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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 MSPs 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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-03704

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Court Service (SCS) staff have (a) had training to support and (b) supported the function of domestic abuse courts in each year since 2011, and what percentage of the SCS workforce this represents.

Question reference: S5W-03574

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many child witnesses have given evidence in (a) sheriff and b) high courts in each of the last five years, broken down by the alleged offence.

Question reference: S5W-03573

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many pre-recorded joint investigative interviews of children have been used as evidence in chief in courts in the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-03577

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many joint investigative interviews of children were conducted in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-03484

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, how the use of spit hoods by the police is (a) monitored and (b) evaluated.

Question reference: S5W-03482

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, how many times spit hoods have been used by the police in each of the last three years, and how many complaints there have been about their use.

Question reference: S5W-03486

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, what procurement criteria are used by the police when sourcing spit hoods, and which companies supply these.

Question reference: S5W-03483

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to quesiton S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, what (a) technical and (b) medical evaluation has been carried out regarding the use of spit hoods by Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-03488

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02503 by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2016, how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries have been attributed to the use of spit hoods by the police, and what other data on their use is collected by (i) Police Scotland and (ii) the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Operational policing is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) advises that it has no management information on the use of spit hoods use as they are not a ‘weapon’ as defined by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Investigations Procedure, Serious Incidents and Specified Weapons) Regulations 2013. PIRC has never investigated a death or serious injury attributable to the use of a spit hood.

Question reference: S5W-02100

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe on 27 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of alleged hate crime have been taken to court in each of the last three years.

The following table contains the total number of hate crime charges reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) from April 2013 to March 2016 where court proceedings were commenced. All figures provided are based on data extracted from the COPFS case management system on 6 May 2016, which was the basis of the 2016 report on hate crime in Scotland.

Financial Year

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Total

5104

4677

4740

14521

Table one. All hate crime charges taken to court during the last three financial years.