The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6W-13084

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reforming the Child Abduction Act 1984 in order to make international parental child abduction illegal without the need for a court order, as is the case in England and Wales.

Paragraph 9.15 of the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy (link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/family-justice-modernisation-strategy/pages/11/ ) outlines the work that will be undertaken to consider if changes are needed to the Child Abduction Act 1984. We have now started this work and are currently seeking views from key stakeholders. I am happy to receive any comments from the Member about whether or not changes should be made to the 1984 Act.

Question reference: S6W-12899

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 19 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12028 by Elena Whitham on 17 November 2022, whether Police Scotland has any plans to further engage on matters of human trafficking with other countries' police forces through the temporary recruitment of officers, and, if so, whether it will list each (a) police force and (b) recruitee job title.

Question reference: S6W-13001

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the (a) process and (b) timescales for local authorities to apply for funding once they have identified (i) suitable housing stock and (ii) capacity for Ukrainian refugees.

The Ukraine Longer Term Housing Resettlement Fund guidance and application form for Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords was published on the Scottish Government website on 30 September 2022, following the launch of the fund on 22 September 2022. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-longer-term-resettlement-fund/

A letter was issued to Council Leaders and the Scottish Federation of Housing (copied to Council Chief Executives) on 4 October 2022 to notify them of the Fund and encourage applications.

We are prioritising applications which deliver completed homes by 31 March 2023. Projects with homes completed in 2023/24 will be considered by exception.

Question reference: S6W-12822

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research report, Still Nothing to See Here? One year update on prison deaths and FAI outcomes in Scotland.

We welcome the one-year update report from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) on prison deaths and FAI outcomes in Scotland which will inform work across organisations to prevent deaths in custody and in relation to FAIs.

We are committed to making improvements to the response to, and experiences of, families impacted by a death in custody and to that end we have welcomed the recommendations from the Independent Review of the response to Deaths in Prison Custody and we are working with partners to implement these.

A dedicated Crown Office team was piloted from November 2021 under the umbrella of the Health and Safety Investigation unit to consolidate how we investigate deaths in custody and to make improvements to these processes. During the pilot period, the unit investigated deaths in custody with common underlying themes, namely drug deaths and deaths by suicide. Following a successful Pilot, the Custody Death Unit was established in August 2022 with a remit to investigate all deaths in legal custody occurring in Scotland after that date. It is anticipated that this holistic approach will streamline the approach to investigations resulting overall in a reduction to the journey time of cases whilst still ensuring a robust and through investigation. In addition, it is anticipated that the streamlined approach will allow for accelerated processes for particular categories of death and greater scope for conjoining FAIs which will further reduce the time taken to conclude these investigations.

Preventing suicide and supporting people who self-harm are key areas of focus for the Scottish Prison Service in developing its Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The Prevention of Suicide in Prison Strategy aims to care for those ‘at risk’ of suicide by providing a person-centred care pathway based on an individual’s needs, strengths and assets and by promoting a supportive environment where people in SPS custody can ask for help.

In September, the Scottish Government and COSLA published Creating Hope Together - a new long term suicide prevention strategy for Scotland. Our vision is to reduce the number of suicide deaths in Scotland, whilst tackling the inequalities which contribute to suicide. The strategy sets out a new approach to reducing suicide in Scotland, targeting key settings where suicide risk is higher, such as prisons. We are now implementing the strategy and are working with partners across the criminal justice system.

In terms of the findings relating to Fatal Accident Inquiries, the Lord Advocate is constitutionally responsible for the investigation of sudden, unexpected and suspicious deaths in Scotland. These functions are exercised independently of government. Whether or not a recommendation is made at the end of an inquiry is a matter for the presiding Sheriff who has listened to all the evidence.

We keep matters in relation to FAIs and deaths in custody under review in consultation with the Crown Office and continually consider and evaluate whether there are ways in which the system can be improved further.

COPFS is committed to reducing the timescale for commencing FAIs, including those arising from deaths in custody, whilst ensuring that the circumstances surrounding each death are thoroughly investigated. COPFS has introduced a number of measures since the implementation of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016 to reduce the average time taken to complete FAIs.

Question reference: S6W-13000

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the recommendations of Lady Elish Angiolini’s report of the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing.

I am pleased to confirm the publication today of the Scottish Government’s fourth thematic report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report. This not only includes a narrative, context and additional information about key recommendations but, importantly, also has a tracker showing what progress has been made.

