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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: S5W-26183

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that Air Discount Scheme membership cards that have been blocked or cancelled cannot still be used to book flights.

Question reference: S5W-26045

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the occupancy rate is of the separation and reintegration units operational in Scottish prisons, broken down by institution.

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

On 30 October 2019 there were 121 people in our care temporarily residing in SPS’ Separation and Reintegration Units (SRUs).

Prison	SRU Capacity	Population	Percentage Capacity
Addiewell	11	11	100%
Barlinnie	15	12	80%
Cornton Vale	4	4	100%
Edinburgh	14	12	86%
Glenochil	14	11	78%
Grampian	10	9	90%
Inverness	2	2	100%
Kilmarnock	14	14	100%
Low Moss	12	11	92%
Perth	14	13	93%
Polmont	12	8	66%
Shotts	14	14	100%
Total	136	121	89%

There are no SRUs at HMP Castle Huntly, HMP Dumfries or HMP Greenock.

Question reference: S5O-03775

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Destination Orkney and Orkney Islands Council about the future needs of the tourism sector.

Question reference: S5W-26047

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the average number of hours per day convicted prisoners were engaged in purposeful activity (a) across the prison estate and (b) in each penal establishment in 2018-19, also broken down by month.

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

SPS publishes the average number of Purposeful Activity (PA) Hours per week, per convicted prisoner, as part of our Key Performance Indicators as reported in our Annual Report and Accounts.

In 2018-19 the average number of PA hours undertaken per convicted person in our care, per week, was 20 hours.

SPS does not publish figures in relation to the number of PA hours undertaken on a daily basis. The number of PA hours available for delivery fluctuate over the course of a working week and generally reduces at weekends.

Average PA hours by prison, per week, per convicted person in SPS care for 2018-19 is detailed in table 1, below:

Purposeful Activity Hours per Prison 2018-19
Prison	April	May	June	July	August	September	October
Barlinnie	18	16	15	15	15	14	14
Cornton Vale	17	20	22	20	18	19	18
Dumfries	18	20	20	21	18	17	18
Edinburgh	10	13	11	12	13	10	12
Glenochil	19	18	17	17	17	16	18
Grampian	30	29	26	24	25	23	26
Greenock	22	24	22	21	21	21	20
Inverness	26	27	23	30	25	27	24
Low Moss	23	25	23	23	25	22	23
Open Estate	23	24	22	23	25	22	24
Perth	20	21	19	18	18	17	19
Polmont	21	23	22	22	23	20	22
Shotts	23	22	23	26	26	25	26
Average per month	21	22	20	21	21	19	21

Purposeful Activity Hours per Prison 2018-19
Establishment	November	December	January	February	March	Annual average PA hours
Barlinnie	14	12	12	13	12	14
Cornton Vale	19	17	19	23	19	19
Dumfries	16	14	16	19	15	18
Edinburgh	13	11	14	14	13	12
Glenochil	18	14	17	16	16	17
Grampian	25	22	24	26	23	25
Greenock	19	15	16	21	22	20
Inverness	24	22	25	25	22	25
Low Moss	23	19	21	22	21	23
Open Estate	22	13	20	22	22	22
Perth	18	16	15	16	16	18
Polmont	22	18	20	22	19	21
Shotts	27	24	25	27	25	25
Average per month	20	17	19	20	19	20

HMP Addiewell and HMP Kilmarnock have differing contractual requirements for delivery of PA hours, which are detailed within each contract, by the service provider.

HMP Addiewell is required to offer a minimum 6 hours a day on a Monday to Friday basis, with a minimum of 40 PA hours per week over a rolling 7 day period for all people in custody, including those who are untried and civil prisoners.

HMP Kilmarnock is required to ensure that all convicted people in their care achieve 35 hours a week PA, with a minimum of 7 hours a day for a 5 day working week.

Question reference: S5W-26056

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions periods of remand have exceeded 110 days in each year since 2007-08.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information at present. As stated in the answer to S5W-20884 on 30 January 2019, the Scottish Government are currently working with the Scottish Prison Service to develop a shared approach to publishing the data captured by the operational database (as well as the range of historical data held) and making more data and information accessible to users.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5W-26052

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), in relation to Scottish prisons, that “cumulatively a lack of access to association and activities meant that in practice segregated inmates were deprived of regular meaningful human contact rendering the segregation akin to solitary confinement”.

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

The decision to remove any individual in our care from association is always done in accordance with Rule 95 of the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011.

An individual may only be removed from association and accommodated in a Separation and Reintegration Unit (SRU) where the Governor is satisfied that it is appropriate for maintaining good order or discipline; protecting the interests of any person; or ensuring the safety of others.

Individuals are only removed from association on a temporary basis and a management plan should always be devised, at the earliest possible opportunity, in order to support reintegration.

As part of the normalisation routine, people held in SRUs are afforded the opportunity to engage in outside exercise, education and the use of other SRU facilities including gym areas, when available.

Additionally, people held in SRUs retain their entitlement to access family visits, phone calls and mail correspondence.

Question reference: S5W-26135

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 01 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether its development of an interactive data hub to measure the fairness of delivery pricing in rural areas is expected to commence before 2020 and, if not, by what date it will do so.

Fairer Deliveries For All: An Action Plan sets out eight clear actions designed to tackle longstanding issues surrounding parcel deliveries, with particular regard to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

As part of the Action Plan, the Scottish Government committed to publishing an annual review setting out progress made on each of the actions. It was anticipated that this review would be published in November 2019. However, the Scottish Government has taken the decision to postpone this publication and associated announcements until early 2020 on account of next month’s General Election, and the restrictions that apply to it during the pre-election period. A full update will therefore be published early next year.

Question reference: S5W-26139

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 01 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it uses the Improving Consumer Outcomes Fund to tackle unfair and misleading delivery charges in rural areas, and what analysis it has carried out of the effectiveness of this.

Question reference: S5W-26138

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 01 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made since January 2019 regarding postcode accuracy for parcel deliveries in rural areas.

Question reference: S5W-26140

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 01 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what independent econometric research it has commissioned since January 2019 to establish what constitutes fair delivery charges in rural areas, and what the outcome was.