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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-21454

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the next Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics are due to be published.

Question reference: S6W-21090

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to roll out body-worn video cameras to all prison officers working across the Scottish Prison Service estate.

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 question S6W-21088 on 21 September 2023. 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-21088

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any prison officers at HMP Kilmarnock who are equipped with body-worn cameras will retain these following the planned nationalisation of the prison in March 2024.

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

Serco who currently operates HMP Kilmarnock are not contractually obliged to install Body Worn Video Cameras (BWVCs). There are currently no plans to retain BWVCs currently in use by Officers at HMP Kilmarnock, post-transfer in March 2024.

The feasibility of a pilot to test the introduction of BWVCs across the SPS estate is however being considered in partnership with Trade Union Partners.

Question reference: S6O-02571

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the introduction of road traffic congestion charging schemes.

Question reference: S6W-21089

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many prison officers are equipped with body-worn video cameras across the Scottish Prison Service estate.

Question reference: S6T-01529

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Police Scotland has issued more than 100,000 recorded police warnings over the past five years.

Question reference: S6W-19958

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in response to reported incidences of fire-raising of vehicles belonging to prison service staff.

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 question S6W-19957 on 7 August 2023. 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-19957

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many reported incidences of fire-raising of vehicles within the (a) Scottish Prison Service estate and (b) estate of Scotland's two privately operated prisons there have been in each of the last five years.

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

In each five years, there have been a total of 8 incidences of fire-raising of vehicles, shown in the following table:

	Scottish Prison Service estate	Privately Operated prisons
2018 – 2019	1	0
2019 – 2020	1	0
2020 – 2021	4	0
2021 – 2022	0	1
2022 – 2023	0	1

SPS take incidents such as fire-raising of vehicles belonging to prison staff incredibly seriously. Where such incidents occur, these will be reported to Police Scotland for further investigation.

A series of protective measures are in place within establishments and will compliment any support offered by Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19932

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08446 by Keith Brown on 20 May 2022, whether it plans to take HMP Kilmarnock back into public ownership regardless of the cost consultation exercise that it is carrying out.

The 25-year contract for HMP Kilmarnock under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) for a privately constructed and operationally managed prison expires on 16 March 2024. The decision to bring HMP Kilmarnock into public management and ownership and not to tender for a new private contract was taken in 2021. This is in line with Scottish Government policy that prisons should be owned and managed by the public sector, which has been in place since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-19935

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost of Serco’s contract to run HMP Kilmarnock has been over the period that it has been active; what the cost has been in each financial year, and what the projected cost is for the 2023-24 financial year.

Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd (KPSL) are contractually responsible for the design, construction, management and finance of the services at HMP Kilmarnock. KPSL subcontract this requirement to Serco Justice and Immigration.

The costs to provide the service, for each relevant financial year, are as follows.

Financial Year	Core Charges	Additional Places Purchased	Total
2000	£1,029,150	£0	£1,029,150
2001	£12,652,885	£81,753	£12,734,638
2002	£12,675,125	£102,061	£12,777,186
2003	£12,618,346	£112,914	£12,731,260
2004	£12,782,427	£592,042	£13,374,470
2005	£12,843,260	£557,209	£13,400,469
2006	£12,893,135	£607,969	£13,501,104
2007	£13,780,974	£590,952	£14,371,926
2008	£14,714,350	£1,041,519	£15,755,869
2009	£14,765,116	£1,205,540	£15,970,656
2010	£15,241,765	£170,735	£15,412,500
2011	£16,732,430	£394,848	£17,127,278
2012	£16,168,020	£1,257,986	£17,426,006
2013	£16,305,268	£1,012,111	£17,317,379
2014	£16,558,446	£0	£16,558,446
2015	£17,034,850	£0	£17,034,850
2016	£18,915,215	£0	£18,915,215
2017	£13,570,104	£0	£13,570,104
2018	£13,915,415	£0	£13,915,415
2019	£14,602,908	£0	£14,602,908
2020	£15,156,566	£1,330,768	£16,487,334
2021	£15,494,163	£291,281	£15,785,443
2022	£14,674,020	£176,130	£14,850,150
2023	£16,222,501	£226,974	£16,449,475
Total	£341,346,440	£9,752,793	£351,099,233
Service Credits 2000-2023			-£8,243,282
Net Payment			£342,855,950
Estimate 2024 Core Charges			£17,419,500

The budget for the financial year 1 April 2023 until contract expiry on 16 March 2024 is £17,419,500. This figure is based on SPS purchasing 548 Prisoner Places every day.