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Monday, October 05, 2009
This was another very quiet week in the Parliament, with the only justice debates taking place in questions to the Law and Justice Officers in the Chamber.
The Justice Committee
Once again, most of the Committee’s meeting was spent in private considering their approach to the scrutiny of the draft budget, the remit for the Al-Megrahi inquiry, and their Stage 1 report on the Criminal Justice ad Licensing Bill. Before that they considered two negative instruments which they passed without comment.
You can read the minutes of the meeting in the Committee papers
The Chamber
Questions
Alcohol misuse
There was a question for the Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), who was standing in for the First Minister during FMQs, about the recently published piece of research from the University of Sheffield which supported an alcohol minimum pricing regime. The research, which was commissioned by the Scottish Government, argued that introducing a minimum price of 40p per unit of alcohol would cut alcohol related deaths, long term illness and incidents of crime. In his question, Michael Matheson (SNP) said that this research joins a growing body of international evidence which also shows that minimum pricing reduces consumption, and he also highlighted the health effects of overconsumption of alcohol, saying it is one of the main risk factors associated with breast cancer.
There were supplementary questions for the three Opposition justice spokespersons. Richard Baker (Lab) said it was important that the fight against alcohol abuse must also include the rigorous enforcement of the existing law; Robert Brown (LD) pointed out that if a minimum pricing regime were to be introduced, it would increase private retailers&’ incomes by £90 million per year and drop public revenues by £4 million, and Bill Aitken (Con) said that a more targeted approach to addressing the problem together with Westminster would be more appropriate. The Deputy First Minister replied that the benefit of minimum pricing would be a reduced amount of alcohol consumption which should rise above other factors, and she urged all the Members in the Chamber to read the report, saying that sometimes the Parliament should be bold and “lead from the front” as they had done with the ban on smoking in public places.
You can read this question in the Official Report . See also the story in the CJScotland Newsblog
Questions to the Law and Justice Officers
Implementation of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009
Bill Aitken (Con) asked about the reported delay in the implementation of the sexual offences Act, calling this “scandalous” and a let down for potential victims. The Cabinet Secretary denied that there was a delay in the Act’s implementation, although he then went on to say that because the legislation is introducing such radical changes, the Crown Office, the Scottish Court Service and the police require around a year to train their staff and make the necessary changes before they are ready for the new legislation. The Justice Secretary also answered a supplementary question from Richard Baker (Lab) about the need to improve the clear up rate for rape and attempted rape, which have fallen.
Assisted suicide
Jeremy Purvis (LD) asked whether or not people who travelled abroad to help a terminally ill person commit suicide should be charged with culpable homicide. Kenny MacAskill replied that the recent developments in England and Wales do not affect Scotland where there is no offence of assisting suicide, and that the Lord Advocate is the one to decides when any prosecution should take place or not.
Extradition requests to the United States of America
John Wilson (SNP) asked a question in which he argued the fact that the extradition arrangements between the UK and the USA are reserved to Westminster, even if they involve a Scottish national, is “against the natural principles of justice”. The Cabinet Secretary replied that extradition arrangements had to be kept under constant review but provided no further comment.
Knife crime in Glasgow
Margaret Curran (Lab) argued in her question that Glasgow has the highest rate of recorded crime nationally and a significant knife crime problem, but the Glasgow Community Justice Authority has recently seen its budget cut, which goes against the Government’s pledge to fund more community sentences. The Justice Secretary said that record amounts had been put into supporting community sentences and he also praised the police in Glasgow and the violence reduction unit.
Licensing Act 2005
Richard Simpson (Lab) highlighted the problems that there have been with the implementation of the Licensing Act, in particular the backlog in processing licenses to retailers who wish to sell alcohol. He said that in some areas, 50 per cent of premises have not received their licence and some individuals have had to wait 15 months for them after due process and payment. The Cabinet Secretary acknowledged that there had been some problems in some areas, but the “millennium meltdown” that many had anticipated on the 1st of September when the Act came into affect had not happened, and he said that all authorities were working hard to clear the backlog.
Rural Policing
In his question, John Lamont (Con) said that it was important that smaller rural communities are not marginalised in police force areas which also contain larger towns and cities. The Justice Secretary naturally agreed, and said that he had met with both Chief Constables and Sheriffs who understand that crime problems affect cities and rural areas differently.
Illegal encampments
Andrew Welsh (SNP) highlighted the case of illegal encampments in his constituency, saying that people have chosen to camp in places with no facilities and commit antisocial behaviour causing nuisance for local communities. The Secretary replied that there are various civil and legal powers available to police and local authorities, and that enforcement ultimately lies with them.
You can read all the questions to the Law and Justice Officers in the Official Report, or watch them on Holyrood.TV
Written questions
There was a question for the Cabinet Secretary about the Government‘s approach to serious and organised crime, the amount of fines issued for vandalism, and the number of arrests for domestic abuse across Scotland. There was a question about the number of drug and alcohol treament centres in Scotland, about comments made by the Lord Advocate about how many years a life sentence should be, and the Government‘s view on this issue. Finally, there were a number of questions about prison including whether they really were “universities of crime”.
Posted by KM
on Mon 5th Oct 2009
at 8:05 am
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