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: S4O-04394

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what factors it considers when designating seal haul-out sites.

Question reference: S4T-01034

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Police Scotland has been using facial recognition technology on images stored on the police national database.

Question reference: S4W-25353

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will publish its response to the consultation on proposed amendments to the NHS Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Question reference: S4W-25364

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-24993 by Michael Matheson on 13 April 2015, how many civilian (a) licensing administration and (b) firearms enquiry officer posts would be retained under the proposals to change how the firearms licensing function is managed and delivered.

Question reference: S4W-25362

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for explosives licences there have been in each of the last three years, broken down by purpose, and how many were issued.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Licensing of explosives is a reserved matter under the UK’s health and safety legislation. Police Scotland’s explosives licensing section is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Explosives Regulations 2014 (ER2014). Any person or body that wishes to acquire and/or keep any explosive is required to apply to Police Scotland for the appropriate certificate under these regulations.

Question reference: S4W-25363

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many police (a) civilian support staff and (b) officers have been authorised to assess applications and issue explosives licences in each of the last three years, broken down by legacy force and division, and what plans there are to review whether the number is sufficient.

The deployment of police officers and staff is a matter for Police Scotland, with the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. Licensing of explosives is a reserved matter under the UK’s health and safety legislation. Police Scotland’s explosives licensing section is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Explosives Regulations 2014 (ER2014). Any person or body that wishes to acquire and/or keep any explosive is required to apply to Police Scotland for the appropriate certificate under these regulations.

Question reference: S4W-25262

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many housebreakings have been recorded in Edinburgh in each year since 2006-07; what the detection rate was, and how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions have resulted, broken down by disposal.

The number of housebreakings recorded by the police in Edinburgh in each year since 2006-07 is publically available in the tables which accompany Recorded Crime in Scotland 2013-14, which can be accessed via the following link:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/11/6350/downloads

The available information on prosecutions and convictions is given in the following table.

People proceeded against for housebreaking offences¹ in Edinburgh², 2006-07 to 2013-14

Result	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14
Total prosecuted	290	311	290	251	271	277	259	149
Not guilty	37	46	36	36	29	59	47	32
Custody	133	129	137	111	145	105	135	60
Community sentence	78	70	67	73	42	55	40	44
Monetary	21	40	32	13	25	22	17	6
Other³	21	26	18	18	30	36	20	7
Total convicted	253	265	254	215	242	218	212	117

1. Where main offence. The main charge is the one receiving the severest penalty if one or more charges are proved. If more than one charge receives the same (or a combined) penalty, then the main charge is the one judged by the police (who provide the information) to be the most serious.

2. Prosecutions in Edinburgh Sheriff and Justice of the Peace courts. Courts can deal with cases from more than one local authority area.

3. The majority of these are admonished.

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings Database.

Please note that although the statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police and those proceeded against in court are collected centrally these two statistics sources are not directly comparable for a number of reasons. A single crime or offence recorded by the police may have more than one perpetrator, or alternatively, an individual may be convicted of several cases of the same crime. There is the possibility that the crime or offence recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings, while a crime or offence may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings not concluded until a later year. Crimes and offences alleged to have been committed by children under 16 years old are also generally dealt with through the children’s hearings system rather than through the courts.

Question reference: S4W-25266

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21187 by Kenny MacAskill on 29 May 2014, whether it will provide the same information for 2014-15.

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

‘‘The recording of Rule 95 data remains as reported in the previous response (S4W-21187) and regrettably only the same data configuration is available for the reporting period 2014-15. This details the number of occasions when Rule 95(1) has been applied, broken down by gender.

	Male	Female
2014-15	1,943	162

As set out in Mr Matheson’s response to S4W-25118, the Scottish Prison Service has reviewed the current PR2 capabilities in relation to reconfiguration of management data for prisoners held in Separation and Reintegration Units. A detailed re-specification of PR2 is underway to improve data capture for prisoners held in Separation and Reintegration Units.’’

Question reference: S4W-25114

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners were moved from HMPYOI Grampian following the disturbance in May 2014, broken down by facility they were moved to, and how many (a) have now returned or (b) were released while at the alternative facility.

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

Following the incident on 13 May 2014 a total number of 144 individuals (including 43 male young offenders) were transferred from HMPYOI Grampian between 14 and 16 May 2014.

The adult male prisoners were transferred as follows:

HMP Barlinnie	91
HMP Edinburgh	3
HMP Perth	4
HMP Shotts	3
Total	101

The 43 male young offenders were all transferred to HMPYOI Polmont.

As at 31 March 2015, the position in respect of the 101 adult male prisoners is as follows:

Liberated from another establishment	57
Liberated from HMPYOI Grampian	28
Transfer to another jurisdiction	1
In custody at another establishment	16
In custody at HMPYOI Grampian	9
Total	101

As at 31 March 2015, the position in respect of the 43 young male offenders is as follows:

Liberated from HMPYOI Polmont	32
In custody at HMPYOI Polmont	10
Death in custody at HMPYOI Polmont	1
Total	43

Question reference: S4W-25119

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many times since 5 November 2013 prisoners have been held in the HMPYOI Cornton Vale separation and reintegration unit, also broken down by the (a) average and (b) longest period of incarceration; how many prisoners were held more than once and for how long, and what prison rules were applied in these cases.

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

‘‘The number of women located in the Separation and Reintegration Unit (SRU) at HMPYOI Cornton Vale in the timeframe requested were as follows:

2013 (from 5 November)

Month	5 Nov	Dec
No. of Women	7	11

18 women were located in the SRU at HMPYOI Cornton Vale in November and December 2013. The average stay was five days. Only two of these women were located for more than one period. One woman was located for 29 days over two periods and the other was located for 18 days over two periods. Both women were held under rule 95 conditions.

2014

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
No. of Women	17	8	8	11	11	17	11	9	16	17	17	12

There were 154 women located in the SRU in Cornton Vale in 2014. 94 of these women were located for more than one period. The time spent by women in the SRU ranged from one to 116 days. The average time spent by women was five days.

There were 115 episodes (the majority) where women were located for less than
three days; 37 episodes where the women were located for less than one week; and
26 episodes where the women were located for less than one month.

Seven women were located within the unit for more than 30 days (range 30-116 days).
Three of these individuals were located under rule 41 conditions; one of these women for one period of 85 days; one was for a total of 33 days over two periods and the third 73 days over nine periods. The four remaining women were all held under rule 95 conditions; 116 days over eight periods; 94 days over 11 periods; 62 days over two periods and 56 days over seven periods.

2015

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar
No. of Women	4	10	6

20 women have been located in SRU in HMPYOI Cornton Vale in 2015. The average time has been four days. From 1 January to 31 March 2015 only one woman has been located for three periods – this covered a total of nine days. This woman was held under rule 114(1)(d).’’