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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: S6W-38481

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that prisoners in England and Wales have been banned from watching 18-certificated films since 2013, whether it will adopt a similar policy in Scotland.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-38480 on 23 June 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-38480

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Scottish Prison Service allows prisoners to watch 18-certificated films that contain graphic violence, and that the Prison Officers’ Association is calling for a review of the films available to prisoners.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS are committed to prepare those in our care for a return to their communities and, for some, this includes access to personal items and various forms of media.

As defined in The Prisons and Young Offenders Rules (Scotland) 2011, the Governor in Charge (GiC) must establish a System of Privileges, taking into consideration a number of factors, including security.

Access to watching DVDs is at the Governors discretion and remains a privilege and not a right.

Currently, there are no plans to review this current practice.

Question reference: S6W-38843

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38293 by Angela Constance on 18 June 2025, how (a) much has been spent on compensation payments to prisoners and (b) many such payments have been made, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-38293

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any compensation payments have been made to prisoners in the last five years, and, if so, what the reason was for each payment.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS recognises that where the Court supports a claim, the appropriate compensation should be paid. This may include incidents where the belongings of someone in custody have been lost or damaged, where an injury has occurred or in the limited occasions where someone has been detained in error.

SPS can confirm that in the last five years, prisoners have been awarded compensation. Compensation has been awarded for reasons such as personal injuries, damaged or lost property and unlawful detention, however we are unable to release the specific reasons for individual compensation payments, as this could lead to the indirect identification of the person involved.

Question reference: S6W-38290

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit has had its funding reduced by £35,500 in the 2025-26 financial year, compared with the previous financial year.

Funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit for 2025-26 has not been reduced.

The Scottish Government grant to the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit has been increased from £1.17 million in 2024-25 to just over £1.2 million for 2025-26. This represents an increase of £47000 (4%) on the Unit’s grant allocation in 2024-25, and is a £82000 (7%) increase on the Unit’s indicative grant allocation for 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-38289

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

Question reference: S6W-38291

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs has met with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to discuss funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, and, if so, what the outcome of any such discussions was.

As part of the usual budget process within government, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs met with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government on a bilateral basis on 6 November 2024 and 20 March 2025. The specific issue of funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit was not discussed as part of those meetings. The Scottish Government has provided increased funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit for 2025-26 as part of its broader package to tackle violence and on the basis of them being able to provide additional impact from this funding.

Question reference: S6W-38294

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any extraditions to Scottish prisons being blocked or held up by international courts in the last five years, and, if so, what the reasons were for any such cases.

Foreign authorities sometimes request assurances from Scotland in response to an extradition request because they must be satisfied that requested persons will not be subject to treatment that breaches their human rights. Assurances, by their nature, require more work to be done in order to secure the extradition of a requested person, therefore, all cases where assurances are sought necessarily involve some element of additional delay. The most commonly sought assurances relate to prison standards and the nature of healthcare available in prisons.

Pre-Brexit, assurance requests from the EU were rare due to the principle of mutual trust and respect accorded between EU member states. However, post-Brexit, the number of assurances and the complexity of the specific asks increased as courts, both Scottish and Foreign, must consider the system the requested person will be surrendered to in greater detail and with greater scrutiny due to the loss of mutual recognition between the UK and EU.

The Scottish Government is aware of one extradition which was temporarily blocked by an Irish court in 2023 following a negative judicial finding regarding the first set of assurances provided. The requested person was subsequently extradited to Scotland in 2024 following the provision of updated assurances by the Scottish authorities.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any other international or foreign court blocking any extradition.

Question reference: S6W-38292

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any payments have been made to prisoners to settle cases related to "slopping out" practices in prisons in the last five years, and, if so, what the total cost was of any such payments.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

In the last five years, the SPS has made payments to prisoners to settle cases related to “slopping out”. In the last five financial years, there has been a total of three cases settled relating to “slopping out” which were settled in Financial Year 2020-21. The total cost of these three cases was £12,000. There have been no further cases settled relating to “slopping out” since 2020-21.

Question reference: S6O-04821

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the consultation results of the A96 corridor review will be published.

2021-2022	2022-2023	2023-2024	2024-2025	2025-2026
£	£	£	£	£
1,029,500	1,170,500	1,170,500	1,170,500	1,217,000