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Following discussions with the First Minister, an Advisory Group was set up to help develop the detail of the First Minister's Reading Challenge. The group includes representation from education, libraries, authors, booksellers, parents and community reading groups.

The Advisory Group agreed a process by which the Scottish Book Trust would compile a non-mandatory book list, which would be used as inspiration for those taking part in the Challenge. This list was compiled following consultation with children, teachers, librarians, community groups and the First Minister, who suggested a favourite book from childhood, Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton. The resulting '100 places to start your reading journey' was agreed by the Advisory Group and by the First Minister.

The Advisory Group also recommended an expanded range of ways to take part in the First Minister's Reading Challenge, with detail including specific criteria then developed by the Scottish Book Trust, in addition to those originally announced on World Book Day. This gives schools and pupils flexible options that mean they can take part in the way that is best for them. This was agreed with the First Minister and resulted in the seven elements recently launched by the First Minister.

The current First Minister's personal love of reading and her commitment to improving literacy levels for children and young people across Scotland have been key factors in driving the development and launch of this initiative. While not the only factor that may affect success of initiatives like this, the Office of the First Minister can also bring a significance and profile that a reading challenge might otherwise not achieve - the success in the uptake of the Challenge in the short time since the launch is an indicator of this. The initiative was named the First Minister's Reading Challenge without consideration or rejection of alternatives.

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

Data is not routinely recorded regarding the time that individual prisoners return to the prison, and modern prisons do not have a “lights out” time. In the Court Custody and Prisoner Escort Services (CCPES) contract, a performance measure is recorded each time that a prisoner arrives after the time when the prison’s prisoner reception would ordinarily close. This time varies between establishments.

The following data shows the number of times this performance measure has been recorded, including instances of excusable failure as well as service provider failure.

This is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority and it will be for the Chief Executive in his role as Accountable Officer to satisfy the SPA's auditors that the actions taken in this case were compliant with the Scottish Public Finance Manual

Scottish Ministers were not requested to approve the approach taken by the Scottish Police Authority or to agree any special arrangements.

Recommendations from the Advisory Group on Age of Criminal Responsibility informed a public consultation earlier this year.

Ministers are considering all views put forward and will respond in due course.

Consultation responses have been published and engagement activity with children and young people and victims groups continued over the summer. Ministers are considering all views put forward and will respond in due course.

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

The following table shows the number of journeys for core and non-core services for the period from 1 April 2013 until 30 September 2016.

While the core service is the escorting service to and from court, the non-core service covers various services such as inter-prison transfers and attendance at hospital appointments. For the core service, each separate journey is counted as one journey. Thus, the same person going to court, and then returning from court on the same day shows as 2 journeys. For non-core services, a return trip is counted as 1 journey.

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

The contract contains a number of performance measures which capture instances of failure by the escort contractor. Due to the requirements of the contract, data is not captured which allows a specific response to both areas in question. The following tables show the data insofar as it can be gathered.

Delays to Court

The following table shows instances where a late arrival at court delayed proceedings. No data is held in relation to where any proceedings may have been cancelled.

Delays to hospital Appointments

A hospital appointment is part of the non-core service delivery and the data is for all types of non-core services. These numbers relate to non-core events which resulted in: cancellation of the event/appointment; the person not appearing or participating in the event/appointment or the event/appointment being delayed awaiting the individual’s arrival.

The total number of movements within the contract for the period referred to in this question were 610,628 therefore delays to court proceedings and hospital appointments equate to 0.07% of the overall contract movements.

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

The following table shows the average length of time from leaving the establishment to arriving at court. There is no data available for the duration of non-core service journeys from establishments.

The minimum speed of broadband that will be available by 2021 will be determined following procurement of contracts relating to delivery of the 100% superfast broadband commitment.