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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: S1W-29084

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 18 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice to my question during the debate on his ministerial statement on prisons on 5 September 2002 (Official Report, col 13882), which house blocks have been built since 1999; how much each cost; what the timescale was from the decision to build to occupancy for each, and who the main contractors were.

Question reference: S1W-28895

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 18 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are derogations from the requirement to provide access for disabled people in buildings to which the public have access and, if so, what these derogations are.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires that, from October 2004, service providers may have to make reasonable adjustments in relation to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.In Scotland, all new buildings to which the public has access must be provided with access and facilities for disabled people. The Technical Standards for compliance with the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations 1990 allow several derogations, the principal being to storeys other than the principal entrance storey. Access need not be provided for people in a wheelchair to storeys where the area is not more than 200 square metres for a building more than two storeys or 280 square metres for a building not more than two storeys. Stairs to those areas, however, must still be suitable for ambulant disabled people.

Question reference: S1W-30257

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28903 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 September 2002, whether it has set a revised date for issuing the consultation paper, due to be issued by the end of September, on the delivery of court services in the Peebles area and, if so, what date it has set.

Question reference: S1W-30022

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 16 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26897 by Mr Jim Wallace on 3 July 2002, why there has been no assessment of compliance with Standards of Health Care of Prisoners of medical services in prisons operated by the Scottish Prison Service since 1999.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:It was recognised that the Health Care Standards required revision to improve auditibility.The SPS has recently been in contact with the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland to identify how our standards could be improved. We are currently in the process of commissioning this piece of work. It is hoped that the revision of our standards will be completed by March 2003. I will arrange for the revised version to be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

Question reference: S1W-29517

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 16 October 2002

Question reference: S1W-30079

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 16 October 2002

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The information requested is not available. The number of receptions of 14- to 16-year-olds to the SPS are as follows:

1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	1 April 2002 to date
150	145	192	155

The following is a corrected answer (published on 5 November 2002); see below.: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:There are four possible ways to count the numbers of 14- to 16-year-olds held in penal establishments. The convention used in the prison statistics bulletins is to present the number of receptions to penal establishments. The number of receptions of 14- to 16-year-olds is given in Table 1 below.Table 1: Receptions of 14- to 16-Year-Olds to Penal Establishments¹ by Age, 1999-2000 to 1 April 2002 - 23 October 2002

Age	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02 (prov.)	1 April 2002 to 23 October 2002 (provisional)
14	1	4	2	1
15	9	12	25	18
16	573	391	467	395
Total	583	407	494	414

Note:1. Including Young Offenders Institutions.An offender experiencing a continuous period of imprisonment could be the subject of more than one reception during that time. For example, they may first be received on remand and may then continue in prison as a sentenced prisoner, which would be counted as an additional reception. Table 2 below presents the numbers of times a 14- to 16-year-old commenced an uninterrupted period of imprisonment.Table 2: Number of 14- to 16-Year-Olds¹ Commencing a Continuous Period in Custody², 1999-2000 to 1 April 2002 - 23 October 2002

Age	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02(prov.)	1 April 2002 to 23 October 2002(provisional)
14	1	4	2	1
15	7	11	23	18
16	383	266	337	274
Total	391	281	362	293

Notes:1. 14- to 16-year-olds entering prison more than once in a financial year have been counted for each entry.2. The figures include those entering Young Offenders Institutions.It may happen that an offender is released from a period in custody and is re-imprisoned within the year for a different offence. Table 3 below presents the numbers of individuals aged 14 to16 who were imprisoned at least once during each year.Table 3: Number of Individual 14- to 16-Year-Olds Who Were Imprisoned at Least Once in the Financial Year

Age at first entry in year	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02(prov.)	1 April 2002 to 23 October 2002(provisional)
14	1	4	2	1
15	7	12	20	17
16	290	193	221	201
Total	298	209	243	219

Because 14- to 16-year-old offenders spend only relatively short times in custody, the number in custody at any one time is much lower than the numbers entering custody, as demonstrated in Table 4 belowTable 4: Numbers of 14- to 16-Year-Olds in Custody on 30 June

Age	1999	2000	2001	2002 (prov.)
14	-	-	-	-
15	-	1	-	2
16	53	32	42	56
Total	53	33	42	58

The above information covers 14- to 16-year-olds who entered any penal establishment, including Young Offenders Institutions. Information distinguishing young offenders who were in an adult prison from those in a Young Offenders Institution cannot meaningfully be supplied. This is because many young offenders will pass through an adult prison on their way to reception in a Young Offenders Institution or may be transferred to a Young Offenders Institution after reception in an adult prison. Table 5 presents a breakdown of the number of receptions of 14- to-16-year-olds by the receiving establishment while Table 6 shows a breakdown of the first establishment entered by 14- to 16-year-old offenders commencing a continuous period in custody. Copies of Table 5 and Table 6 have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 24884 ).

Question reference: S1W-30213

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 16 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26397 by Cathy Jamieson on 12 June 2002 that data regarding review hearings of a change from a recommendation from a children's panel that a child be sent to secure accommodation is not held by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA), on what data the Secure Accommodation Advisory Group concluded that there is a lack of evidence to support an increase in places.

Question reference: S1W-29526

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what specific provision it has made to ensure that the Scottish Prison Service or the contractor for the provision of medical service in prisons complies with paragraph 10 of recommendation R(98)7 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers concerning the ethical and organisational aspects of health care in prisons.

Question reference: S1W-29477

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its contract with Medacs for the provision of medical services in prisons includes the requirement that the contractor must comply with recommendation R(98)7 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers concerning the ethical and organisational aspects of health care in prisons.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The Council of Europe Recommendation No R(98)7 "recommends that governments of member states: take into account, when reviewing their legislation and in their practice in the area of healthcare provision in prison, the principles and recommendations set out in the appendix".The appendix contains 74 paragraphs of principles and recommendations plus an explanatory memorandum and commentary on the recommendations. SPS took these recommendations into account in the design of the specification for the contract for the provision of medical services to prisons.

Question reference: S1W-29478

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in respect of each paragraph of recommendation R(98)7 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers concerning the ethical and organisational aspects of health care in prisons, compliance is its responsibility or the responsibility of the contractor for the provision of medical services and whether it will detail the responsible party for each individual paragraph.