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Smoking has been banned in public places in Scotland since 2006 by virtue of the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005. However, the law includes an exemption for residential mental health institutions and permits smoking in designated indoor rooms in such settings.

During 2009 the Scottish Government consulted with stakeholders, service users and the public on the best way to achieve smoke-free mental health services in Scotland. The smoke-free mental health services in Scotland implementation guidance was issued by NHS Health Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government in March 2011.

The guidance clearly articulates the benefits behind the drive for a change to smoke-free and the expectation that NHS boards will implement smoke-free policies in mental health services at a pace which suits the services’ particular needs and circumstances. For example, with the support of the guidance, the state hospital, Carstairs has managed a successful transition to its current smoke-free status.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a new tobacco control strategy for publication early next year. As part of that work we will consider whether there is a need to review progress in this area.

Smoking is prohibited by law only in wholly or substantially enclosed public places. Areas in the open air, such as hospital grounds and car parks, are not covered by this legislation. The Scottish Government issued guidance on smoking policies for the NHS, local authorities, and care providers in December 2005 to support the implementation of the smoking ban.

This encouraged NHS boards and other service providers, to demonstrate leadership in implementing smoking policies and promoting smoke-free lifestyles. It also highlighted the benefits of going further than the strict parameters of the law and working towards completely smoke-free policies to maximise health gain. This was subsequently reinforced in the chief executive letter Health Promoting Health Service: HPHS CEL (01) 2012.

While the decision to move to smoke-free hospital grounds is currently a matter for individual boards to determine the Scottish Government is currently developing a new tobacco control strategy, which we intend to publish early next year, and we will consider smoking within NHS grounds as part of that work.

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish prison service, to respond. His response is as follows: “The Scottish prison service does not centrally classify or record complaints specifically regarding passive smoking.”

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish prison service, to respond. His response is as follows: “G4S assumed responsibility for the provision of prisoner escorts from 10 January 2012.

The information requested is as follows:

The prisoner escort and court custody contract is published on the Scottish parliaments web site http://www.sps.gov.uk/Publications.”

This information is not held centrally.

The World Health Organisation Guidelines on Community Noise advised noise levels which exceeded recommended thresholds should not occur more than 10-15 times per night. To avoid the situation where all 10-15 occurrences happen within the same hour, it was advisable to assume not more than two events in any one hour during the night time duration. This was applied to the Stirling Alloa Kincardine project in assessment of night time noise mitigation.

In addition, the mitigation criteria of 82dB max, was adopted to provide consistency with Parliamentary Acts for other Railway projects, including the Edinburgh Tram (Line One) Act 2006 and Edinburgh Airport Rail Link Act 2007.

Between the completion of the Scott Wilson impact study and the provision of noise mitigation, no information was given to households along the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line to advise that there might be noise pollution.

At the time the Scott Wilson impact study was completed in 2003, there were no coal freight trains operating in Scotland during the night. Neither the Scottish Government nor Network Rail has legal powers to deny access to the railway by any railway company which meets the required standards. However, in 2008 when it became clear that freight trains would commence on the SAK route at night, an assessment of night time noise was completed in accordance with the Environmental Statement.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.