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The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has developed specialist training for prosecutors on the nature, dynamics and impact of domestic abuse as well as the legal and evidential considerations in prosecuting these cases. Of the 565 prosecutors working for COPFS on 30 September 2016, 301 or 53% have attended specialist domestic abuse training since 2011.

Staff working within the Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service of COPFS also undertake specialist training on domestic abuse. Of the 103 VIA staff working for COPFS as at 25 October 2016, 87 or 84% have undergone specialist domestic abuse training since 2011.

Some of those prosecutors and VIA staff will have completed more than one course on domestic abuse. It is important to note that these figures reflect training centrally recorded by COPFS and do not include the element of specialist training that is delivered locally.

Specialist domestic abuse courts operate in some but not all areas of the country. Information is not held by COPFS on the number of prosecutors or VIA staff who have worked in specialist domestic abuse courts since 2011.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

The table represents the cost of delivering Vocational Training only within the SPS over the last ten years. This figure includes purchase of VT Materials, Equipment and Tools and the cost of the Training Fees and the cost of maintenance of the Equipment and Tools.

This figure does not include the cost of SPS staff involved or the overhead costs of delivering the activity, as this cannot be separately identified or costed. The SPS does not record its expenditure in such a way to provide that breakdown. Nor does it include other costs such as education.

The SPS cannot provide an overall cost of training for prisoners across all areas in the estate as this can be embedded in other Purposeful Activity areas, and cannot be separately quantified or costed.

The Scottish Prison Service College has an annual operating budget to cover staff training that builds and maintains professional standards across the business. Included in that suite of corporate training is our operational risk management training, which minimises risk for operational staff working in custodial environments and those within our care. Annual expenditure also includes any upskilling, professional or vocational training required for specialist roles in the Service and the provision of all management and leadership training.

The following table shows annual expenditure on staff training in the SPS since 2006-07, and includes College staffing, facilities and overheads, and the cost of any external training provision.

*Figures include staffing, depreciation charges and exclude income

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

In 2006-07 and 2007-08, figures relating to Voluntary Exit Scheme leavers were not held separately therefore any leavers in this category have been subsumed into the Retirement leaver figures.

For 2011-12, the 249 leavers are attributed to a Public Sector Transfer where SPS Nursing Staff were transferred to the employment of the NHS.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

* Capacity at both Grampian and Cornton Vale reduced in-year. Shows actual capacity with effect from 1 September 2016.

The table provides the annual averages for design capacity and prisoner population.

The Scottish Government published an evaluation of the pilot domestic abuse court in Glasgow in 2007. That report can be viewed at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/173485/0048418.pdf. The Scottish Government will keep this issue under review.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

Prisoner on Staff Assaults from 2006 to 2017 (Present) broken down by Establishment and injury criteria:

Serious Assaults

Minor/No Injury Assaults

The figures for 2016-17 denotes figures to date.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information; it is an operational matter for Police Scotland.