Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-21760

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of an offence under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 since it came into force.

The numbers of accused prosecuted and convicted under the new Protection of Retail Workers (Scotland) Act, which came into force in August 2021, will be available when the Criminal Proceedings National Statistics is published on the 24 th of October 2023. These statistics will cover the period up to March 2022.

Although the information about accused prosecuted and convicted under the new Act is not available yet, data about the number of charges resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard ).

The number of charges under the new Protection of Retail Workers (Scotland) Act that have received a conviction in criminal court from August 2021 up to March 2023 was 543.

Question reference: S6F-02441

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2023

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to tackle the reported rising rates of crime and antisocial behaviour at retail premises.

Question reference: S6W-21587

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to reduce waiting times for physiotherapy appointments in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

We committed in our Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan (December 2019) to create 225 more Advanced Musculo-Skeletal Practitioners in Primary Care.

This is to support the embedding of multi-disciplinary teams in primary care settings and enable people to be seen by a specialist physiotherapist at the very earliest opportunity.

A total of 37 students were recruited in 2021-22, and a further 52 were recruited in 2022-23. It is anticipated that 50 students will be recruited in each of the next 2 academic years, meaning we are on track for meeting this commitment by 2025-26.

The first cohort of students will graduate in September 2023 and a number will be located in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Question reference: S6W-21405

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 29 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what conditions must be met to qualify for an energy saving grant from Home Energy Scotland.

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme was launched in December 2022 and offers homeowners in Scotland a grant, interest free loan or a combination of both to support the installation of zero direct emission heating systems and energy efficiency measures.

The scheme is open to all domestic homeowners in Scotland who live in the property they own.

Further information regarding scheme requirements is available on the Home Energy Scotland website: https://www.homeenergyscotland.org/funding/grants-loans/detail/

Question reference: S6W-21404

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 29 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to widen eligibility for people to receive a grant from Home Energy Scotland to enable more people to make energy saving improvements.

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme was launched in December 2022 and offers homeowners in Scotland a grant, interest free loan or a combination of both to support the installation of zero direct emission heating systems and energy efficiency measures.

As the scheme is already open to all domestic homeowners in Scotland who live in the property they own, there are currently no plans to widen the eligibility of the scheme.

Question reference: S6O-02601

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how and when it will introduce a leavers fund for victims of domestic abuse, which would provide a social security payment for those who feel the need to flee their homes.

Question reference: S6W-21257

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains committed to the introduction of restorative justice services, and, if so, when it plans to roll this out fully across the country.

We remain committed to having restorative justice (RJ) services available across Scotland. We are clear that the needs and voices of persons harmed must to be central to RJ processes and that services must be safe, consistent, evidence-led, trauma informed and of a high standard.

Restorative justice is already possible, with RJ services available in some areas and national guidance in place. We are continuing our work to develop a national service, based on a hub and spoke model.

The pandemic slowed progress and initial development work also identified complexities which need further exploration. We are committed to taking the time to resolve these issues and develop a safe and robust system. Work is underway with partners across the justice system to do this.

A national Hub has been established within Community Justice Scotland (CJS) (focused on RJ for adults) and the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) are developing similar services for children and young people. Work is currently focussed on developing a policy and practice framework and on testing the model within the Lothian and Borders area.

Following testing and evaluation of the model in Lothian and Borders, we will work with CJS, CYCJ, partners across the justice system and adults, children and young people who may wish to access RJ to plan the expansion of RJ.

Question reference: S6W-21265

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisons are currently operating over their capacity, and to what extent that is the case.

The Scottish Government recognises that the imprisonment rate in Scotland is high and we are taking action to address that. I wrote to the Criminal Justice Committee on 13 September, to highlight the issue and outline the actions being taken to tackle the rise in the prison population, this letter can be found at: Scotland's Prison Population | Scottish Parliament Website

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

The prisoner population on 15 September 2023 of those establishments operating above their design capacity is detailed within the following table:

Establishment	Design Capacity	Population 15-09-23	Population levels


Addiewell	702	723	103%
Barlinnie	987	1409	143%
Dumfries	176	187	106%
Glenochil	668	743	111%
Greenock	224	232	104%
Inverness	93	126	135%
Kilmarnock	501	591	118%
Low Moss	784	829	106%
Perth	631	661	105%

Question reference: S6W-21262

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many accused have been offered alternatives to prosecution for assault in each of the last five years.

The following table sets out the number of accused receiving a direct measure as a first substantive marking compared to the total number of accused receiving a first substantive marking (all types including: court, direct measure, no action, no decision) in cases including an assault charge (within the Scottish Government Classification of “Common Assault”):

Year	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Direct Measure	3,178	2,717	2,528	2,159	2,500
Total	25,926	25,052	23,409	22,896	23,059

Direct measures include a range of alternatives to prosecution, namely: fiscal fines, compensation orders, combined fiscal fine and compensation orders, fiscal work orders, diversion from prosecution, referral to the Children’s Reporter and warning letters.

Question reference: S6W-21263

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service chose to take no action in (a) Ayr and (b) Kilmarnock in each of the last five years.

Prosecutors do not always choose to mark a case for no action, they may require to do so if there is not sufficient admissible evidence available in law to justify prosecutorial action or where the statutory time limits have been exceeded.

The following table sets out the total number of criminal cases in which no action was taken by the prosecutor at a) Ayr and b) Kilmarnock in each of the last 5 years.

Year	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Ayr PF Office	396	414	372	312	267
Kilmarnock PF Office	733	714	731	629	493

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