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: S6W-12583

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average and (b) longest time taken for the the police to attend an incident when required following a 999 call has been in each year since 2014.

The Scottish Government is grateful to Police Scotland’s call handlers for their continued hard work to ensure that calls to the service are answered as quickly and as safely as possible.

In its 2021 briefing note, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, (HMICS) noted significant progress in Police Scotland’s call handling processes and a commitment to pursue continuous improvement. Furthermore, this year’s HMICS assurance review on the service’s Contact Assessment Model (CAM) highlighted a number of successes in how calls are now triaged by handlers.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on Police Scotland 999 or 101 calls. Delivery of these services is a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA.

Police Scotland publish monthly reports on call handling which are available at: https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/what-we-do/how-we-are-performing/.

Question reference: S6W-12606

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the identified comparative cost is per prisoner per annum for each of Scotland's custodial institutions, including young offender institutions, women's prisons, institutions operated directly by the Scottish Prison Service and any outsourced to a contracting party.

The calculated annual average cost per prisoner place within SPS is published in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts each year. For 2021-22 the annual average cost per prisoner place, which excludes capital charges, exceptional payments and the cost of the Court Custody and Prisoner Escort contracts, was £41,858 (2020-21 £39,350).

SPS do not currently calculate the average cost per prisoner place at an individual establishment level therefore this level of detail is not available.

Question reference: S6W-12605

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the (a) initial upfront capital and (b) annual ongoing resource cost would be to acquire body-worn cameras for all police officers in Scotland, and whether any supplier quotations or tendering have taken place in order to achieve best value for any such procurement.

The issue of body-worn cameras is a policy and operational decision for Police Scotland, acting under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland have advised they have developed an initial business case for Body Worn Video which has been considered and approved by the SPA Resources Committee. Police Scotland will undertake a full procurement exercise in 2023 which will provide more clarity on costs – both upfront purchase costs and ongoing costs.

The Scottish Government would expect Police Scotland to achieve best value through all its procurement activity.

Question reference: S6W-12706

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of (a) 999 and (b) 101 calls have been abandoned or discontinued in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S6W-12585

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed in (a) 999 and (b) 101 call centres in each year since 2013.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working closely with Police Scotland to support delivery of the Joint Policing Strategy. The findings of the HMICS review of Strategic Workforce Planning, published this year showed that the focus needs to rightly be on capacity and capability.

The data requested are not held centrally by the Scottish Government as the recruitment and deployment of police officers and staff in Scotland is a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA. It is important that he has the flexibility to develop his workforce in a way that responds to the challenges he faces by ensuring the right workforce mix.

Question reference: S6W-12485

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) adults and (b) children have been admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of asthma in NHS (i) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (ii) Ayrshire and Arran in (A) 2011, (B) 2016, (C) 2020, (D) 2021 and (E) 2022 to date.

Question reference: S6O-01699

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport last met with CalMac representatives.

Question reference: S6W-12472

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of its Justice Directorate's budget has been spent on first class train travel for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants in each year since 2016.

The Justice Portfolio has spent £11,610.31 on first class rail travel for civil servants since 2016. Ministerial travel costs are paid for from a separate budget. A breakdown of the total cost is provided in the following table:

Calendar year	Calendar year spend (£)
2016	£1860.55

2017	£3975.54

2018	£3392.43

2019	£1009.24

2020	£292.25

2021	£998.35

2022 to date	£81.95

The Scottish Government’s rail travel policy dictates that civil servants should use standard class for all rail journeys. Scottish Government staff are also encouraged to aim to buy reduced rail fares, including day returns, saver tickets and also avoid expensive flexible/anytime rail fares whenever possible.

Civil Servants are, however, allowed to make use of first class rail travel on overnight journeys such as the Caledonian Sleeper or Eurostar. These journeys are reflected in the costs noted above.

Question reference: S6W-12470

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much its Justice Directorate has spent on external management consultants in (a) 2012 and (b) each year since 2016.

The Justice portfolio has spent a total of £301,853.07 on external management consultants in 2012 and 2016-2019. This data relates to direct spend by the Scottish Government and does not include expenditure on consultancy services by public bodies. There was no spend on management consultancy services in the years 2020-2022. A breakdown of these costs is provided in the following table:

Year	Total	Business area
2012	£216,511.61	Police and Fire policy
2016	£3,904.60	Digital evidence sharing capability
2017	£26,973.46	Digital evidence sharing capability Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) job evaluation

	£2,000
2018	£51,168	Roadmap for transformation of the criminal justice sector
2019	£5,200	Independent Review into Police Complaints

Question reference: S6W-12478

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent Quarterly Fines Report from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.

The independent Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has the operational responsibility for the collection of criminal fines in Scotland. On 17 October 2022, SCTS published their latest quarterly fines report. This report is an official statistics publication and uses a rolling three year collection rate which reflects that fines and financial penalties, by their nature, require time to pay. As such, using a full three year period containing both newer and older fines gives a more balanced view of collection rates.

The latest report indicated that the three year collection rate for all fine/penalty types showed improvement for both value and number when the figures as at 19 July 2022 are compared with 17 October 2022. For example, 86% of sheriff court fines were either paid or on track to be paid as at 17 October compared to 85% as at 19 July.

We welcome this improvement and support the efforts of SCTS to collect and enforce fines using all the available tools at their disposal.