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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 46887 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-42371

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41729 by Angela Constance on 18 November 2025, how many prisoners mistakenly released from Scotland's prisons have not been returned to prison, in each of the last five years, including 2025-26 to date.

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

A range of checks are carried out before the release of a prisoner is authorised including but not limited to, an identity check of the person, confirmation of liberation date and a check for any known outstanding warrants.

A liberation in error occurs when an individual is released from a Scottish Prison Service establishment without lawful authority. This situation typically arises due to an administrative or procedural mistake, such as incorrect interpretation of documentation, miscalculation of sentence dates or incorrect data sharing from other partners.

When such an error is identified, the Scottish Prison Service works in partnership with Police Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to ensure the individual is returned to custody as soon as possible. Once notified, it is the responsibility of Police Scotland to execute any live warrants.

The following table provides the numbers of total liberations, liberations in error and those still not returned to custody since 2021-2022, up to and including 5 December 2025.

Year	Total Annual Liberations	Recorded Liberations in Error*	Liberations in Error as a percentage	Liberations in Error not returned to custody**	Reason for Non Return
2021-22	13934	5	0.04%	0
2022-23	14769	8	0.05%	0
2023-24	15732	7	0.04%	1	Appeal Granted
2024-25	16387	9	0.05%	4	1 x Release by Home Office 2x Bail Granted 1 x Original Warrant Superseded
2025-26**	10751	5	0.05%	0
TOTAL	71573	34	0.05%	5

As you can see from the above table, over the period 2021 to 5 December 2025 there are a total of five individuals who have been liberated in error from prisons who have not returned to prison custody. The reasons for these non-returns are outlined below:

Date	Establishment	No Return Reason
2 May 2023	Perth	Appeal Granted
2 July 2024	Polmont	Released by Home Office
5 July 2024	Barlinnie	No Record of Return. The original warrant has been superseded by the issue of a new apprehension warrant
3 October 2024	Barlinnie	Bail
7 March 2025	Barlinnie	Bail

*All liberations in error are subject to review by the Warrants Administration Group (WAG), at which point the data may change depending on the outcome of the review.

**The figures provided are up to 5 December 2025. These figures also include individuals who have not been required to return to prison due to other factors such as Bail, Court Appeals, Deportation

Question reference: S6W-42322

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the alleged lack of crucial detail in the UK Warm Homes Plan and the impact on the Scottish Government's plans to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill, what discussions it has had with UK Government ministers on this matter, and whether it will publish any related correspondence.

Question reference: S6W-42597

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons for any recent increase in waiting times for power of attorney registrations.

Question reference: S6W-42613

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to raise public awareness about the safe use of e-bikes and e-scooters, including speed limits, helmet use and restrictions on pavement riding.

Question reference: S6W-42594

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Cancer’s (MCN CYPC) transition (from Managed Service Network), what action it is taking to ensure that the MCN CYPC (a) maintains dedicated administrative and data management staffing levels, and (b) has the requisite funding and powers to achieve the actions in the Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People, and whether the upcoming Scottish Budget will support these actions.

Question reference: S6W-42600

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what performance measures it uses to monitor the timeliness of power of attorney registrations, and how often the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) reports progress to ministers.

Question reference: S6W-42514

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on household costs if access to public service broadcasting were to require a broadband subscription.

Question reference: S6W-42512

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on rural and island communities in Scotland of any reduction in digital terrestrial television coverage.

Question reference: S6W-42611

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what regulations are currently in place regarding the use of e-bikes and e-scooters on public roads and pavements, and how these are being enforced to ensure public safety.

Question reference: S6W-42602

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that waiting times for power of attorney registrations will return to pre-backlog levels.