Chamber and committees

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.

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Question reference: S6W-12583

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average and (b) longest time taken for the the police to attend an incident when required following a 999 call has been in each year since 2014.

The Scottish Government is grateful to Police Scotland’s call handlers for their continued hard work to ensure that calls to the service are answered as quickly and as safely as possible.

In its 2021 briefing note, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, (HMICS) noted significant progress in Police Scotland’s call handling processes and a commitment to pursue continuous improvement. Furthermore, this year’s HMICS assurance review on the service’s Contact Assessment Model (CAM) highlighted a number of successes in how calls are now triaged by handlers.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on Police Scotland 999 or 101 calls. Delivery of these services is a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA.

Police Scotland publish monthly reports on call handling which are available at: https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/what-we-do/how-we-are-performing/.

Question reference: S6W-12606

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the identified comparative cost is per prisoner per annum for each of Scotland's custodial institutions, including young offender institutions, women's prisons, institutions operated directly by the Scottish Prison Service and any outsourced to a contracting party.

The calculated annual average cost per prisoner place within SPS is published in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts each year. For 2021-22 the annual average cost per prisoner place, which excludes capital charges, exceptional payments and the cost of the Court Custody and Prisoner Escort contracts, was £41,858 (2020-21 £39,350).

SPS do not currently calculate the average cost per prisoner place at an individual establishment level therefore this level of detail is not available.

Question reference: S6W-12535

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the contract to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, what the (a) total cost to date and (b) estimated cost up until the contract end date is of providing security for the MS (i) Victoria and (ii) Ambition.

Question reference: S6W-12607

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many new post-foundation specialty training posts for junior doctors in NHS Scotland there have been in each of the last 10 years.

725 additional training places have been created for trainee doctors since 2014. This includes 152 posts which were agreed to this year and will be recruited to in 2023. This represents the largest annual expansion to date, exceeding last year’s record by 13 places. An annual breakdown is included in the following table.

Data is not held for years prior to 2014.

Year	Number of posts created
2014	58
2015	15
2016	117*
2017	21
2018	26
2019	53
2020	70
2021	74
2022	139
2023	152
Total:	725

* includes 100 additional GP training places

Question reference: S6W-12536

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the contract to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, what the (a) total cost to date and (b) estimated cost up until the contract end date is of providing catering for the MS (i) Victoria and (ii) Ambition.

Question reference: S6W-12706

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of (a) 999 and (b) 101 calls have been abandoned or discontinued in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S6W-12623

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will accept recommendation 7 of HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland’s report, Inspection of COPFS practice in relation to sections 274 and 275 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

The Scottish Government is currently giving consideration to recommendation 7 of the Inspectorate’s report as part of its work on the planned Criminal Justice Reform Bill and proposals in relation to Independent Legal Representation in respect of section 275 applications.

The Bill will look to deliver reforms building on the Scottish Government’s recent consultation on Improving Victims’ Experiences of the Justice System and recommendations from Lady Dorrian’s Review on Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases.

Question reference: S6W-12537

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the contract to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, what the (a) total cost to date and (b) estimated cost up until the contract end date is of port charges for the MS (i) Victoria and (ii) Ambition.

Question reference: S6W-12538

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the contract to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, whether it is responsible for meeting the cost of conducting running repairs of the MS (a) Victoria and (b) Ambition for the duration of the contract, and, if so, what the total cost of any such repairs has been.

Question reference: S6W-12585

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed in (a) 999 and (b) 101 call centres in each year since 2013.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working closely with Police Scotland to support delivery of the Joint Policing Strategy. The findings of the HMICS review of Strategic Workforce Planning, published this year showed that the focus needs to rightly be on capacity and capability.

The data requested are not held centrally by the Scottish Government as the recruitment and deployment of police officers and staff in Scotland is a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA. It is important that he has the flexibility to develop his workforce in a way that responds to the challenges he faces by ensuring the right workforce mix.