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-06563

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06094 by Michael Matheson on 25 January 2017, whether it will provide an approximate timeline of when it will publish its response to the consultation.

Question reference: S5W-06599

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 February 2017

The answer provided for question S5W-06096 included the most recent published reconviction rates, published in Reconviction Rates in Scotland: 2013-14 Offender Cohort published in May 2016.

Reconviction Rates are calculated as the percentage of offenders in a cohort who go on to reoffend within a year from their non-custodial conviction or release from a custodial sentence. Therefore the most recent publication looked at the reconviction rate for the 2013-14 cohort, whose reconvictions occurred in 2014-15. Reconviction rates for the 2014-15 cohort are due to be published in April this year, 2015-16 in spring 2018 and 2016-17 in spring 2019.

Question reference: S5W-06479

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many posts at the Scottish Prison Service it anticipates will remain unfilled following the 2017-18 budget settlement.

Question reference: S5W-06473

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the occupancy rate has been for each prison in Scotland in each year since 2010.

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

The following table shows the occupancy levels of each establishment when measured against capacity.

Both the design capacity and operational capacity of establishments are different and can change for reasons of policy, maintenance and changing operational requirements.

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Aberdeen	143%	156%	128%	111%	0	0	0
Addiewell	100%	107%	113%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Barlinnie	134%	145%	126%	123%	132%	118%	118%
Cornton Vale	99%	107%	96%	67%	79%	72%	79%
Dumfries	109%	112%	110%	105%	99%	95%	95%
Edinburgh	103%	104%	105%	102%	101%	99%	98%
Glenochil	97%	107%	100%	100%	98%	95%	95%
Grampian	0	0	0	0	47%	71%	89%
Greenock	107%	102%	97%	95%	95%	83%	93%
Inverness	134%	138%	130%	126%	119%	113%	113%
Kilmarnock	111%	124%	123%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Low Moss	0	0	89%	102%	107%	105%	96%
Open Estate	58%	66%	85%	81%	89%	84%	73%
Perth	98%	108%	104%	105%	102%	100%	98%
Peterhead	97%	99%	91%	73%	0	0	0
Polmont	97%	95%	91%	84%	68%	64%	66%
Shotts	100%	98%	98%	99%	99%	99%	99%

Question reference: S5W-06478

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when the due diligence report by Scott-Moncrieff on the staffing and financial outcomes of the efficiency review process of the Scottish Prison Service will be published.

Question reference: S5W-06476

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what schemes it has considered for increasing recruitment of prison officers.

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

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) does not have an issue with recruitment and retention of Prison Officers. SPS receive on average 1,600 applications for the role of Prison Officer each year with around 150 available jobs.

SPS use a variety of advertising approaches to increase the diversity of their applicant pool. Approaches include, engagement with higher and further education, close working with armed forces careers partners as well as local/national media advertising.

SPS attracts highly skilled and motivated individuals and with high levels of interest our approach has proved to be very successful.

Question reference: S5W-06477

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Prison Service in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 regarding prison officer workforce planning.

I had regular meetings throughout 2016 with the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to discuss a range of operational matters which would include workforce planning issues. These meetings will continue in 2017 and the last one took place on 12 January 2017.

Scottish Government Justice officials also meet with staff from Scottish Prison Service on a regular basis to discuss a variety of related prison policy and operational issues.

Question reference: S5W-06471

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths there have been at HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S5W-06349

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05681 by Derek Mackay on 19 January 2017, what information it holds on the progress of human rights improvements in Scotland since 2007, and how this is measured.

Information on Scotland’s performance against the full spectrum of international human rights norms is available from a wide variety of sources.

These include reports prepared by the Scottish Government, national human rights institutions and civil society under United Nations and Council of Europe treaties. Information from other sources is also relevant, including public attitudes surveys, parliamentary proceedings, impact assessments, the Equality Budget Statement and reports on the progress made by public authorities to achieve Equality Outcomes.

The Scottish Government is committed to further enhancing the National Performance Framework. Both human rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals are central to that work.

Question reference: S5W-06472

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many visits there have been by medical practitioners at (a) HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont and (b) each prison in Scotland in each year since 2010.