Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-36076 by Humza Yousaf on 24 March 2021, whether it will provide figures for each month from March 2021 to date.

Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 November 2021

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is unable provide information on the breakdown of the average monthly occupancy rates as the data is not collected in this format. The table below provides details of the weekly data collated on single cell occupancy across the prison estate.

• Single Occupancy – number of people accommodated alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person
• Single Occupancy Double Room – number of people accommodated alone in a cell that is designed to be double occupancy
• Double Occupancy Single Room – number of people accommodated with another person in a cell intended for one person
• Double Occupancy Double Room, Multiple Occupancy and Single Occupancy Dorm – number of people accommodated in a cell, or dormitory, intended for more than one person
• Total Population – The total number of individuals in custody that evening.
• Single Cell Occupancy % - The percentage of the total population of that evening who are accommodated in single cell accommodation.