- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 August 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the concept of local prison units for women offenders comprising small multi-functional custodial centres with an emphasis on holistic care of offenders and the reduction of reoffending, as promoted by the Howard League for Penal Reform and described in the Corston Report of March 2007; whether it plans to develop the concept further, and, if so, how.
Answer
I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) are reviewing where women prisoners are accommodated. We plan to move towards a more community facing model being developed as part of the SPS Estates Strategy. The first pilot will be at HM Prison Grampian at Peterhead. SPS will aim to locate women closer to home where they have low levels of need and are serving shorter sentences and within a centralised specialist facility where they have more complex needs or risks.
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 July 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase the resources needed for the provision of drug treatment to minimise delays between referral, assessment and treatment stages and maintain an applicant’s momentum and, in particular, what action is being taken to increase access to community-based support.
Answer
We have increased funding to tackle drug addiction by 13.5%. This brings the total provided for drug treatment and rehabilitation in 2009-10 to £29,998 million. However, it is for health boards and their partners to allocate these resources in order to meet local needs.
We are introducing a new national HEAT target requiring NHS and NHS-funded services to reduce waiting times for drug treatment services. This will ensure that people with drug problems are able to access services, including community-based support, at the point of need, to support their recovery. We are also drafting guidance on reducing drug treatment waiting times.
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 4 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what actions were taken on the recent visit by the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning to China to deliver on point 14 of The Scottish Government’s Plan for Engagement with China to “take the opportunity to raise with appropriate senior Chinese figures concerns about Human Rights in China”.
Answer
The First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary held a number of high level government meetings and in discussion with the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs raised the issue of human rights having received advice from both Amnesty International and the Scottish Human Rights Council ahead of the visit.
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Scottish Government or Transport Scotland spent on supporting heavy rail passenger services, excluding capital costs, in the last year for which information is available; how many passengers travelled on Scottish Government or Transport Scotland supported heavy rail passenger services in that year, and what the highest level of support provided by the Scottish Government or Transport Scotland was, excluding capital costs, to a single route in that year.
Answer
Franchise payments from Transport Scotland, as part of the Scottish Government, to Network Rail and ScotRail in support of heavy rail passenger services totalled £690 million for 2008-09. ScotRail passenger numbers totalled 83.94 million for 2008-09. The franchise payment to ScotRail is for delivering the terms of the Franchise Agreement including the services specified. This payment is not broken down by route. The Network Rail payment is for the operation, maintenance and renewal of the existing network, and similarly is not broken down by route.
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how much Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) spent on supporting heavy rail passenger services, excluding capital costs, in the last year for which information is available; how many passengers travelled on SPT-supported heavy rail passenger services in that year, and what the highest level of support provided by the SPT to a single route was, excluding capital costs, in that year.
Answer
The last full year in which Strathclyde Partnership for Transport''s (SPT) predecessor organisation, Strathclyde Passenger Transport, supported the heavy rail franchise in their area was 2004-05. Responsibility for these services passed to Scottish ministers in November 2005.
Detailed figures are a matter for SPT, but we understand that the cost of supporting the franchise in 2004-05 was £118.217 million, excluding capital costs. Patronage on the Strathclyde network for that year was 45.49 million passengers. Support was provided across the network as a whole, and was not broken down by route.
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 5 May 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether First ScotRail services or services supported by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport are in receipt of publicly funded revenue support and, if so, how much has been provided and in what capacity.
Answer
The ScotRail Franchise Agreement is in place between Scottish ministers and First ScotRail Limited. The contract specifies the train services to be operated by ScotRail including services in the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport area. In addition to specifying the train services the franchise contains obligations to provide all of the services and functions necessary to support the delivery of train services required of an experienced operator. First ScotRail Ltd receives franchise payments from Scottish Government in accordance with the terms of the Franchise Agreement which is worth £2.5 billion over the 10 years of the agreement from 2004 to 2014.
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Salmond on 30 April 2009
To ask the First Minister what progress the Scottish Government is making on the replacement of short-term prison sentences with robust community sentences.
Answer
This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0430-01.htm
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 26 March 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available to individuals and community groups to undertake targeted environmental improvement projects in their local areas.
Answer
This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0326-01.htm
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 12 March 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to school pupils for whom English is not their first language through the Getting it Right for Every Child programme.
Answer
The Scottish Government is investing record levels of funding in local government, £23 billion for the period 2008-10, so that education authorities can respond appropriately to their own needs and priorities. This includes providing for pupils for whom English is an additional language.
The Getting it Right for Every Child programme is the foundation for work with all children and young people and focuses holistically on the needs of the child. While Getting it Right for Every Child does not make specific provision for individual children, The Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 does. The 2004 act requires education authorities to identify, meet and keep under review the additional support needs of all pupils for whose education they are responsible. Getting it Right for Every Child and the 2004 act are mutually supportive in seeking to improve outcomes for all children.
- Asked by: Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 26 February 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the closure or downgrading of Howdenhall forensic laboratory in Edinburgh will be considered as part of the Scottish Police Services Authority board’s review of the future of forensic services following the completion of new laboratories in Gartcosh and Dundee.
Answer
The Scottish Police Services Authority has no plans to close or downgrade the Howdenhall forensic laboratory.
