraisal work will involve detailed engineering studies. Until that work is complete and a preferred option identified any estimates would be purely speculative. Funding mechanisms will also be considered during the study period.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 4 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects that construction of a rail link to Edinburgh Airport will commence.
Answer
We have commissioned a detailed economic and engineering study into rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports. The report is expected in September. Dependant on the outcome of that study, it will be for the local authority and/or for example BAA, which owns the airports, to seek the necessary parliamentary powers to build any railway links. The Executive hopes this can be progressed quickly. This could make it possible to move to design and construction by 2005, subject to suitable resources being available at the time.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it made to the Strategic Rail Authority to seek its agreement for the inclusion of particular rail projects in the authority's strategic plan; what timescales it sought for the completion of any such rail project, and whether any such projects were included within the published strategic plan.
Answer
The Scottish Executive was in contact with the Strategic Rail Authority on a number of issues during the preparation of the authority's strategic plan, including the inclusion of particular rail projects and the timescales for delivery of those projects.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals were made alleging that a child aged between eight and 12 had committed a criminal offence in Edinburgh to (a) the Reporter to the Children's Panel and (b) the Procurator Fiscal; how many of these referrals were subsequently prosecuted (i) at court and (ii) at a Children's Panel Hearing, and what sentence was imposed in each case, all in each year since 1997.
Answer
Between 1997 and 2000 two children aged between eight and 12 were proceeded against in Edinburgh courts. In one case a plea of not guilty was accepted and in the other the child was detained.Operational statistics for children's hearings are a matter for the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. This information is not held centrally. National statistics are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 18780).Referrals to the children's hearings system are not prosecutions, but hearings to determine whether compulsory measures of supervision are required in the best interests of the child, whether or not they have offended. A children's hearing does not impose a sentence on the child before it. It can either discharge the case, remit it to the sheriff court for proof, or make a supervision requirement in respect of the child, attaching such conditions as the hearing deems appropriate.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 1 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the meeting between the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning and the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Strategic Rail Authority's strategic plan will be amended to confirm that airport links to Edinburgh Airport and Glasgow Airport will go ahead within five years and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.
Answer
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) intends to carry out an annual revision of their strategic plan. This is to take account of changes in the industry, the outcomes of various studies currently under way, the emerging Joint Transport Studies, and the responses of stakeholders. The Scottish Executive, in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, the British Airports Authority and the SRA, is leading a detailed economic and engineering study of the various options available for rail links to Edinburgh Airport and Glasgow Airport. At the appropriate time the conclusion of the study will feed through into the annual revision of the SRA's strategic plan.The Executive and the SRA hope that, depending on the outcome of the study, the relevant local authorities will be keen to progress the requirement for parliamentary powers, thus making it possible to move to design and construction from 2005, subject to suitable resources being available at the time.
