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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 3594 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-35121

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it sought or received any expert advice on construction cost controls for the replacement of HMP Barlinnie and, if so, whether it will publish this.

Question reference: S6W-35127

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Prison Service regarding contingency plans for managing HMP Barlinnie while its replacement is delayed.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) on risks and contingency plans for the prison estate, including HMP Barlinnie.

In response to recommendations made by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, SPS took forward HMP Barlinnie Programme of Works which significantly improved facilitates within the prisoner reception and healthcare areas. These works concluded in April 2023.

Question reference: S6W-35225

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have been released early from HMP Inverness, broken down by month since January 2022.

SPS will publish information on the releases under the changes to sentencing for short-term prisoners on their website and SPS has previously published information on releases under the emergency release legislation also on their website.

SPS continue to be as open and transparent as possible, whilst continuing to meet their statutory obligation to ensure that those in their care have their personal information protected; as such SPS cannot publish a breakdown of establishments as some of the data could relate to a small group of individuals, which may lead to their inadvertent identification.

Question reference: S6W-35221

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a full breakdown of costs associated with the replacement for HMP Inverness, including any penalties for delays.

Question reference: S6W-35222

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of the reported delays to the replacement of HMP Inverness on (a) prison overcrowding and (b) early release policies.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The needs and welfare of all those in our care remains a key priority for SPS as we continue to manage our highly complex population with a person-centred approach.

SPS continually assess risk, including that presented by an increasing population. Establishment specific indicators are analysed and assessed with identified risks mitigated where possible, this includes but is not limited to the utilisation of our existing estate.

The Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Government are committed to the replacement of HMP Inverness with HMP Highland to create better environments for people to live and work, to aid rehabilitation, reduce the risk of reoffending, and support safer communities.

Question reference: S6W-35223

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many assaults on (a) staff and (b) prisoners have been recorded in HMP Inverness in each of the last five years.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The number of assaults on staff in HMP Inverness in the last 5 years are as follows:

HMP Inverness
Year	Staff violence
2020	11
2021	11
2022	5
2023	4
2024	6

The number of assaults on Prisoners in HMP Inverness in the last 5 years are as follows:

HMP Inverness
Year	Prisoner violence
2020	24
2021	21
2022	15
2023	15
2024	24

Question reference: S6W-35176

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases have been time-barred from proceeding to court in each of the last five years, broken down by type of case.

The following table shows the number of cases closed during the past 5 financial years which were time barred on receipt of report by COPFS. Each case may comprise multiple accused and a variety of charges. To ascertain case type would require a manual check of each report. This information is not readily available.

Criminal cases reported to COPFS

Count is cases closed using the marking - 'No Action: Timebarred On Receipt'

Grouped by financial year case closed

count is by case

Financial year closed

Marking	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
No Action: Timebarred On Receipt	889	840	726	749	529

Question reference: S6W-34477

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of delivering the previous Scottish Prison Service Throughcare Support Service in its final year of operation.

Question reference: S6W-34480

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been released from prison (a) from short-term sentences and (b) on remand in each of the last five years.

The following table provides the number of people departing prison one or more times in each financial year from remand, with index sentences of one year or less, and with index sentences from greater than one year to four years or less.

Individuals Departing with Remand Status or with Short Index Sentences
Financial Year	Remand	<= 12 months	> 1 <= 4 years
2019-20	5,383	4,539	2,075
2020-21	3,789	2,949	1,945
2021-22	4,028	2,870	1,741
2022-23	4,110	2,724	1,837
2023-24	4,265	3,048	1,794

Data are derived from the accredited national statistics published by the Scottish Government in December 2024 http://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-prison-population-statistics-2023-24/. Individuals departing multiple times with different statuses will appear multiple times in the table above. "Index sentence" indicates the length of the longest single sentence served in a continuous period in custody and does not necessarily reflect the overall sentence an individual has served.

Question reference: S6W-34478

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures and indicators will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the new third sector-led national throughcare service for prisoners released from (a) short-term sentences or (b) remand, and how frequently this performance data will be published.

The measures and indicators which will be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and value for money of the new third sector national throughcare service are in the process of being developed. This work is being done in consultation with the partnership of organisations that will deliver the service (consisting of Sacro, Access to Industry, Action for Children, Apex Scotland, Barnardo’s, Circle, Families Outside and Turning Point Scotland) and Community Justice Scotland, who will be responsible for monitoring the new service on behalf of the Scottish Government.

This includes the consideration of what, if any, data will be made publicly available.