- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 14 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-3508 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 31 May 2001, how it will ensure that there is no further delay in making the Regional Selective Assistance payment to Signum Circuits, Selkirk; what effect any such delay would have on jobs in the Borders, and when this payment will now be made.
Answer
I recognise the very difficult trading conditions faced by the company. Indeed, the Executive has recently revised the grant agreement with Signum Circuits, leaving a substantial RSA offer in place despite recent redundancies and a downward revision of project numbers.
The grant offer has always been conditional upon Signum providing the Executive with a charge on its assets, so as to provide some security to protect taxpayers interests. This remains the only obstacle to Signum receiving a first payment and the Executive stands ready to release grant as soon as the company has provided this security.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 14 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16487 by Mr Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001, who the signatories were on behalf of Scottish Borders Council on its Additional Financial Resources for Schools application and what the date or dates of the signatures were.
Answer
The signatories to the application are Mr John Christie, the Director of Education and Mr John Campbell, the Director of Finance. The date against both signatures is 18 December 2000.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive on what occasions in each of the past five years prisoners have exhibited their artwork; whether any sales of the prisoners' work took place on these occasions and, if so, what happened to the proceeds from the sales.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
Annually, the national Koestler Trust Competition exhibits Scottish prisoner art on a no fee basis. Any proceeds from sales go, in part, to the provision of art materials and the remainder, either to an appropriate charity or to the prisoner's personal cash for use upon release.
In addition, a Scottish health-related competition, no sales involved, has been run for over 2 years.
Information about a range of local competitions and exhibitions agreed by individual establishments over recent years are not collected centrally, but the normal presumption is for the proceeds for sales to be in line with those for the Koestler Competition.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 14 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16485 by Mr Jack McConnell on 11 July 2001, by what date it will require Scottish Borders Council to publish its allocations from the Additional Financial Resources for Schools funding.
Answer
The Council submitted a return to the Scottish Executive Education Department on 11 July which detailed the total spend by most of the schools in its area under different categories. The Council has advised that it will forward the finalised information as soon as it becomes available from the remaining schools, probably after the schools re-open for the autumn term.
I expect the Council to publish the information as soon as it has been finalised and, if necessary, considered by its Education Committee.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 9 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is an anticipated #17 million underspend in the Scottish Prison Service budget for the current financial year.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
The underspend in the financial year 2000-01 was approximately £17 million.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 9 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what policy guidance it has given to the Scottish Prison Service, in order to comply with the Service's mission statement commitment to provide prisoners with a range of opportunities, regarding the participation of Scottish prisoners in exhibitions of their art work on the basis that the prisoners exhibit anonymously, derive no profit from any sales of their art work and that any such profits are applied to the provision of art materials within the prison service.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
None. The SPS is responsible for drawing up its procedures concerning prisoner art competitions and exhibitions. In future all requests to SPS for involvement in art and craft exhibitions, competitions and the like will be considered by an Art Exhibition Advisory Group with both internal and external representatives.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 9 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of ending slopping out in HM Prison Barlinnie would be.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
The options for ending slopping out in all Scottish Prisons, including HM Prison Barlinnie, are being considered as part of the Estates Review which is currently underway. Costings will be published as part of this exercise.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has commissioned a full report into the absconding of Gordon Johnstone during a Training for Freedom Programme and whether it will direct the Scottish Prison Service to review its risk assessment procedures given this prisoner's previous record, particularly when absconding from prison.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16944.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a full report into the absconding of Gordon Johnstone available to the Justice Committees.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
The matter of Mr Johnstone's abscond has been referred to the police and will be the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this time.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in relation to the two-day delay in publicising the absconding of Gordon Johnstone, given his previous record.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:
There was no delay in publicising the abscond of this D category prisoner. SPS and ACPOS have an agreed protocol for the release of information to the media about escaped or absconding prisoners. This was followed.
