Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government keeps these matters under review but has no current plans to introduce legislation relating to Automatic Number Plate Recognition.

When any patient attends A&E their electronic patient record in the hospital will be updated and upon discharge will receive a discharge letter outlining the treatment received. This will be the case for those transferring to police custody units and prisons and allow receiving staff to take appropriate action if necessary.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01420 on 8 August 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

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.

The Scottish Government welcomes the recommendation to add a single question regarding brain injury to the NHS Vision interview tool.

The National Prisoner Healthcare Network’s Brain Injury and Offending report recommendation to carry out a training needs analysis will be taken forward by the Network in collaboration with relevant organisations, such as the School of Forensic Mental Health, the Scottish Prison Service and NHS Education for Scotland.

It is the role of the Scottish Government to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards so they can deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. The actual provision of healthcare services, including in prisons, is the responsibility of local Boards, taking into account national guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

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.

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

2015 - 2016

2016 - Present date