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-34649

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many heat pumps have been installed in Scotland to date, broken down by local authority area; how it monitors the number and location of heat pump installations, and what assessment it has made of progress towards its targets for heat pump installations.

We publish an annual report of progress against our Heat in Buildings strategy. The most recent report was published in October 2024: Heat in Buildings: progress report 2024 - gov.scot. This includes estimates for number of domestic and non-domestic properties with heat pumps, as monitored through the Scottish House Condition Survey(SHCS) and the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.

For the Local Authority analysis of the SHCS, we use a three year pooled data set. This is not available for the latest survey data due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the 2020 and 2021 SHCS.

MCS data are publicly available here: The MCS Data Dashboard - MCS.

There is currently no target for heat pump installations in Scotland. While we see heat pumps as a key solution for decarbonising Scotland’s buildings, we also see a role for heat networks and direct electric heating, as well as potentially other technologies, alongside heat pumps.

Question reference: S6W-34639

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the early release of prisoners on public safety in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government has utilised emergency early release legislation on two separate occasions in the last five years (May 2020 and June/July 2024).

Public and victim safety is central to our decision making, particularly when releasing individuals early from their prison sentence.

In each instance, the emergency action was necessary and proportionate to ensure prisons were able to operate safely, and to protect the health and wellbeing of prison staff and those held in custody. These decisions were not taken lightly, and on both cases strict eligibility criteria were set out, and agreed by Parliament.

In both cases, the number of individuals released was carefully limited to the level required. Only individuals who were close to their scheduled release date were eligible for release. There were important exclusions put in place for domestic abuse and sexual offences, long-term sentenced individuals were excluded, and Governors could veto the emergency early release of an individual, if this would present a risk to an individual or group.

Question reference: S6W-34645

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support services are provided to prisoners released early to prevent reoffending.

Individuals released under early release programmes are entitled to receive the same voluntary support services that would be available to them if they had been released at their scheduled liberation date, should they wish. These services are funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by third sector organisations and local authorities.

The national third sector prison throughcare services work with individuals released from short sentences, identifying individuals’ needs and linking them to the wider services they require. This can involve supporting individuals to access social security payments, healthcare, housing and other basic needs, while also working with them to develop the employability and vocational skills required to access and sustain employment.

Such support can help to reduce the risk factors linked with reoffending and promotes successful reintegration into communities.

All prison leavers are also entitled to request support from their local authority for up to twelve months from their release. The specific services provided in each area are directed by the local authority, as part of their wider community justice services.

Question reference: S6W-34178

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps each emergency service is taking to reduce the number of emergency calls that are recorded as being hung up or terminated prematurely, and what information it has regarding the outcome of this action.

Question reference: S6W-34640

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of prisoners released under any early release programmes in each of the last five years were subject to electronic monitoring upon release.

Emergency release regulations have been utilised twice within the last five years (May 2020 & June/July 2024), and on both occasions the same conditions of release were applied for individuals granted emergency early release, as would have been applied at their original scheduled liberation date.

The individuals released in both emergency early release processes were serving short-term prison sentences, and were approaching the end of those short-term sentences. Individuals serving short-term sentences are not routinely subject to additional monitoring of any kind following their release from custody at their earliest date of liberation, and therefore were not subject to such monitoring as part of the two early release processes.

Individuals whose sentence included orders requiring post-release supervision and monitoring requirements were automatically excluded from early release on both occasions.

Question reference: S6W-34644

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have been released early due to (a) overcrowding and (b) public health considerations in each of the last five years.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-34637 on 24 February 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-34646

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to rehabilitation and resettlement services for prisoners released early in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government currently provides over £3.4 million total in annual funding for the provision of voluntary throughcare to Shine and New Routes Public Social Partnerships (PSPs).

For the early release programmes in 2020 and 2024, no additional funding outwith the annual allocation was provided to those services. The throughcare Public Social Partnerships were involved in planning and delivery of the emergency early release processes in both 2020 and 2024, and offered the same support services to individuals who were released early, as they would to individuals released at their scheduled release date.

In 2025, New Routes PSP were provided with £62,500 in additional funding to support the increase in male prisoners being released under the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025 which would exceed their annual support capacity.

Question reference: S6W-34643

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of sentence reduction has been for prisoners released under any early release programmes in each of the last five years.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The table below shows the average length of sentence reduction for prisoners released under either the 2020 COVID 19 Early Release Scheme or the 2024 Emergency Early Release Regulations within the last 5 years:

Year	Average sentence reduction (days)
2020	24.7
2021	NA
2022	NA
2023	NA
2024	60.3

Question reference: S6W-34179

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis each emergency service takes into the reason for calls being recorded as hung up or terminated early, including the potential impact on response times and outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-34647

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of prisoners released under any early release programmes in each of the last five years secured (a) stable housing and (b) employment within three months of release.

Data in relation to the housing circumstances and employment status of individuals released from custody is not available.

Individuals serving short-term sentences are not routinely subject to any form of post-release supervision or monitoring, and those that had supervision or monitoring requirements post-sentence were automatically excluded from both the Coronavirus specific early release process in 2020 and the Emergency Early Release process in 2024.

Pre-release planning, including in relation to housing needs, was a key feature of both of the emergency early release processes (2020 & 2024). The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) worked closely with representatives from Local Government – including housing departments, wider public bodies, and the third sector in the planning and operation of the processes.