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: S5W-18143

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what quantity of new psychoactive substances has been seized in each prison in each month since May 2015.

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

The following table details the confirmed number of ‘forensically tested’ instances where psychoactive substances have been seized in Scottish Prisons.

Month	HM Prison	Number of Recoveries
May 2017	Kilmarnock	2
September 2017	Barlinnie	1
April 2018	Kilmarnock	1
May 2018	Kilmarnock	2

In each case it was not possible to establish the quantity of psychoactive substances recovered as the substance had been impregnated on to paper.

Question reference: S5W-18141

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many cannabis plants have been seized by Police Scotland in each year since 2013-14, broken down by area.

The Scottish Government produces Official Statistics on Drug Seizures recorded by the police in Scotland. The following table shows the number of cannabis plants seized by Police Scotland for each year since 2013-14. Statistics for 2017-18 will be published in the Spring of 2019.

The information Police Scotland provides to the Scottish Government is based on a single force-wide return, as such a breakdown by local area isn’t held centrally. It should be noted that the quantity of drugs seized can fluctuate considerably each year and can be greatly influenced by a small number of large seizures.

Following a change to the collection process for these statistics, from 2014-15 onwards these figures only relate to cannabis plants seized as part of drug supply crimes. However, it is very rare for a crime of drug possession (i.e. where the quantity of drugs seized was small enough to be considered for personal use) to include any quantity of cannabis plants. As such, the figures provided below from 2014-15 onwards will represent the vast majority of plants seized by Police Scotland.

Seizures Cannabis Plants by Police Scotland	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Number of Cannabis Plants seized	23,336	13,022	31,398	18,310

Source: Official Statistics, Drug Seizures & Offender Characteristics

Question reference: S5W-18144

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many prison staff have been (a) disciplined, (b) dismissed, (c) charged and (d) prosecuted for smuggling illicit items into prisons in each year since 2013, also broken down by prison.

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

The number of SPS employees who have been disciplined for bringing prohibited items into a prison is set out in the following table, and is broken down by year and prison. In accordance with data protection legislation, where the figure is fewer than 5 employees, this is indicated on the table to maintain confidentiality.

	2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015	2015-2016	2017-2018	Grand Total
Cornton Vale	0	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh	0	<5	0	<5	0	<5
Inverness	0	0	0	<5	0	<5
Low Moss	<5	0	0	0	0	<5
Polmont	0	<5	0	0	<5	<5
Shotts	0	0	<5	<5	0	<5
Grand Total	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	9

Of the 9 cases in the table above, fewer than 5 employees were dismissed for bringing prohibited items into prisons.

One employee was charged and prosecuted in 2015-16 for bringing prohibited items into HMP Inverness.

Question reference: S5W-18142

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many female prisoners there are in each prison, broken down by how many are (a) on remand and (b) carrying out a custodial sentence.

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

As at 17 August 2018 there were 360 women in SPS care, 85 were on remand and 275 were serving a custodial sentence.

The following table provides a breakdown of their distribution by prison:

Prison	Convicted	Untried	Total
HMP Cornton Vale	66	13	79
HMP Edinburgh	67	22	89
HMP&YOI Grampian	37	11	48
HMP Greenock	37	14	51
HMP&YOI Polmont	68	25	93
		Overall Total	360

Question reference: S5W-18262

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 24 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S5W-17976

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 17 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many solicitors are taking part in the police station duty scheme, and which (a) bar associations and (b) societies have withdrawn from it.

Question reference: S5W-17978

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what type of weapons have been seized in Hamilton Sheriff Court in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-17387

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to ensure that older people are aware of the provisions in the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, now that it is in force.

The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 came into effect on 1 April 2018.

The Scottish Government is working to ensure that all carers, including older people who have a caring role, are aware of their rights under the Act. This includes:

Scottish Ministers publishing a Carers' charter which provides clear, accessible information on carers’ rights under the Act and can be found here: https://beta.gov.scot/publications/carers-charter/
Publishing statutory guidance to accompany the Act;
Funding of the Coalition of Carers in Scotland (COCIS) to produce a suite of carer friendly ‘what to expect’ leaflets on different provisions within the Act;
Funding the National Carer Organisations to raise awareness of the Act;
Continuing to chair the Carers Act Implementation Steering Group which includes representation from carers, the National Carer Organisations, Health and Social Care Alliance, Alzheimer’s Scotland and Social Work Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-02286

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking ensure that there are more BSL interpreters.

In October 2017 the Scottish Government published its BSL National Plan 2017-2023, the first in the UK, with 70 specific actions, including to develop and increase the number of BSL/English interpreters across Scotland. These include a landscape review to develop a fuller understanding of issues faced in different locations around Scotland by October 2020, on which further actions will be based. In the meantime the Scottish Government has provided funding of £305,000 to test different approaches to up skilling current registered and newly registered BSL/English interpreters within Health and Justice settings.

Question reference: S5W-17265

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been each year under the Human Trafficking (Scotland) Act 2015, broken down by the number of (i) adult and (ii) child victims.