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-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-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-34177

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 how many calls to each emergency service that have been recorded as being (a) hung up and (b) terminated before completion in each year since 2018 have resulted in a response being dispatched.

Question reference: S6W-34176

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 protocols each emergency service has in place to follow up on calls that are recorded as having been hung up or terminated before completion.

Question reference: S6W-34641

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 released under any early release programmes in each of the last five years were recalled to custody.

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

When a prisoner is liberated from custody under emergency release arrangements such as the 2020 COVID 19 Early Release Scheme and the 2024 Emergency Early Release Regulations, they have no outstanding warrants, as such they are released back into the community with no conditions or restrictions having served their time. Therefore, they cannot be recalled back into custody, as there are no conditions attached to their release.

In the last 5 years, no prisoners have been recalled to custody following their release under either the 2020 COVID 19 Early Release Scheme or the 2024 Emergency Early Release Regulations.

Question reference: S6W-34180

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on media training for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants in each year since 2018, broken down by department.

Question reference: S6W-34610

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been of installing solar panels on government-owned buildings in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-34614

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to expand the installation of solar panels on government-owned buildings.

Installing solar panels on owned Scottish Government buildings will be considered as part of holistic approach to decarbonising our buildings. Feasibility studies will be carried out to look at the suitability of roof structures, roof orientation, available space and shading. Not all buildings will be suitable for installing solar panels. We will continue to pursue innovative solutions which may provide opportunities to support the broader energy transition.

Question reference: S6W-34613

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much electricity has been generated by any solar panels installed on government-owned buildings in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-34609

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many government-owned buildings have had solar panels installed, broken down by (a) department, (b) agency and (c) local authority area.

Scottish Government core owned estate has six buildings with solar panels installed.

They are in the following local authority areas:

The City of Edinburgh Council – 3 buildings (Victoria Quay, St Andrews House, SASA)

Scottish Borders Council – 1 building (Tweedbank)

Aberdeenshire Council – 1 building (Thainstone)

Argyll and Bute – 1 building (Cameron House, Oban)

The Scottish Government does not hold data on solar panels installed on buildings owned or occupied by its agencies or other public bodies.