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: S3W-20085

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19588 by Kenny MacAskill on 19 January 2009, how many offenders were (a) assessed as suitable for and (b) completed each of the prisoner programmes and approved activities that address substance misuse in 2007-08, broken down by prison.

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

A total of 1,061 substance related programmes or approved activities were completed in Scottish prisons during 2007-08. This was 181 completions above the target of 880 set at the beginning of the year. The following table provides details.

SPS delivers a suite of Programmes and Approved Activities that address substance misuse issues which is continually evolving to keep pace with current practice and changes in substance abuse trends in the community. For example, the delivery of Lifeline concluded in 2007-08 as it was being replaced by the Substance Related Offending Behaviour Programme (SROBP) which was piloted that year.

These interventions range from basic awareness sessions to programmes aimed at addressing criminogenic need. This reflects the range of potential clients from those serving short sentences to those with long sentences with associated offences. The duration of these interventions also reflects what each is trying to achieve ranging from 16 hours for Alcohol Awareness to approximately 120 hours for SROBP.

The assessment processes are similarly diverse, for example:

Alcohol Awareness “ alcohol-related issues may surface during induction interviews. Providing the prisoner is prepared to engage he/she will be referred for participation on Alcohol Awareness. Attendance is then prioritised using liberation dates to allow participation prior to release where possible. The referral list of those suitable is therefore constantly changing throughout the year with short-term prisoner turnover.

SROBP - has a more complicated and sophisticated selection process, including a file review, interview and multi-disciplinary discussion.

As waiting lists change throughout the year due to prisoner turnover the numbers assessed as suitable for each intervention is not available.

Table: Substance Related Interventions “ Delivery 2007-08

Prison	Programme/Approved Activity	No. Completed
Aberdeen	Substance Related Offending Behaviour Prog. (pilot)	8
	Alcohol Awareness	35
	First Step	19
Barlinnie	Lifeline	14
	Alcohol Awareness	25
	First Step	63
Cornton Vale	Alcohol Awareness	18
	Drugs “ Action for Change	64
	Parenting for Mothers with Substance Abuse Problems	13
Dumfries	First Step	26
Edinburgh	Alcohol Awareness	47
	Drugs “ Action for Change	41
Glenochil	Lifeline	24
	Alcohol Awareness	19
	First Step	10
Greenock	Alcohol Awareness	52
	Drugs “ Action for Change	46
Inverness	Alcohol Awareness	11
	Drugs “ Action for Change	5
	Smart Recovery	40
Kilmarnock	Advanced Drug Awareness	76
	Over-comers	41
Open Estate	Alcohol Awareness	0
	Smart Recovery	77
Perth	Alcohol Awareness	49
	First Step	18
Peterhead	Alcohol Awareness	39
Polmont	Alcohol Awareness	60
	First Step	33
Shotts	Substance Related Offending Behaviour Prog. (pilot)	8
	Alcohol Awareness	47
	Smart Recovery	33
Total		1,061

Question reference: S3W-20079

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners it estimates to (a) have or (b) have had an alcohol problem.

Question reference: S3W-20012

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the use of head or body-mounted cameras by the police has the potential to act as a preventative tool in reducing the incidence of crime.

Question reference: S3W-20013

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to provide additional funding to assist in the roll-out of head or body-mounted cameras to all police forces.

Question reference: S3W-19927

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding mechanism will be used in each of the new capital projects under the responsibility of the Scottish Police Services Authority.

Question reference: S3W-20014

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the approximate cost is of purchasing a single head or body-mounted camera for use by the police.

Question reference: S3W-20011

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the use of head or body-mounted cameras by the police has the potential to improve significantly the quality of evidence provided by police officers and increase the proportion of offenders brought to justice.

The Scottish Government is awaiting with interest the evaluation of the pilot schemes currently taking place within Scottish forces, and is also aware of the pilot carried out in Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. Scottish forces have not yet used the cameras to provide evidence to Scottish Courts so it is too early to say whether the use of such equipment will improve significantly the quality of evidence provided by police officers and increase the proportion of offenders brought to justice.

Question reference: S3W-19799

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has identified any knife-crime hot spots and what action it is taking to ensure that they are being addressed locally.

Our partners in police forces and local authorities identify the areas that are most affected by knife crime and are taking action through the Violence Reduction Unit''s on-going anti-violence campaign to tackle the problem. In addition, we also support them in addressing this issue through initiatives such as Medics Against Violence and the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), which are being delivered in areas that are directly affected by knife crime. I refer the Member to the answer to question S3W-19797 on 27 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliaments website, the search facility for which can be found at:

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

Question reference: S3W-19798

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to pilot a knife-crime text hotline similar to that being run in Lancashire schools by Lancashire Constabulary and Crimestoppers with the aim of encouraging the anonymous reporting of young people who pupils believe may be carrying knives, as reported on BBC News Online on 14 January 2009.

Question reference: S3W-20082

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 28 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18896 by Kenny MacAskill on 9 January 2009, how many prisoners benefited from the Substance Related Offending Behaviour Programme in 2007-08, broken down by prison.

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

A total of 16 prisoners completed the Substance Related Offending Behaviour Programme (SROBP) in 2007-08, eight completed the programme in HMP Aberdeen and a further eight completed it in HMP Shotts.

This was the first year that the programme had been introduced. Delivery was restricted to these sites to pilot and road-test the programme to inform any necessary changes. The SROBP has subsequently been rolled out to a further five prisons in 2008-09: Glenochil, Cornton Vale, Polmont, Edinburgh and Barlinnie.