Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-17354

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 24 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16511 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 May 2005, whether its agreement with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd regarding the monthly performance summary of the contract for the provision of prisoner escort and court custody services is available in writing and, if so, whether it will provide the full written terms of that agreement and why it did not provide this information in the answer to question S2W-16511.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The answer to the previous question gave information on what information could be released as agreed with Reliance. A full copy of the written agreement is as follows:

Monthly Reliance Custodial Services (RCS) Performance Report – Headline Definitions

Prisoner Movements

Police Custody to Court

The number of prisoner escorts from police custody to court, but not the return journey, for the calendar month.

Prisons to Court

The number of prisoner escorts from prisons to court, but not the return journey, for the calendar month.

Hospital to Court

The number of prisoner escorts from hospital to court, but not the return journey, for the calendar month.

Court to Court

The number of prisoner escorts from one court to another court, but not the return journey, for the calendar month.

Other

The number of other prisoner escorts which count toward calculation of volume bandings, including non-core escorts, for the calendar month. In this context, return journeys as described above do not count, nor do “walk ins” who are subsequently given a custodial disposal. Inter court transfers are reported separately.

Performance

On Time Delivery to Court

The percentage of prisoners delivered to court on time, as defined by the contract.

Prisoners Unlawfully at Large

The number of performance measures that have been applied against RCS for each incident in that month for prisoners who have been released in error, or escaped or who are unlawfully at large.

Financial

Payment due to Service Provider

The total amount, presented as a single figure, due to RCS based upon the Invoice and Credit note submitted by RCS for that month including any revision(s) to the credit note as a result of the monthly meeting between the Operations Director and the Monitor. The number of pending items (if any) following this meeting they will be highlighted on the Monthly Report.

Scottish Prison Service, 6 August 2004.

Question reference: S2W-16577

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 23 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15336 by Patricia Ferguson on 15 April 2005, in light of its news release on 30 March 2004 pledging12.2 million of Executive funding for the Action Plan for Youth Football project and further to the answer to question S2W-13631 by Patricia Ferguson on 31 January 2005 indicating that the Executive would provide only1.2 million towards the project with the remaining balance of11 million coming from various lottery sources, whether lottery funding was announced as Executive funding in the news release and, if so, whether it will investigate (a) on how many occasions, (b) when, (c) to what monetary value and (d) for what purpose lottery funding has been announced asScottish Executive orScottish Government funding.

The Scottish Executive news release of 30 March 2004 announced the launch of the Scottish FootballAssociation’s Action Plan for Youth Football, with support from the Scottish Executive. The news release and my answer to question S2W-13631 on 31 January 2005made it clear that the £12.2 million Action Plan will be funded from £1.2million of Exchequer funding, with the balance of £11 million coming from Lottery Funds, over 10years.

In preparing the reply to questionS2W-15336, my officials canvassed Scottish Executive Departmental Lottery contactswho identified no examples of Lottery funds being announced as Scottish Executiveor Scottish Government funding.

All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Question reference: S2W-17246

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-8485, S2W-10935, S2W-16507 and S2W-16955 by Cathy Jamieson on 8 June2004,19 October 2004, 23 May 2005 and 6 June 2005 and given that thecontract with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the provision of prisoner escort and court custody services is now fully rolled out,how many prison officer hours have now been released from prisoner transport duties as a result of the contract.

Question reference: S2W-17247

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16507 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 May 2005, whether the contract with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the provision of prisoner escort and court custody services was fully rolled outbythat date and, if so, why no substantive answer was given to that question.

Question reference: S2W-17358

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16168 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 June 2001, how many robberies involving (a) firearms and (b) handguns were committed in (a) 2000-01, (b) 2001-02, (c) 2002-03, (d) 2003-04 and (e) 2004-05, broken down by police force area.

The available information is given in the following table.

