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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: S3W-12340

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been since the law was changed regarding physical punishment of children by their parents.

Physical punishment of children cannot be identified separately from other types of assault recorded on the Scottish Government court proceedings database.

Section 51 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 provides for a defence in certain circumstances to a charge of assault in cases involving the physical punishment of children. This section also clarifies the circumstances in which physical punishment of a child will never be justified, and provides a non-exhaustive list of the factors which are to be taken into account by the court when considering whether such punishment in other circumstances is justifiable.

Question reference: S3W-12335

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many visits have been made by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland to each prison in the last year.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, Andrew R C McLellan, made 44 visits to Scottish prisons between 30 April 2007 and 30 April 2008 as follows:

Establishment	No. of Times Visited
HM Prison Aberdeen	1
HM Prison Barlinnie	5
HM Prison Castle Huntly	3
HM Prison and Young Offenders Institution Cornton Vale	1
HM Prison Dumfries	4
HM Prison Edinburgh	3
HM Prison Glenochil	4
HM Prison Greenock	1
HM Prison Inverness	4
HM Prison Kilmarnock	5
HM Prison Noranside	2
HM Prison Perth	3
HM Prison Peterhead	1
HM young offenders institution Polmont	5
HM Prison Shotts	2

Question reference: S3W-12339

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners in each prison undertook (a) paid employment and (b) community work while in prison in the most recent year for which figures are available.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

In accordance with the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2006 Part 9 Rule 82, every prisoner shall be required to work in prison except where excluded under the rules. A prisoner who undertakes work shall be entitled to be paid earnings at such rates and in accordance with such conditions as may be specified in a direction by the Scottish ministers.

For establishments that participated in community work in 2007-08 the following table details by establishment the number of prisoners granted access to community work.

Establishment	Community Work
HM Prison Open Estate	440
HM Prison Greenock	43
HM Prison Cornton Vale	36
HM Prison Shotts	125
HM Prison Perth (Friarton Hall)	38
HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont	2
Total Prisoner Participation	684

Question reference: S3W-12334

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what the underspend or overspend is in the budget of each prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

Budgets for establishments for 2007-08 are summarised in the following table:

Establishment	Budget (£ Million)
Aberdeen	6.3
Barlinnie	29.3
Cornton Vale	11.6
Dumfries	6.2
Edinburgh	18.8
Glenochil	16.7
Greenock	8.1
Inverness	4.8
Kilmarnock	15.6
Low Moss	1.1
Open Estate	8.5
Perth	17.8
Peterhead	9.2
Polmont	15.5
Shotts.	16.5
Total	186.0

Note: Final spend figures will not be available until the annual report and accounts for 2007-08 are published; this is currently scheduled for July 2008.

Question reference: S3W-12295

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in each local authority area in reducing P1 to P3 class sizes for the academic year 2008-09.

Question reference: S3W-12296

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place to monitor the progress by local authorities in reducing class sizes year-on-year, as agreed in its concordat with local government.

Question reference: S3W-12337

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under the age of 16 there are in each adult prison.

Question reference: S3W-12154

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Bruce Crawford on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executivewhen it will provide a substantive answer to question S3W-10619 which received a holding answer on 17 March 2008.

Question reference: S3W-12332

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what the staff sickness and turnover rates are for each prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The staff sickness and turnover rates for each prison during the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 and working days lost through sick absence during the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 are detailed as follows:

Staff Turnover in Period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008

Establishment	Leavers	Staff in Post at 31 March 2008	Turnover Figures as a Percentage of SIP at 31 March 2008
Aberdeen	18	130	13.8
Barlinnie	31	611	5.1
Central Stores	1	18	5.6
Cornton Vale	21	266	7.9
Dumfries	11	142	7.7
Edinburgh	31	400	7.8
Glenochil	19	392	4.8
Greenock	8	191	4.2
Headquarters	29	255	11.4
Inverness	10	111	9.0
Open Estate	13	157	8.3
Perth	18	408	4.4
Peterhead	22	181	12.2
Polmont	18	356	5.1
Shotts	20	371	5.4
SPS College	2	60	3.3
Total *	277	4,049	6.8

Note: There were five leavers from Low Moss which are not shown in the establishment breakdown but have been included in the overall totals.

Working Days Lost Through Sick Absence in Period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008

Establishment	Working Days Lost	Staff in Post at 31 March 2008	Average Working Days Lost Per Person Based on SIP at 31 March 2008
Aberdeen	1,071	130	8.2
Barlinnie	7,223	611	11.8
Central Stores	34	18	1.9
Cornton Vale	3,179	266	12.0
Dumfries	1,480	142	10.4
Edinburgh	3,726	400	9.3
Glenochil	4,930	392	12.6
Greenock	1,782	191	9.3
Headquarters	1,143	255	4.5
Inverness	965	111	8.7
Open Estate	1,330	157	8.5
Perth	4,134	408	10.1
Peterhead	1,716	181	9.5
Polmont	4,091	356	11.5
Shotts	3,641	371	9.8
SPS College	405	60	6.8
Total	40,850	4,049	10.1

Question reference: S3W-12338

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have moved from prison into employment in the last year, broken down by prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

Jobcentre Plus provides a pre-release service to the SPS including details of the number of prisoners they are aware of who have gained employment within 13 weeks of leaving prison. The figures for 2007-08 are:

Establishment	Number Employed
Aberdeen	8
Barlinnie	2
Cornton Vale	18
Dumfries	1
Edinburgh	33
Glenochil	19
Greenock	3
Inverness	31
Kilmarnock	26
Open Estate	1
Peterhead	0
Perth	0
Polmont	32
Shotts	1
Total	175

Note: In addition to Jobcentre Plus there is a number of initiatives supported by a voluntary organisations who work with prisoners from selected postcode areas prior to liberation. These include:

The Routes out of Prison project who work with prisoners serving less than four years who are returning to selected West of Scotland postcodes;

The Passport project run by Access to Industry who assist prisoners returning to the Lothians, and

The Inside Out project run by Apex for prisoners returning to Tayside.

The SPS does not hold data relating to employment success for these projects.