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Only the courts and the Lord Advocate have the direct power to reduce the number of accused held on remand, by means of the grant of bail to individual accused.The Executive has, however, provided funding and guidance to all local authorities to allow bail information and supervision schemes to be provided to courts within their areas.Bail information schemes are intended to assist procurators fiscal and courts through verification of information in respect of cases where bail might otherwise have been opposed or refused. Bail supervision is intended to increase the confidence of courts of successful completion of bail periods through the availability of supervised bail with the intention of reducing the number of accused remanded to custody.

On 11 June 2001, Scottish Ministers decided to suspend the use of additional days and loss of remission in Scottish prisons. The European Court held on 15 July 2002 in the case of Ezeh & Connors v United Kingdom that there were Article 6 difficulties with the procedure for awarding Additional Days Added (ADAs).The decision to suspend the use of ADAs on 11 June 2001 didn't lead to disciplinary problems. It was therefore decided that the time was right to complete the abolition of ADAs. On 16 August 2002, ministers remitted all ADAs which prisoners in Scotland were serving or were still liable to serve, provided these days had been awarded to a person sentenced by a Scottish court.No decision has yet been taken as to whether the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989 and other legislation will be amended to remove references to additional days. The Ezeh & Connors judgement does not require the legislation to be amended.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:We do not consider that there is a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. Access to toilet facilities during the day is generally unrestricted. At night, an automated system allows prisoners in single cells to access toilet facilities. For security reasons, prisoners who are sharing a cell cannot make use of the automated system. Staff require to supervise the unlocking of their doors. Night shift staffing has recently been increased to reduce the delay in unlocking doors. Furthermore, procedures are in place to ensure that women with serious medical conditions are not required to share a cell.

Information on persons with a charge proved in 1999 and 2000 where a bail aggravation was recorded in the sentence is included in Table 14 of the annual statistical bulletins Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts published for those years (Bib. numbers 11289 and 17818 respectively). Data for the year 2001 are expected to be available in November 2002. Assault and robbery falls within the Scottish Executive Justice Department's crime category of robbery.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The information requested is not available.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:SPS asks prisoners about health care services through the annual prison survey.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:Medacs' Medical Officers undergo a regular process of continuous professional development needs assessment.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The Scottish Prison Service is compliant with the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29475 on 1 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:No.