Questions and answers

Question reference: S4T-00910

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement that plans for HMP Inverclyde have been abandoned, what consideration it has given to interim arrangements for women prisoners in HMP Cornton Vale.

Question reference: S4W-23911

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the independent reference group considering post-corroboration safeguards will report.

Question reference: S4T-00900

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the need for support following the fire at the Peterhead fish processing plant.

Question reference: S4W-23740

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many times police have taken people with mental health needs to places of safety in each of the last three years, broken down by legacy force or division.

The information is not held centrally. However, the Mental Welfare Commission (MWC) publishes a statistical monitoring report each year. The most recent report was published in October 2014:

http://www.mwcscot.org.uk/media/203499/mha_monitoring_2013_2014__3__final.pdf

Page 43 (table 7.1) of the report shows that 591, 561 and 654 place of safety orders were notified to the MWC in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2103-14 respectively. The MWC states that, due to system changes, it is only reporting at ‘a national Scotland level’ for 2013-14. The MWC monitoring reports for the years 2011-12 and 2012-13 do provide a breakdown of the place of safety orders by seven legacy police force areas. http://www.mwcscot.org.uk/media/94661/mha_2011-12__2_.pdf (page 55)

and:http://www.mwcscot.org.uk/media/138265/mha_monitoring_report_final_25_sept_2013.pdf (page 49).

Question reference: S4W-23741

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) adults and (b) children have been taken to a police station under mental health legislation in each of the last three years, broken down by legacy force or division; what (i) guidance and (ii) procedures are in place for doing so, and what services are provided for those detained.

The information requested is not held centrally. As stated in the answer to question S4W-23740 on 16 January 2015, the only statistical information available is provided in the Mental Welfare Commission’s statistical monitoring report.

Training and guidance in relation to police engagement with those suffering mental ill-health is on-going and Police Scotland has engaged widely with partner organisations at local and national levels, including the Scottish Association for Mental Health, NHS Health Scotland’s Suicide Prevention Programme and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, to develop standard operating procedures which will introduce consistent practice throughout Scotland and clarify the powers for officers and the decision-making process to be followed.

New training packages have been developed and scheduling of the training for over 22,000 officers is on-going. This new training will support the training already in place.

Police Scotland is also collaborating with partners to develop early and effective interventions and preventative approaches to reduce demand on critical services and improve the service to those experiencing mental health crises. An example is the community triage scheme to be piloted from January 2015. This will involve mental health officers based centrally on duty who have the skills to provide on the spot advice and support. Responsibility for the delivery of healthcare in custody has now transferred from the police to the NHS.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-23742

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 15 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of Mosquito ultrasonic youth deterrent devices; whether it considers these devices discriminatory; what analysis it has made about how they might impact on the (a) health and (b) behaviour of young people, and what powers it has to (i) ban and (ii) regulate their use.

The Scottish Government does not support use of the Mosquito ultrasonic youth deterrent device. Its use is not consistent with our approach to tackling antisocial behaviour, nor is it consistent with our desire to promote strong and supportive communities where people’s rights are recognised and respected.

Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People is currently gathering information relating to use of the Mosquito devices in Scotland, and the views of children and young people with respect to public spaces. The results of this are expected to be collated at the beginning of this year and the commissioner will thereafter decide on how to progress any concerns raised.

Question reference: S4W-23743

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 15 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has sought regarding whether the use of Mosquito ultrasonic youth deterrent devices is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Scottish Government has considered a range of advice across a number of different issues in respect of the Mosquito ultrasonic youth deterrent device. It is for each public authority themselves to determine what they need to do to comply with human rights legislation.

Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People is currently gathering information relating to use of the devices in Scotland. The results of this are expected to be collated at the beginning of this year and the commissioner will thereafter consider how best to address any concerns raised and the Scottish Government will consider the commissioner’s findings at that time.

Question reference: S4W-23744

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 15 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has about how many Mosquito ultrasonic youth deterrent devices are in use and which of the public sector organisations that it has responsibility for have deployed them.

Information about the number of Mosquito ultrasonic youth deterrent devices in use and the deployment of them is not held centrally.

Public sector organisations are covered by section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 which states that a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited under the provisions of the Act.

The Act includes provisions that ban age discrimination against adults in the provision of services and public functions. This ban came into force on 1 October 2012 meaning it is now unlawful to discriminate on the basis of age unless the practice is covered by an exception from the ban, or good reason can be shown for the differential treatment.

All public authorities covered by the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 would have a duty to assess the equality impact of any decision they may make to use a mosquito device, and act to mitigate any negative impact. The provisions of the Act do not apply to private individuals or organisations.

Question reference: S4W-23745

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 15 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has been asked for advice by local authorities on introducing by-laws regarding the use of Mosquito ultrasonic youth deterrent devices.

The Scottish Government has not been asked for advice by local authorities on introducing by-laws regarding the use of Mosquito ultrasonic youth deterrent devices.

Public sector organisations are covered by section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 which states that a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited under the provisions of the Act.

The Act includes provisions that ban age discrimination against adults in the provision of services and public functions. This ban came into force on 1 October 2012 meaning it is now unlawful to discriminate on the basis of age unless the practice is covered by an exception from the ban, or good reason can be shown for the differential treatment.

All public authorities covered by the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 would have a duty to assess the equality impact of any decision they may make to use a mosquito device, and act to mitigate any negative impact. The provisions of the Act do not apply to private individuals or organisations.

Question reference: S4W-23739

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-23055, S4W-23056 and S4W-23057 by Kenny MacAskill on 20 November 2014, given that the visiting committees are appointed and report independently of the agency, for what reason it considered it appropriate for the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service to reply to the questions.

The questions referred to were answered by the Scottish Prison Service because Scottish Ministers’ functions for appointments to, and funding of, prison visiting committees are currently performed by the Scottish Prison Service.

The draft Public Services Reform (Inspection and Monitoring of Prisons) (Scotland) Order 2014 contains proposals for a new system of independent monitoring of prisons to be overseen by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland.

Chamber and committees