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-03797

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many activities and services are classed as purposeful activity in prisons.

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

Within the SPS there are in excess of 500 activities and services delivered in establishments which are considered to be Purposeful. The definition of a Purposeful Activity is contained within Prison Rules Scotland, Rule 84.

The SPS delivered over 7 million hours of Purposeful Activity last financial year across all prisons.

Further information on to Purposeful Activity is published within the SPS Annual Report and Accounts 2015 -2016, Pages 10, 18 and 19. This information can be accessed via the SPS Website at the following address:

http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Publications/Publication-4206.aspx

Question reference: S5W-03947

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which police custody suites in Scotland do not meet Home Office standards and what action it is taking with each to ensure that they do.

Question reference: S5W-03950

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many custody and security officers Police Scotland has, and how this compares with each year since 2011.

Question reference: S5W-03943

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what shadowing activities Community Justice Scotland is conducting in 2016, as referred to in the Programme for Government.

Question reference: S5W-03949

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how Police Scotland determines the extent to which other officers backfill for custody service officers.

Question reference: S5W-03953

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alison Di Rollo on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are making toward the introduction of seven-day case marking.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) are committed to working with our Criminal Justice Partners to assess the viability of the introduction of seven day custody courts.

COPFS Officials along with Scottish Government, Police Scotland, and Scottish Courts & Tribunal Services are working together on the Seven Day Custody Working Group established under the auspices of the Justice Board to assess that viability. That assessment will include the impact on custody volumes of the new Police Investigative Liberation powers under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. The next meeting of the group is scheduled for 7 November 2016.

A National Initial Case Processing Weekend Working Pilot has been fully scoped in anticipation of possible seven day custody courts. The Pilot was scoped in consultation with Trade Unions and proposed voluntary staff participation. The Pilot has not as yet commenced.

Question reference: S5W-03958

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scotland-based British Transport Police officers there are, and how many will be employed by Police Scotland following the proposed transfer of responsibilities.

Question reference: S5W-03980

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03318 by Kevin Stewart on 17 October 2016, whether it will provide a breakdown of the offences committed by those people who were identified as homeless when entering prison in 2015-16.

Question reference: S5W-03952

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many so-called abstractions in Police Scotland there have been in each year since 2013.

Question reference: S5W-03944

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many operationally deployable officers Police Scotland has, and how this compares with each year since 2011.