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-42317

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have been released from Scottish prisons in error over the last 10 years.

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

A range of checks are carried out before the release of a prisoner is authorised including but not limited to, an identity check of the person, confirmation of liberation date and a check for any known outstanding warrants.

A liberation in error occurs when an individual is released from a Scottish Prison Service establishment without lawful authority. This situation typically arises due to an administrative or procedural mistake, such as incorrect interpretation of documentation, miscalculation of sentence dates or incorrect data sharing from other partners.

The following table provides the numbers of total liberations and the liberations in error since 2016-2017, up to and including 5 Dec 2025:

Year	Total Annual Liberations	Recorded Liberations in Error*	Liberations in Error as a percentage
2016-17	23372	4	0.02%
2017-18	21792	4	0.02%
2018-19	21354	5	0.02%
2019-20	21668	4	0.02%
2020-21	12933	3	0.02%
2021-22	13934	5	0.04%
2022-23	14769	8	0.05%
2023-24	15732	7	0.04%
2024-25	16387	9	0.05%
2025-26**	10751	5	0.05%
TOTAL	172692	54	0.03%

*All liberations in error are subject to review by the Warrants Administration Group (WAG), at which point the data may change depending on the outcome of the review.

**up to 5 December 2025

Question reference: S6W-42406

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers have taken part in the Your Leadership Matters training programme.

Question reference: S6W-42407

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much Police Scotland paid EY in total for the Your Leadership Matters training programme.

It is for the Chief Constable, under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), to determine Police Scotland's operational approach to policing in Scotland, this includes the allocation of resources to Police Officer and Staff training programmes. Details of costs can be found in the SPA board paper from 4 December 2025 at; item-3-4-bi-annual-joint-thematic-report-leadership-talent-and-learning-training-development.pdf

Question reference: S6W-42408

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitored and measured the value and impact of the Your Leadership Matters training programme for Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42184

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the construction contract that it has entered into to build HPM Glasgow, whether there is scope in the contract for the project to go over budget, and, if so, by how much.

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

SPS are unable to provide specific details of the HMP Glasgow contract as it may be commercially prejudicial to the contractor and the contracts management.

I can confirm however, that the HMP Glasgow contract is a fixed lump sum contract, with an allowance built into the project budget for contingencies and risk.

Question reference: S6W-42026

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the capacity tolerance is for each prison, and how this compares with the current population in each.

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

The Design Capacity of each establishment represents an effective, manageable number at which prisons are not overcrowded, are occupied in accordance with their initial design and can be safely and effectively managed to support rehabilitation.

The Assessed Capacity Tolerance (ACT) is an assessment of the absolute extremis capacity in each establishment. This figure is dynamic and should not be considered as an indicator to current prisoner places across the prison estate.

Governors in Charge make a weekly ACT determination and assessment based on components unique to their establishment. These include but are not limited to prison stability, staffing numbers and the ability to meet minimum legal requirements of those in their care.

The following table show the Population, Design Capacity and Assessed Capacity Tolerance as of 20 November 2025:

Establishment	Current Population	Design Capacity	Total Assessed Capacity Tolerance
Addiewell	739	702	748
Barlinnie	1404	987	1400
Bella	12	16	16
Dumfries	196	176	198
Edinburgh	920	867	905
Glenochil	707	668	700
Grampian	497	552	523
Greenock	230	224	254
Inverness	127	93	120
Kilmarnock	621	501	620
Lilias	23	24	24
Low Moss	817	784	820
Castle Huntly	197	184	184
Perth	679	631	680
Polmont	531	758	571
Shotts	538	538	538
Stirling	83	100	100
TOTALS	8321	7805	8401

Question reference: S6O-05244

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is tackling the increase in demand for ADHD assessments in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6O-05197

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of alleged animal welfare abuse at a Bakkafrost Scotland salmon farm.

Question reference: S6W-41708

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40138 by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025, what ongoing monitoring of how many people could be eligible to have their convictions overturned under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act 2024 it is carrying out, and how many people it has identified as (a) being potentially eligible for and (b) having received their compensation.

The initial stages of identifying individuals eligible to have their convictions quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act 2024 focused on the assessment of potential cases referred by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) as most likely to contain relevant convictions, followed by an assessment using broader criteria applied to cases identified by Police Scotland.

As part of ongoing monitoring, the Scottish Government continue to work closely with Post Office Limited and the UK Government, with data sharing agreements in place to facilitate the exchange of information that supports the implementation of a consistent approach across the UK. The Scottish Government also engage with the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (NFSP) and provide public information to ensure that anyone who may have a relevant conviction is aware that they can approach the Scottish Government at any time to have their conviction assessed. Information on how to apply to the Scottish Government directly remains available on the Scottish Government website.

To date, the Scottish Government have identified 64 individuals with convictions quashed by the Act, and one individual with an alternative to prosecution within the scope of the Act. While a matter for the UK Government, we understand that all of these individuals are eligible to apply to the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) administered by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). It should be noted that DBT does not provide information to the Scottish Government on the outcome of compensation claims, as this is considered a matter between the individual and the administrator of the scheme. However, from the information available to the Scottish Government, 52 out of the 65 eligible individuals have now applied to HCRS. Furthermore, the Scottish Government has proactively shared with DBT the information pertaining to the remaining individuals eligible to apply for compensation, to enable DBT to engage with them and provide more information about the scheme.

Question reference: S6O-05162

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to improve Glasgow City’s regional economy, in light of the economic effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on the city.