- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25336 by Humza Yousaf on 30 September 2019, whether it will provide details of the reconfiguration of the prison estate that has been undertaken.
Answer
I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:
SPS has currently implemented 5 separate phases of our population management plan. This allows SPS to safely manage a maximum of 8492 people in our prison estate.
Phase 1 was initiated during November 2018 and was achieved by:
- HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1400 (additional 413 spaces above design capacity);
- HMP Glenochil - extending the operating capacity to 694 (additional 26 spaces above design capacity);
- HMP Dumfries - extending the operating capacity to 195 (additional 19 spaces above design capacity);
- HMP Inverness - extending the operating capacity to 120 (additional 27 spaces above design capacity); and
- HMP Perth - extending the operating capacity to 700 (additional 69 spaces above design capacity).
Phase 2 was initiated during December 2018 and was achieved by:
- HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1450 (additional 50 spaces);
- HMP Edinburgh - extending the operating capacity to 917 (additional 50 spaces);
- HMP Glenochil - extending their operating capacity to 750 (additional 56 spaces);
Phase 3 was initiated during February 2019 and was achieved by:
- HMP Kilmarnock - extending the operating capacity to 596 through procurement of an additional 96 prison places.
Phase 4 was initiated during April 2019 and was achieved by:
- HMP Addiewell – extending the operating capacity to 796 through procurement of an additional 96 prison places
Phase 5 was initiated during May 2019 and was achieved by:
- HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1500 (additional 50 spaces); and
- HMP Low Moss extending the operating capacity to 884 (additional 100 spaces).
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 31 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many bottle recycling banks there are in each local authority area.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 31 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how it issues to its staff guidance regarding the appropriate modes of communication that should be used for business purposes, and whether it will (a) publish or (b) place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) a copy of this guidance.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s IT Code of Conduct, Mobile Employee Agreement and guidance on the use of Social Media Tools are made available to employees and users of the Scottish Government computer services via our corporate web-site, Saltire. There is no issue with extending these guidelines to the Scottish Government's external website ( https://www.gov.scot ) and steps will be taken to ensure these are published as soon as possible.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 30 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a list of the modes of communication used by (a) ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) its officials for business purposes, and how it monitors the use of these.
Answer
The modes of communication used by (a) ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) its officials for business purposes on Scottish Government devices are:
- Fixed Telephone lines
- Mobile Phones (including text messaging and access to SmartPhone Apps)
- Government email is available on a host of centrally-managed devices.
- Video and audio Conferencing (including Skype for Business)
- Social Media channels
- Saltire intranet
- Yammer (enterprise social network)
Some parts of the organisation may use other modes of communication within their local business areas e.g. Marine Scotland use radio communication packages to aid communications between ships and aircraft.
All modes of business communication are monitored in accordance with guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre. There are a number of communications tools that staff can download to mobile devices but which are not provided by the Scottish Government. All users are reminded that such usage remain subject to an acceptable use policy as outlined in our IT Code of Conduct and their use is subject to FOI(S)A 2002 and compliance with our Information Management Principles.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its staff have completed training regarding their duties and responsibilities under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 in each of the last three years.
Answer
Following the Scottish Information Commissioner’s 2018 intervention, new training packages have recently been compiled for delivery to all business areas within the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government’s FOI Unit has designed these packages with input and approval from the Commissioner’s office and are in the early stages of delivery. Participation in electronic training will be mandatory for all staff, with additional face to face training for designated case handlers. Numbers of staff participating will be monitored.
Previously, training on FoI for Scottish Government staff has been delivered through an e-learning package. There is no collected data on how many staff members have completed the package.
In addition to the training available, the Scottish Government’s intranet provides comprehensive guidance on the handling of information requests and the FoI Unit offer full support at all stages of the process.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the use of (a) ProtonMail and (b) other encrypted messaging apps or services for business-related communications.
Answer
Officials who use the Scottish Government’s mobile telephony services may install third-party applications for business use, including encrypted messaging apps. There are a number of communications tools that staff can access via the web or download to mobile devices, but which are not provided by the Scottish Government. All users are reminded that any web or mobile apps are subject to an acceptable use policy as outlined in our IT Code of Conduct and their use is subject to FOI(S)A 2002 and compliance with our Information Management Principles.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many responses to Freedom of Information requests that it has released in each of the last three years have included details of communications conducted via (a) WhatsApp, (b) Facebook, (c) Twitter, (d) Instagram, (e) Snapchat and (f) text message.
Answer
The Scottish Government has received around 8,500 Freedom of Information requests over the last three calendar years. The Scottish Government has not recorded how many of the responses to these requests included information originally communicated via specific media platforms, as there is no business or legislative requirement to do so.
The Scottish Government fully recognises that the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 apply to all types of recorded official information, from any source and our guidance to case-handlers is explicit that appropriate searches should be carried out.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what limitations it places on the modes of communication used by its staff for business purposes, and how these are enforced.
Answer
The Scottish Government only applies limitations to modes of communication when the security or reputation of the organisation is at risk.
All web, mail and social media usage from the Scottish Government’s network is monitored and protected by our Cyber Security Centre using industry standard tools. The Scottish Government is accredited to Cyber Essentials Plus level.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what changes it will make in light of the recent report by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and its finding of an “emergency” in Scotland’s prisons.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2019
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on funding low-carbon heat technologies in off-gas grid areas as part of the Warmer Homes Scotland programme rather than replacement fossil fuel boilers.
Answer
The Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme makes available a number of low-carbon technologies where these are technically appropriate for the property. These include Air Source Heat Pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Micro-hydro, Micro-wind and Micro-CHP systems. These measures may be of particular benefit to households living in rural and island areas that are not served by the gas grid.
