Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold this information

The following table provides the number of people departing prison one or more times in each financial year from remand, with index sentences of one year or less, and with index sentences from greater than one year to four years or less.

The new national throughcare service will ensure equitable support provisions across all communities in Scotland.

The partnership delivering the new national throughcare service (consisting of Sacro, Access to Industry, Action for Children, Apex Scotland, Barnardo’s, Circle, Families Outside and Turning Point Scotland) has experience of delivering throughcare in rural and island communities and understands the additional considerations needed to achieve a robust and responsive delivery model.

A proportion of the budget has been set aside to ensure a tailored ‘spot purchase’ approach to support individuals returning to rural and island communities. This model will ensure that wrap-around support is available to individuals as required across island communities, whilst ensuring a level of parity with mainland provision.

The partnership will also work closely with existing services and agencies operating locally to ensure that the right support is in place for every individual returning to a rural or island community.

The launch of the new national throughcare service does not affect the duty on local authorities to provide voluntary throughcare support and will not replace any locally commissioned services or local processes.

The new service will be structured to work collectively with local partners, including justice social work services, to meet the needs of people who request voluntary throughcare support for prisoners released from both short-term sentences and those on remand.

The service will employ dedicated prison-based workers in each establishment who will have a role in supporting effective multi-agency pre-release planning to avoid duplication of service provision.

In Scotland, the government does not have the authority to unilaterally implement a salary cap for agency locum doctors working in the NHS. The remuneration of agency locum doctors is determined by the terms and conditions outlined in their individual contracts, which are negotiated between NHS employers and the doctors themselves. Internal NHS Locum Doctors however are employers on NHS Terms and Conditions, at NHS rates of pay.

We recognise that we must seek to secure best value whenever we are delivering services within NHS Scotland, allowing us to maximise the impact that our investment has on the quality and availability of patient care.

Accordingly, we are working with colleagues across NHS Scotland to explore how we can reduce our reliance on agency and have developed best practice guidance to ensure that all locum engagements have the appropriate senior sign-off by an individual working under the delegated authority of the Chief Executive.

We publish an annual report of progress against our Heat in Buildings strategy. The most recent report was published in October 2024: Heat in Buildings: progress report 2024 - gov.scot. This includes estimates for number of domestic and non-domestic properties with heat pumps, as monitored through the Scottish House Condition Survey(SHCS) and the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.

Data in relation to the housing circumstances and employment status of individuals released from custody is not available.

Individuals serving short-term sentences are not routinely subject to any form of post-release supervision or monitoring, and those that had supervision or monitoring requirements post-sentence were automatically excluded from both the Coronavirus specific early release process in 2020 and the Emergency Early Release process in 2024.

Pre-release planning, including in relation to housing needs, was a key feature of both of the emergency early release processes (2020 & 2024). The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) worked closely with representatives from Local Government – including housing departments, wider public bodies, and the third sector in the planning and operation of the processes.

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

The following table shows the number of prisoners who were released during the last 5 years under early release arrangements. The numbers provided relate to the 2020 COVID 19 Early Release Scheme and the 2024 Emergency Early Release Regulations:

Individuals released under early release programmes are entitled to receive the same voluntary support services that would be available to them if they had been released at their scheduled liberation date, should they wish. These services are funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by third sector organisations and local authorities.

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

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-34637 on 24 February 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers