Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-08088

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the Audit Scotland report, i6: a review, what the estimated cost to police operations will be in each year up to 2021 of there continuing to be no single police IT system.

Question reference: S5W-08089

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the Audit Scotland report, i6: a review, which IT system Police Scotland is now using.

Question reference: S5W-08185

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, what its response is to the comment in the report, HMP Kilmarnock Full Inspection 7-18 November 2016, that “It was unsatisfactory that prisoners in HMP Kilmarnock were being denied the same level of throughcare support that they would have received if they had been located in a different prison”, and what action the Scottish Prison Service has taken to ensure that prisoners at HMP Kilmarnock can now access the same level of support as elsewhere.

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

Whilst HMP Kilmarnock does not employ Throughcare Support Officers (TSOs), throughcare support is offered by TSOs attached to public sector establishments. For example, HMP Barlinnie provides throughcare support for those returning to Glasgow, and HMP Dumfries has provided support to an individual returning to their area. Gap in provision exists in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. Turning Point Scotland work in HMP Kilmarnock with prisoners who will be returning to these areas to offer similar levels of pre and post release support.

The introduction of TSOs in public sector managed prisons was created through the re-aligning of resources and achieving efficiency. SPS did not seek or receive any additional monies. It is entirely open to the contractor to undertake a similar process.

Question reference: S5W-08090

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the Audit Scotland report, i6: a review, whether Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority will pursue another contract for a single police IT system and, if so, when the call for procurement will be published, and whether this will be issued in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Question reference: S5W-08209

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that prisoners across the prison estate have equity of access to care and services, including throughcare support.

Since 2011 the responsibility for the provision of healthcare in prison settings changed from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to NHS Scotland. NHS standards for health care therefore apply to the provision of care within the prison setting and the Scottish Government expects Health Boards to act appropriately to meet these standards.

Health boards advise that all prisoners in Scotland with sentences of less than six months retain any registration they hold with their community General Practice and are registered as temporary residents with the prison healthcare centre. Prisoners with a sentence of six months or more are registered permanently with the prison health centre. Upon release these prisoners are required to re-register with their community General Practice to ensure continuity of care. The process of re-registration is encouraged and assisted by prison healthcare staff and others involved in the prisoner’s liberation and throughcare planning. Guidance has been issued by Practitioner Services Division, National Services Scotland to General Practices on the re-registration of liberated prisoners.

Question reference: S5W-08055

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to use GPS technology for electronic monitoring.

Question reference: S5W-08044

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of time that people have been subject to electronic monitoring has been in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.

The average length of time spent on Electronic Monitoring for Restriction of Liberty Orders and Home Detention Curfews are set out in the following table.

2014

2015

2016

Local Authority

RLO (Months)

HDC (Days)

RLO (Months)

HDC (Days)

RLO (Months)

HDC (Days)

Aberdeen City

4

82

4

72

4

91

Aberdeenshire

7

73

6

78

4

75

Angus

4

76

5

99

6

93

Argyll & Bute

4

77

4

83

4

76

Clackmannanshire

4

50

5

78

4

79

Dumfries & Galloway

4

84

9

63

4

66

Dundee City

4

93

4

92

4

80

East Ayrshire

3

71

4

48

3

75

East Dunbartonshire

3

74

4

71

5

113

East Lothian

4

70

4

30

4

85

East Renfrewshire

2

101

3

84

5

73

Edinburgh

5

77

4

85

4

86

Falkirk

3

82

4

99

4

106

Fife

4

77

4

71

4

85

Glasgow

4

115

4

78

4

86

Highland

5

71

8

61

6

64

Inverclyde

5

89

3

80

4

81

Midlothian

4

78

5

87

5

65

Moray

3

68

5

82

5

52

North Ayrshire

4

82

4

69

3

80

North Lanarkshire

5

88

4

90

4

89

Orkney Islands

7

37

4

23

0

45

Perth & Kinross

7

72

4

77

4

86

Renfrewshire

3

98

4

75

5

85

Scottish Borders

7

81

6

82

8

61

Shetland Islands

6

67

5

76

4

80

South Ayrshire

3

70

3

68

3

78

South Lanarkshire

3

82

3

89

3

87

Stirling

5

63

5

57

4

53

West Dunbartonshire

5

90

4

121

4

95

West Lothian

4

116

4

81

5

87

Western Isles

7

20

10

69

9

25

Question reference: S5W-08045

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have begun a sentence in each prison in each of the last five years, broken down by month, and (a) how many and (b) what percentage received a mental health assessment within 72 hours of entering.

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

SPS’ Prisoner Records system (PR2) does not report data in a way which would answer the question. The amount of work involved, including both electronic and manual interrogation of data as well as cross referencing would be disproportionate and extremely resource intensive.

All prisoners receive a health assessment by a nurse on admission to custody, with referrals made as appropriate. Responsibility for prisoner healthcare, including mental health, lies with the NHS. If this data is available, it is likely to be held there.

Question reference: S5W-07809

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing its Circular Economy and Zero Waste Bill; what issues it has explored; what stakeholders have been engaged, and what the timeline is for its introduction.

We will work closely with business, industry and other stakeholders to develop ideas and proposals for the Bill during the course of 2017. As set out in the Programme for Government 2016-7, we intend to introduce the Bill in the second half of the parliamentary session.

The Bill will build on the priorities set out in our circular economy strategy 'Making Things Last' which identifies the areas in which we can make the biggest impact.

Question reference: S5W-07964

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in light of the briefing paper, Why focus on reducing women's imprisonment in Scotland? by the Prison Reform Trust, which notes that (a) the number of women imprisoned increased by 46% in the 10 years since 2003–04, growing at a faster rate than men’s prison population, (b) this growth can be attributed to the increasing use of custodial sentences by courts rather than changes in the pattern of offending, and (c) 85% of pregnant women in prison in 2015 were there on remand or serving sentences of 12 months or less, it will accelerate its consideration of raising the presumption against short-term sentences to 12 months.

The number of women in custody in Scotland has gone down in recent years - the average daily female prison population has in fact fallen by over 6% since 2013-14 in line with similar reductions in the overall prison population - and we are working hard to continue that trend.

The proposal to extend the presumption against short sentences is one part of this Government's wide ranging work to reduce the use of short-term imprisonment - for both men and women - in favour of more robust community sentences. As previously noted, we continue to discuss with the relevant stakeholders how best to take this proposal forward.

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