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-24378

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £13.6 million additional resource budget allocated to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in its Budget 2024-25 includes the £4.4 million to cover the most recent pay award.

Question reference: S6W-24380

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects that the fire appliances that were temporarily removed from fire stations across Scotland in 2023 will be reinstated to service.

Question reference: S6W-24377

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis has been undertaken of any impact of the removal of fire appliances from stations across Scotland in 2023 on the service provided to the public.

Question reference: S6W-24379

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any pay award for Scottish Fire and Rescue Service employees negotiated for 2024-25 will have to be funded from the £13.6 million additional resource funding proposed in its 2024-25 Budget, or whether any such pay award will be funded separately.

The budget for 2024-25 includes all costs including any pay increases agreed during that financial year.

Firefighter pay is negotiated on a UK wide basis through the National Joint Council and SFRS support staff pay is negotiated between SFRS as the employer and its recognised trade unions. In common with all public sector employers, SFRS is expected to deliver pay deals which are both fair and affordable.

Question reference: S6O-03011

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that it meets its affordable homes target by 2032.

Question reference: S6W-24133

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has done to assess the effectiveness of the GEOAmey Court Custody and Prisoner Escort Services contract.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) leads the management and monitoring of the contract on behalf of Scottish Ministers as well as Justice partners and is working closely with GEOAmey to resolve the performance and service delivery issues.

Scheduled monitoring of the contract is undertaken by SPS which reports against a significant number of service level and performance indicators to assess contractual compliance. In addition, routine and ad-hoc audits are also carried out to ensure care, welfare and other legislative elements are maintained and delivered by GEOAmey.

As a result of the contractual audits and reviews completed since the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020, a contract recalibration was agreed in 2023 to support the changing demands of the Justice Sector.

Question reference: S6W-24135

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the performance of GEOAmey in fulfilling its Court Custody and Prisoner Escort Services contract; whether it has any concerns regarding this, and, if so, whether it will outline these.

We have been supporting Scottish Prison Services and other partners in delivering an improvement in the contract. This has resulted in some progress, with a slowdown in staff attrition, which is down by 40%. Prisoner Custody Officer (PCO) staffing levels have increased by around 40 officers in the last 3 months with another 20 currently in officer training, with them operationally deployable during January 2024. Steps have also been taken to help reduce future demand for service.

SPS is continuing to monitor the performance of the contract carefully to ensure target thresholds are met, so we can have a level of service which meets the needs of our Justice system.

Question reference: S6W-24132

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) Scottish Court and Tribunals Service regarding the GEOAmey Court Custody and Prisoner Escort Services contract.

Given the wider impact of GEOAmey’s contract performance, all relevant partners (Scottish Prison Service, Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and senior Scottish Government officials) met in September 2023 and October 2023 to discuss options to mitigate the impact of GEO Amey’s staffing issues. They also had an initial discussion regarding the future model for prisoner transport services.

Question reference: S6W-24131

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether the Court Custody and Prisoner Escort Services contract with GEOAmey stipulates that a penalty for poor performance is the cancellation of the contract and nationalisation of court custody and prisoner escort services.

We have been supporting the Scottish Prison Service and other partners in delivering an improvement in the GEOAmey contract that has resulted in early positive signs, with a slowdown in staff attrition and improved staff numbers.

The Criminal Justice Board has been engaged with issues relating to the contract and, as Teresa Medhurst, the Scottish Prison Service Chief Executive, stated at the Criminal Justice Committee in November 2023, all options remain under consideration in relation to prisoner escort arrangements in Scotland.

The Scottish Prison Service will continue to monitor the performance of the contract carefully to ensure target thresholds are met, so we can have a level of service which meets the needs of our justice system.

Question reference: S6W-24134

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether GEOAmey is effectively fulfilling its obligations in its Court Custody and Prisoner Escort Services contract.