Chamber and committees

None of the prisoners granted early release on compassionate grounds since 1993 have had their licence revoked.

The numbers of emergency and elective hospital admissions due to assault by a sharp object, broken down by gender and location of treatment, discharged during financial years ending 31 March 2000 to 2009 for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian and NHS Tayside are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 50759).

It should be noted that due to small numbers and the risk of disclosure, data has not been shown for all boards according to disclosure control procedures. All health board totals are available in the answer to S3W-32124. 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.

Additional data and commentary on assault by a sharp object is published as part of ISD''s Unintentional Injuries publication http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5327.html.

Discussions are still on-going between the Scottish Government and the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards on how best to make information collected locally available at national level.

The current review of the Scottish Strategy for Victims of Crime is looking at a range of proposals for securing better outcomes for victims. The Scottish Government will be discussing those proposals with stakeholders before they are finalised.

The review will begin later this month. The aim will be to complete a first phase of the review by delivering a report proposing priorities and recommendations at the end of 2010. An implementation phase will then follow, initially to March 2012 but potentially providing a platform for work beyond then. The scope and methodology for the review will be considered at a meeting of the multi-agency Witnesses Issues Group on 29 April 2010. The Scottish Government''s aim will be to engage a wide range of interests during the review through the Witnesses Issues Group and other working groups.

This information was provided to Bill Aitken MSP in a letter dated 6 October 2009. A copy of the reply was placed in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 49431).

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

The available statistics are published by Drug Misuse Information Scotland, Information Statistics Division of the Scottish Government. The report for 2009 can be found here:

http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/ISDbull.htm.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3F-2348 on 22 April 2010 which is available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-10/sor0422-02.htm#Col25618.

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

At the time of inspection Friarton Hall was less than half full with 42 young offenders all of whom were actively engaged in work as follows:

Outside work placement “ 1

Outside project “ 3

Hall Pass men “ 6

Cooks “ 6

Wood Machine “ 11

Wood Assembly “ 10

Grounds/Car Valet “ 5.

During the day some prisoners may have left their work parties to attend education, visits or PE etc.

Friarton Hall has now been temporarily taken out of use. A review of its future role is ongoing and issues identified in the report will be addressed dependant on future usage.

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

The available statistics are published by Drug Misuse Information Scotland, Information Statistics Division of the Scottish Government. The report for 2008 can be found here:

http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/ISDbull.htm.