- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 10 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will define the term "unfit places", as referred to on page 7 of the Justice section in Spending Proposals 2003-2006 - Technical Notes.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The term "unfit places" relates to prisoner places with no access to night sanitation. The SPS is committed to developing a prison estate "fit for purpose" for the 21st century and thereby phasing out the use of such places as circumstances and finance permit.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 10 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30372 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 November 2002 and given that the Scottish Prison Service does not monitor the number of reportable accidents notified by Premier Prison Services Ltd (PPSL) to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), how it measures PPSL's performance against the target for number of injuries reportable to the HSE.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) respond. His response is as follows:The SPS has no target for the number of injuries reportable to the HSE from HM Prison Kilmarnock.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 10 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30810 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 November 2002, what assessment it made of best value when deciding to contract out education services in prisons.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The education contracts were competitively tendered in accordance with European Union rules. Bids from reputable education providers were initially assessed for educational capability and capacity to provide the required range of services. Commercial factors including cost were also assessed and each bid evaluated in total with the emphasis on educational quality.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any information about any refinancing of the contract for HM Prison Kilmarnock by Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited and, if so, whether it will give details of such refinancing.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited advised the SPS in November 1999 that the possibility of financial restructuring/refinancing was being considered. Details of the outcome for the Home Office are shown in Figure 8 of the National Audit Office (NAO) report
PFI Refinancing Update published on 7 November 2002. Similar arrangements were put in place in respect of HM Prison Kilmarnock. This matter was discussed with the Managing Director of KPSL at the Justice 1 Committee meeting on 30 October 2001.The NAO report is available on the NAO website at:
www.nao.gov.uk/publications/nao_reports/01-02The minutes of the Justice 1 Committee meeting of 30 October 2001 (meeting number 29, 2001) are available on the Parliament's website at:
www.scottish.parliament.uk/official_reprt/cttee/just1-01.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any subsequent financing agreement, as defined in section 1.1.105 of the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock, has been entered into that did not require the Executive's prior written consent under section 3.2 of the minute of agreement for the reasons shown in section 3.3 and, if so, whether it will list each such subsequent financing agreements.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The SPS has no record of any such agreements.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 2 December 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30376 by Mr Jim Wallace on 31 October 2002, whether the figures given in the answer include charges incurred as variables Ga and Gb, defined in paragraph 6 of schedule E to the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:No. Variables Ga and Gb relate solely to additional prisoner places and SPS pays only for such places that are occupied.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 28 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30375 by Mr Jim Wallace on 31 October 2002, when it expects the modelling of the detailed effect on the supply of prisoner places of its decisions in relation to new prisons and investment in existing prisons to be complete and whether it will publish the results of the modelling.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:Capacity modelling is continually updated to support operational decisions and advice to ministers. Scenarios and projections based on such modelling are not routinely published, since they fall within the category of information identified by the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information whose disclosure "would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion". The SPS does, however, publish information based on capacity modelling to support consultations and announcements on key decisions affecting the supply of prisoner places, as for example was included in the Scottish Prison Service Estates Review published earlier this year.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 26 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29771 by Mr Jim Wallace on 15 October 2002, why the cost of education at HM Prison Polmont rose by approximately 54% between 2000-01 and 2001-02.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The number of hours of learning delivered to the young offenders in YOI Polmont doubled between the first and the second year. This was an outcome of the high priority that SPS attached to developing the learning provision for young offenders.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 26 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30376 by Mr Jim Wallace on 31 October 2002, how much of the fixed element of the variable payment for the 48 additional prisoner places in HM Prison Kilmarnock, referred to in paragraph 6 of schedule E to the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock, has been spent on empty places in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03 to date.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:None. Payment is made only for those additional prisoner places that are occupied.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Simpson on 26 November 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to encourage courts to use the power granted to them under section 96 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
Answer
Section 96 of the Crime and Disorder Act provides that, where it is proved that any offence was racially aggravated, that aggravation should be taken into account in sentencing. A guide to those provisions was issued by the then Scottish Office Home Department on 25 September 1998. The guidance made it clear that in cases involving racial aggravation the judge, whilst sentencing, would be expected to impose a higher sentence within the maximum available.The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service pursue a robust prosecution policy in cases of racist crime and area procurators fiscal are personally responsible for monitoring its implementation. In the last year prosecutors received 1,315 cases from the police which either included charges of racially aggravated harassment and behaviour or separate statutory racial aggravations. Proceedings which included either a statutory charge or aggravation were taken by procurators fiscal in 95% of these cases.
