Chamber and committees

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

The information is not available in the form requested. The SPS do collate the number of literacy learners on a monthly basis which includes those who are continuing from the previous month, as well as new learners starting during the month.

The table below provides the average monthly figure:

Prison	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009 - to date
Aberdeen	54	29	54	78
Addiewell	-	-	-	183
Barlinnie	232	243	228	250
Cornton Vale	41	43	41	26
Dumfries	61	60	46	62
Edinburgh	165	168	169	253
Glenochil	22	21	48	21
Greenock	96	128	121	120
Inverness	71	66	64	72
Kilmarnock	Unknown	61	69	59
Open Estate	146	146	69	56
Perth	99	117	150	164
Peterhead	135	91	60	103
Polmont	225	324	166	244
Shotts	101	92	46	129
Totals	1,448	1,589	1,331	1,820

 

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

The Scottish Prison Service does not have estimations of the number of prisoners who are illiterate for each of the last three years broken down by prison.

Those identified at SQA Intermediate 1 level are deemed to be functioning at approximately foundation/general level at standard grade. Anybody at or below Intermediate 1 is considered to be lacking functional literacy.

Based on current data of assessed literacy need for those who attend prison learning centres results show that:

46% of young men who have engaged with the Polmont learning centre had a communication (literacy) level of less than SQA Intermediate level 1.

64% of women who have engaged with the Cornton Vale learning centre had a communication (literacy) level of less than SQA Intermediate level 1.

50% of male prisoners attending learning centres had a communication (literacy) level of less than SQA Intermediate level 1.

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

Her Majesty Inspectors of Education (HMIE) in conjunction with Her Majesty Inspectors of Prison (HMIP) inspect the education related provision provided within each prison. Their findings and recommendations are reported in the overall HMIP reports.

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

The information requested is not available.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29870 on 11 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

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

This information is not available; however SPS Addiction Testing information, broken down per prison establishment, is published annually within the Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland Report. This information is available from 1999 onwards and can be accessed using the following URL: http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/ISDbull.htm.

This information is not held centrally. However, an audit of individual local authority performance on the commencement and completion periods for community service orders was undertaken at the end of 2008. This was based on a snapshot of throughput at November 2008. The results of the audit were lodged with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre on 24 April 2009 (Bib. number 47783). A follow up audit based on figures from November 2009 is planned to commence in January 2010 to measure progress achieved over the intervening 12 months. On completion of the follow up audit copies of the findings will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 49886).

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-22851 on 23 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-29490 on 14 December 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Information on the number of drink driving offences recorded by police force area for the last three years is given in table 4a in the annual statistical bulletin series Recorded Crime in Scotland, for each of the years 2006-07 to 2008-09, published by the Scottish Government in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively. Copies of the first two of these bulletins are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 43510 and 46684). The statistical bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2008-09 can be obtained at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/09/28155153/0.

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The most recent available information is given in the 2007-08 criminal justice social work bulletin. This can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/12/09091001/0.

Table 1.1 shows the number of community service orders issued and the number of breach applications, while table 3.1 gives information on breach applications and outcomes. Figures are for orders issued and applications for breach during the year, but orders issued during one year may be subject to breach applications in the next reporting year, and similarly, applications for breach may relate to orders issued in the previous year. Figures for 2008-09 will be published in the first quarter of 2010.

On the effectiveness of community service orders, I refer the member to the Scottish Government statistical bulletin Reconviction Rates in Scotland, which provides comparative data for reconviction rates across the range of community and custodial penalties. The latest published edition covering cohorts for the periods 2005-06 and 2006-07 published in August 2009 can be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubReconvictions.

It shows that of those sentenced to custodial sentences of six months or less, approximately 74% were reconvicted within two years, while only 42% of those sentenced to community service were reconvicted during the same period.

This information is not held centrally.

The police recorded crime statistics collected centrally are based on an aggregate return from each of the eight police forces in Scotland and are not broken down by the month in which the crime/offence was recorded.