Robberies Involving Handguns and All Firearms, by Police Force, by Financial Year

Police Force		2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04(Provisional)
Central	Pistol/Revolver	0	0	0	1
Central	All Firearms	3	0	1	2
Dumfries and Galloway	Pistol/Revolver	0	0	3	0
Dumfries and Galloway	All Firearms	0	0	3	1
Fife	Pistol/Revolver	0	0	1	0
Fife	All Firearms	0	0	3	0
Grampian	Pistol/Revolver	2	2	0	1
Grampian	All Firearms	5	3	3	1
Lothian and Borders	Pistol/Revolver	9	4	7	4
Lothian and Borders	All Firearms	18	6	16	18
Northern	Pistol/Revolver	0	0	0	0
Northern	All Firearms	0	0	0	0
Strathclyde	Pistol/Revolver	59	5	2	2
Strathclyde	All Firearms	127	96	87	107
Tayside	Pistol/Revolver	0	0	0	0
Tayside	All Firearms	3	3	4	3
Scotland	Pistol/Revolver	70	11	13	8
Scotland	All Firearms	156	108	117	132

Question reference: S2W-17329

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17017 by Cathy Jamieson on 13 June 2005, how many offences involving air guns there were in each of the last four years, broken down into those committed by persons (a) under 16 and (b) 16 and over, in each police force area.

The number of recorded crimes and offences involving air weapons and unidentified weapons in the last four years, and the age breakdown of the main accused, where known, by police force area, are given in the following tables.

Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Air Weapon or Unidentified Weapon was Alleged to have Been Used, by Age of Main Accused and Police Force, Scotland, 2000

Age of Accused	Under 16		16 and Over		No Accused Identified		Total
Police Force	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified
Central	15	1	11	2	12	0	38	3
Dumfries and Galloway	5	0	5	0	3	0	13	0
Fife	2	0	5	0	4	0	11	0
Grampian	10	0	16	2	34	4	60	6
Lothian and Borders	16	0	11	6	98	48	125	54
Northern	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Strathclyde	51	0	82	31	162	41	295	72
Tayside	2	0	19	2	7	5	28	7
Total	101	1	149	43	320	98	570	142

Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Airweapon or Unidentified Weapon was Alleged to have Been Used, by Age of Main Accused and Police Force, Scotland, 2001

Age of Accused	Under 16		16 and over		No accused identified		Total
Police Force	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified
Central	3	0	25	2	1	6	29	8
Dumfries and Galloway	15	0	15	0	7	0	37	0
Fife	4	0	11	0	7	0	22	0
Grampian	14	0	20	0	19	0	53	0
Lothian and Borders	11	0	12	0	133	30	156	30
Northern	0	0	4	0	1	0	5	0
Strathclyde	36	6	51	56	59	227	146	289
Tayside	7	0	21	2	40	4	68	6
Total	90	6	159	60	267	267	516	333

Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Airweapon or Unidentified Weapon was Alleged to have Been Used, by Age of Main Accused and Police Force, Scotland, 2002

Age of Accused	Under 16		16 and Over		No Accused Identified		Total
Police Force	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified
Central	0	0	6	0	4	0	10	0
Dumfries and Galloway	5	0	6	0	8	0	19	0
Fife	7	0	20	0	4	0	31	0
Grampian	17	1	24	5	12	1	53	7
Lothian and Borders	23	3	27	6	59	149	109	158
Northern	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Strathclyde	26	15	35	66	4	274	65	355
Tayside	2	0	11	0	31	3	44	3
Total	80	19	129	77	122	427	331	523

Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in which an Airweapon or Unidentified Weapon was Alleged to have Been Used, by Age of Main Accused and Police Force, Scotland, 2003

Age of Accused	Under 16		16 and Over		No Accused Identified		Total
Police Force	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified	Air-Weapon	Un-Identified
Central	0	0	5	0	3	0	8	0
Dumfries and Galloway	3	0	0	0	7	0	10	0
Fife	1	0	4	0	10	0	15	0
Grampian	6	0	10	4	6	2	22	6
Lothian and Borders	4	0	41	0	195	67	240	67
Northern	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Strathclyde	20	14	44	74	2	194	66	282
Tayside	5	0	15	0	34	6	54	6
Total	39	14	119	78	257	269	415	361

Question reference: S2W-17271

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 21 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether football organisations other than the Scottish Football Association are entitled to seek financial assistance from sportscotland and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Sportscotland only provides development grant aid to the governingbodies of sport and in football’s case this is the SFA. Sportscotlanddoes not simply grant-aid activity. It makes an investment in a sport having consideredwhether the sport has a clear development plan and the ability to deliver it andhaving considered the extent to which the plan will contribute to delivering Sport21.

