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-01357

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government who has been appointed to Police Scotland's short-life working group to tackle automatic number plate recognition issues, as reported in The Ferret on 7 July 2016; when it will meet, and what will be discussed.

Question reference: S5W-01349

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland (a) has consulted or (b) will consult the Information Commissioner's Office on its automatic number plate recognition retention policies and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S5W-01350

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether, as reported in The Ferret on 7 July 2016, officials told Police Scotland “We do not want you to provide us with detailed answers to all of the questions Ms McInnes asks" and, if so, for what reason and what action it will take.

A number of the Parliamentary Questions asked by the former MSP Alison McInnes in March 2016 sought information on the governance and regulation of policing activity whilst others sought detailed information on the delivery of operational policing activity. Responsibility for the delivery of operational policing activity lies with Police Scotland with oversight of the Scottish Police Authority and the Scottish Government’s approach to requesting information reflected this position.

Question reference: S5W-01419

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to implement preventative measures and psychological interventions for people with brain injury in (a) general and (b) offender populations.

Where a person with a brain injury also has a mental illness, psychological therapy may be part of appropriate treatment. Whether someone is part of the offender population or not, NHS Boards are responsible for working with partners to provide mental health services which meet the assessed needs of the individual. Care should be provided on the basis of a multi-disciplinary care plan which is regularly reviewed and which sets out all the arrangements for the individual’s care and support.

Question reference: S5W-01418

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendation in the National Prisoner Healthcare Network final report, Brain Injury and Offending, that a single question about brain injury is added to the NHS (Vision) interview in prison reception.

Question reference: S5W-01417

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of brain injury on the life of prisoners.

The Scottish Prison Service and NHS Boards are carrying out a study to seek to identify the prevalence of head injury in prisoners in Scotland. A second study, beginning later this year, will investigate the usefulness of two screening tools, which will be piloted in two prisons and two police custody sites. This will also estimate the number of prisoners with a disability arising from brain injury.

Question reference: S5W-01422

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans there are for future training on head injury for prison NHS services and prisoners.

Question reference: S5W-01421

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a 6 to 8 bed low secure brain injury rehabilitation unit.

Question reference: S5W-01420

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what budget implications there would be in implementing the recommendations in the National Prisoner Healthcare Network final report, Brain Injury and Offending.

Question reference: S5W-01347

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 2 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have (a) accessed and (b) successfully completed the government-supported SACRO diversion from prosecution programmes in each of the last five years, broken down by age.

The Scottish Government is committed to keeping people out of the criminal justice system whenever possible. Diversionary schemes are designed to prevent the re-occurrence of offending through early or intensive intervention outwith court. Decisions to refer an accused to a diversion scheme are taken by prosecutors after full consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case reported by the Police.

The Scottish Government supported Sacro Anti-Sectarian Services (SASS) diversion from prosecution programme was developed in late 2013 and began working with referrals in May 2014. The service is open to a wide range of organisations to make referrals although participation is voluntary, and if the client decides against participation the matter is returned to the referring body. If this is a Procurator Fiscal, Sheriff or Early and Effective Intervention team then the client may face prosecution or another disposal. I will be seeking a meeting with the Lord Advocate in the near future to further discuss the diversionary approach.

Data provided to the Scottish Government by Sacro shows the number of people that have accessed and completed the diversion programme.

2014 - 2015

Age of participant	Accessed Sacro programme	Completed Sacro programme
<16	1	1
16-20	4	2
21-30	3	3
31-40	2	2
41-50	1	1
>50	1	1
Totals	12	10

2015 - 2016

Age of participant	Accessed Sacro programme	Completed Sacro programme
<16	1	1
16-20	4	4
21-30	1	1
31-40	5	4
41-50	-	-
>50	2	2
Totals	13	12

2016 - Present date

Age of participant	Accessed Sacro programme	Completed Sacro programme
<16	5	5
16-20	2	(1 on-going)
21-30	1	(1 on-going)
31-40	1	(1 on-going)
41-50	-	-
>50	-	-
Totals	9	5