This shows that 55 of the non-legislative recommendations are now complete leaving only 16 non-legislative recommendations still in progress and one to be kept under review.

Through their leadership and commitment, policing partners have delivered major business transformation and service redesign to improve how complaints are handled, bringing greater transparency, fairness and accessibility to systems, policies and processes.

Building on this and as announced in the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government will introduce a Police Complaints and Misconduct Handling Bill in this Parliamentary year to further strengthen public confidence in policing in Scotland.

I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for their dedication to this important work.

The report can be accessed here: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781805252610

Question reference: S6T-01041

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that a suspect involved in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has been detained in custody by US authorities.

Question reference: S6W-12606

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the identified comparative cost is per prisoner per annum for each of Scotland's custodial institutions, including young offender institutions, women's prisons, institutions operated directly by the Scottish Prison Service and any outsourced to a contracting party.

The calculated annual average cost per prisoner place within SPS is published in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts each year. For 2021-22 the annual average cost per prisoner place, which excludes capital charges, exceptional payments and the cost of the Court Custody and Prisoner Escort contracts, was £41,858 (2020-21 £39,350).

SPS do not currently calculate the average cost per prisoner place at an individual establishment level therefore this level of detail is not available.

Question reference: S6W-12706

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of (a) 999 and (b) 101 calls have been abandoned or discontinued in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S6W-12585

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed in (a) 999 and (b) 101 call centres in each year since 2013.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working closely with Police Scotland to support delivery of the Joint Policing Strategy. The findings of the HMICS review of Strategic Workforce Planning, published this year showed that the focus needs to rightly be on capacity and capability.

The data requested are not held centrally by the Scottish Government as the recruitment and deployment of police officers and staff in Scotland is a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA. It is important that he has the flexibility to develop his workforce in a way that responds to the challenges he faces by ensuring the right workforce mix.

Question reference: S6W-12871

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many drink-driving (a) incidents, (b) charges, and (c) convictions there have been in each year since 2014.

The latest available information is provided in the following tables.

(a) N umber of offences related to drink/drugs driving, recorded by the police 2014-15 to 2021-22.

	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Driving motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs	450	540	653	719	771	742	897	883
In charge of motor vehicle while unfit through drink/drugs	54	71	123	137	148	159	138	147
Driving motor vehicle with blood alcohol content above prescribed limit	3,161	3,239	3,465	3,262	3,201	3,275	2,756	2,972
In charge of motor vehicle while blood alcohol content above limit	390	364	331	333	333	324	255	299
Failure to provide breath specimen at roadside	477	509	569	602	591	630	637	592
Failure to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at police station	686	735	776	810	803	848	923	906
Driving motor vehicle while under influence of controlled drug above prescribed limit	-	-	-	-	-	573	2,336	1,886
In charge of motor vehicle while under influence of controlled drug above prescribed limit	-	-	-	-	-	43	155	88
Total	5,218	5,458	5,917	5,863	5,847	6,594	8,097	7,773

(b) Driving under the influence charges reported to COPFS, 2014-15 to 2021-22.

2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
5,434	5,486	5,884	5,770	5,840	5,990	6,272	7,120

Source: COPFS.

(c) The latest available information on the number of people convicted for ‘driving under the influence’ is published in the ‘Criminal Proceedings in Scotland – 2020-21' statistical bulletin, table 4(b).

A breakdown of the various crime types that make up this category is provided in the following table, please note that we are unable to separate alcohol offences from drug related offences in some crime groups.

People convicted of offences related to driving under the influence, where main crime, by crime type, 2014-15 to 2020-21.

	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Driving motor vehicle while under influence of controlled drug above	-	-	-	-	-	4	119
Driving motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs	203	196	239	255	315	304	145
Driving mv with blood alcohol content above prescribed limit	2,791	2,654	2,746	2,734	2,548	2,460	1,535
Failure to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at police station	382	406	352	368	404	368	231
Failure to provide breath specimen at the roadside	55	48	51	53	42	43	16
In charge of motor vehicle while under influence of controlled drug	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
In charge of motor vehicle while unfit through drink/drugs	26	31	34	48	34	44	26
In charge of mv while blood alcohol content above limit	224	202	212	202	209	179	107
Total convicted	3,681	3,537	3,634	3,660	3,552	3,402	2,185

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Please note:

Data for 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and may not be indicative of long term trends.

The latest available data is for 2020-21. Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in 2023.

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Question reference: S6W-13084

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