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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-06472

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many visits there have been by medical practitioners at (a) HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont and (b) each prison in Scotland in each year since 2010.

Question reference: S5W-06415

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 2 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the vacancy rate of each secure unit has been in each month since 2010.

The Scottish Government do not hold the information in the format requested. However, information on average vacancies in each year is available.

The average vacancies in Scotland’s secure care accommodation since 2010 is detailed in the following table:

	2010 - 11	2011 - 12	2012 - 13	2013 - 14	2014 - 15
Edinburgh 12 Beds	7%	5%	5%	8%	6%
Good Shepherd 18 Beds	33%	4%	19%	7%	2%
Kibble 18 Beds	21%	5%	5%	8%	3%
Rossie 18 Beds	33%	14%	22%	41%	22%
St Mary's 24 Beds	27%	8%	21%	20%	9%
St Phillips 24 Beds	6%	Closed 5-8-2011	Service Closed	Service Closed	Service Closed
The Elms 4 Beds	56%	28%	Closed 20-12-2012	Service Closed	Service Closed

The Secure Care Accommodation Scotland website http://www.sanscotland.org/ shows the number of available beds in each of Scotland’s five secure units. The website is managed by the secure care providers and is updated daily.

Question reference: S5W-06470

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many visits there have been by mental health specialists at (a) HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont and (b) each prison in Scotland in each year since 2010.

Question reference: S5W-06416

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 2 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how long the average stay in a secure unit has been in each year since 2010.

Question reference: S5O-00659

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of people trained in mental health first aid.

Question reference: S5W-06414

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many offenders under the age of 18 have been placed in a secure unit in each year since 2010.

Children can be placed in secure care through the courts (on remand or sentence) or following authorisation through the Children’s Hearings System.

Statistics on numbers of children in secure care in Scotland are published annually by the Scottish Government. These are available at:http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork

The statistics for young people placed through the Children’s Hearings System do not differentiate between secure authorisations on care and protection or offence grounds reflecting the systems integrated approach.

The number of sentenced young people placed in secure care in each year since 2010 is shown in the following table:

2010 - 11	13
2011 - 12	13
2012 - 13	10
2013 - 14	9
2014 - 15	9

Question reference: S5W-06096

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the rate of reconviction has been of people detained for (a) up to three, (b) between three and six, (c) between six and 12 and (d) more than 12 months since 2011.

The reconviction rate for offenders released from custodial sentences between 2010-11 and 2013-14 are presented below. The rate measures the proportion of offenders who were reconvicted within a year.

Reconvictions by Custodial Sentence Length

Number of offenders

Reconviction Rate %

Up to 3 months

2010-11	1,823	61.7
2011-12	1,404	59.6
2012-13	1,403	60.8
2013-14	1,295	61.6

Over 3 months to 6 months

2010-11	2,024	53.2
2011-12	2,334	53.3
2012-13	2,299	51.8
2013-14	2,213	54.3

Over 6 months to 1 year

2010-11	1,218	41.6
2011-12	1,253	42.9
2012-13	1,344	42.5
2013-14	1,289	43.0

Over 1 year

2010-11	2,225	26.4
2011-12	2,322	26.6
2012-13	2,387	26.2
2013-14	2,311	24.4

Question reference: S5W-06131

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Police Scotland estate review.

Governance of the Police Service of Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority, as established in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. The Chief Executive, John Foley, can be contacted at The Scottish Police Authority, 1 Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1DZ.

The Scottish Government would encourage all members to participate in local engagement activity being led by local divisional commanders in relevant areas.

Question reference: S5W-06170

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05531 by Michael Matheson on 10 January 2017, whether it will consider increasing the presumption against short prison sentences to 12 months.

Question reference: S5W-06237

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards implementing HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s recommendations regarding biometric governance.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the right balance is struck between protecting the public and safeguarding the rights of individuals and welcomed HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s (HMICS) review of the use of facial search functionality. Scottish Government officials are continuing to discuss how best to implement the recommendations with the Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and HMICS.

Year	Number of days
2010 - 11	124
2011 - 12	116
2012 - 13	131
2013 - 14	116
2014 - 15	133