Any football organisation orclub meeting the eligibility criteria can apply for funding under the Sportsmatch,Awards for All and Building for Sport programmes administered by sportscotland.

Question reference: S2W-17179

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 21 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what funds it has made available in each of the last five years for tackling the issues surrounding (a) drugs and (b) alcohol misuse; what funds it has made available for anti-smoking measures over this period, and which groups have received the funds.

Expenditure on tackling drugmisuse comes from a wide range of ringfenced and mainstream programmes. Theseare administered at national and local levels and therefore it is extremelydifficult to provide comprehensive and robust aggregate figures on absolutespend. The table shows funding streams for programmes, although it should benoted that definitions can vary of activities which could be included underbroad headings such as enforcement and treatment. Some funding streams addressboth drug and alcohol problems.

Drug Misuse (£ Million)	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Treatment (via NHS Boards)	14.9	16.9	16.9	19.7	25.7
Rehabilitation (via authorities)	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.8
Prisons	2.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Criminal Justice (drug courts etc)	2.7	5.6	6.4	7.8	9.9
Community Disposals (SIPs etc)	5.0	8.5	11.4	12.0*	12.7*
Enforcement (SDEA etc)	13.7	15.7	19.9	21.2**	23.4**
Communication/support	2.4	2.4	2.4	1.8	1.8
Scotland Against Drugs	1.0	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Information/Research	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Drug and Alcohol Action Teams and National Support	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5

Notes:

*These are estimated figuresdue to mainstreaming of some funding streams.

**Estimated figures refer tothe total SDEA budget.

An announcement ofadditional funding to tackle alcohol misuse for 2005-06 will be made shortly. Thefollowing table shows funding where figures are available.

Alcohol Misuse (£ Million)	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Treatment (via NHS Boards)	-	-	-	3.0	5.0
Communications	-	1.1	0.9	0.9	tbc
Alcohol Focus Scotland	-	0.1	0.4	0.4	0.4
General	-	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2
Drug and Alcohol Action Teams and National Support	-	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

Funding for anti-smokingmeasures is shown in the table, which includes support for ASH Scotland,Partnership Action on Tobacco Health and NHS Health Scotland.

Anti Smoking Measures (£ Million)	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
	4.4	4.5	5.9	6.0	11.0

Question reference: S2W-17177

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many automobile accidents reported in the last five years involved (a) drink driving and (b) speeding, broken down by police force area.

Data about injury road accidents are collected by the Police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the “Stats 19” statistical report format. These returns do not cover "damage only" accidents.

The only figures on drink driving accidents which are available centrally are the Department for Transport's estimates of the numbers of personal injury accidents which involved motor vehicle drivers or riders with illegal alcohol levels. They are not produced for individual Police Force areas. The latest available estimates for Scotland appear in Table 22 of Road Accidents Scotland 2003, published by the Scottish Executive, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 34523). Table 19 provides statistics of the numbers of motorists in each police force area who were involved in injury road accidents who failed (or refused) a breath test, but such figures do not cover drink-drivers who were not breath tested.

Figures on accidents involving speeding are not available centrally.

Traditionally, the road accident statistics returns did not record the causes of the accidents. However, the "Stats 19" specification was expanded, at the start of 2005, to include information about the factors which contribute to personal injury road accidents, such as (i) "impaired by alcohol"; (ii) "exceeding speed limit", and (iii) "travelling too fast for the conditions". In due course, therefore, the statistical system will provide information about these contributory factors for personal injury accidents.

Question reference: S2W-16928

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 17 June 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive why on-time delivery of prisoners to court fell from 98% in July 2004 to 85% in December 2004 and what action it intends to take to address this.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

The major reason was the significant expansion of operations to cover the whole of Scotland and double the number of prisoner movements compared to the start of the contract. Figures published on SPS’s website (www.sps.gov.uk) show that, since the roll-out was completed, performance has improved. The contract provides incentives for further improvements. Both SPS and the escort provider believe these are achievable, and the company will be working to deliver them.

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