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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: S5W-05425

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which of the projects reviewed by the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services in its report, Evaluation of Sixteen Women’s Community Justice Services in Scotland, have been mainstreamed.

Over 201314 and 201415 the Scottish Government provided a total of £3.1m grant funding to projects providing community-based services to women who offend, to support the creation or development of services in line with the recommendations of the Commission on Women Offenders (CWO). These were the sixteen projects reviewed in the IRISS report, which was funded by the Scottish Government.

The CWO report indicated that improved services could be delivered utilising existing resources, and need not require additional central funding. These grants were offered as one-off payments, made in response to improvement proposals presented by local justice stakeholders. It was made clear to both the projects and their local partners that this funding would be non-recurring, and that they would be responsible for securing funding beyond the scope of the initial grants. The projects were encouraged to seek a level of funding that they anticipated to be able to sustain at the conclusion of the grant period. To provide additional assistance, a further £640,000 was distributed by the Scottish Government in 2015-16 to twelve of the projects, to sustain them for a further year whilst they demonstrated their impact, and engaged with local funding providers.

There was no suggestion that the Scottish Government would provide ongoing funding, and any decisions on mainstreaming were and are the responsibility of local community justice bodies, with their partner organisations.

Question reference: S5W-05431

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are in place to ensure that the family of a person who dies in prison is informed of the cause of death in a timely manner.

Following a death in custody Police Scotland will submit a report, known as a Sudden Death Report, to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The Sudden Death Report will set out the circumstances of the death and will also contain details of the next of kin of the deceased so far as is known to the Scottish Prison Service.

A post mortem examination will be arranged to establish the cause of death and the next of kin will be advised of this and the outcome of the examination.

Once the death certificate is issued confirming the cause of death, the next of kin will be advised, told the cause of death and informed that the remains can be uplifted by the family’s undertaker. The undertaker will get the death certificate to allow registration of the death.

If the cause of death is undetermined pending further tests, these tests will be carried out and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will be advised of any amended cause of death. Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will then write and advise both the Registers and the next of kin.

A Fatal Accident Inquiry is mandatory in the case of a death in custody.

Further information on this process and the timescales involved is publicly available in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Family Liaison Charter.

Question reference: S5W-05430

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths in prisons there have been in each of the last five years, and in how many cases the cause of death has been recorded as “undetermined”.

Question reference: S5W-05426

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 20 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on its senior (a) civil service and (b) agency posts being filled on an interim basis by staff hired through agencies or third-party employers; how many positions are currently filled in this manner, and have been in each of the last five years, broken down by the (i) position filled and (ii) name of the agency or third party-employer; what criteria are used to determine whether such an appointment is necessary; what role its (A) Director-General, Finance and (B) finance directorate have in the process, and whether the final decision on each is subject to ministerial approval and if so, whether it will provide details of which ministers have approved these.

Senior Civil Service posts in Scottish Government core departments and agencies are filled though a variety of recruitment methods including permanent recruitment, fixed term appointments, inward secondment arrangements and service level agreements. However in July 2015 the Deputy Director, Internal Audit role was filled on a temporary, part time basis, following a tendering process using the UK Crown Commercial Service ConsultancyOne contract for internal audit services. The contract included the delivery of a strategic review of Internal Audit services and was concluded in June. The senior roles in Internal Audit have now been filled following internal promotion exercises.

Question reference: S5O-00504

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed transport issues in Fife with ScotRail.

Question reference: S5W-05429

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much it is providing to develop bail supervision as an alternative to remand.

The Scottish Government’s commitment to reducing reoffending includes an emphasis on reducing the use of short-term imprisonment, both in sentencing and remand.

This includes exploring the use of Bail Supervision as a direct alternative to remand.

The Scottish Government provides an annual funding allocation to local authorities for the delivery of Criminal Justice Social Work (CJSW) services and programmes to reduce reoffending. It is for each local area to allocate this funding in order to deliver statutory CJSW services and respond to local priorities. Under this funding formula, an indicative amount is provided for Bail Information and Bail Supervision services. It is for local authorities to determine how much they allocate to bail supervision, depending on local needs and priorities, and they can also vire funding between lines if needed.

In addition to this central allocation, a further £860k (2015-16) and £1.5 million (2016-17) has been distributed equally amongst the eight Community Justice Authorities, to support increasing the use of early and effective intervention and supervised bail for women.

The Scottish Government is also exploring further ways to reduce the use of remand. This includes an improvement project, based in three pathfinder sites, which is testing ways to reduce the use of remand by making better use of bail options.

Question reference: S5W-05428

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many community payback orders in each of the last five years have included a requirement for the treatment of alcohol problems.

The number of Community Payback Orders (CPOs) including an alcohol treatment requirement that have been imposed since 2011-12 can be found in the Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics in Scotland, 2014-15 Statistical Bulletin (Table 10).

This publication is available online on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00497837.pdf This is the most up to date information currently available. Data for 2015-16 is expected to be published in February 2017.

It is important to note that alcohol treatment requirements are not the only mechanism for individuals to receive support for alcohol problems under a CPO. The CPO annual reports received from local authorities highlight that alcohol misuse issues are often addressed under the supervision or conduct requirements or as part of the ‘other activity’ aspect of the unpaid work or other activity requirement.

Question reference: S5W-04944

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports concerning the strip-searching of children and young people by Police Scotland.

The general principles for carrying out searches, including strip-searches, are covered in Police Scotland's Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). SOPs are an operational matter for Police Scotland and fall within the responsibilities of the Chief Constable. Where issues arise that concern the wider policy and legislative framework that Ministers are responsible for, then the Scottish Government would give due consideration to those.

Police Scotland's procedures require that officers will only ask a child or young person to remove clothing where this is absolutely necessary and there are strict rules in place about how this should be done. Police Scotland is rolling out a new national custody recording system in the next few months which will allow information on strip-searches of children and young people to be collected.

Question reference: S5O-00413

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent child obesity figures, whether it will commit to establishing a specific children's food policy, as highlighted by the work of the Food Commission.

The establishment of a children’s food policy was one element considered in the ‘Becoming a Good Food Nation’ discussion document. That same document called for the Food Commission to identify areas where further work is required. We await recommendations from the Food Commission on this point.

This government believes obesity affects society as a whole and that a whole society approach is where the solutions lie, especially in our communities and families. Our approach must therefore be on a population wide basis which is why we were disappointed that the UK Government recently announced plan to tackle childhood obesity failed to heed our call and follow the evidence for further restrictions on junk food advertising before the watershed.

Question reference: S5W-04655

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03425 by Michael Matheson on 26 October 2016, how many of those convicted were given a custodial sentence each year of (a) less than three, (b) between three and six, (c) between six and nine and (d) between nine and 12 months.

The available information is contained in the following table.

People receiving custodial sentence of 1 year or less for an offence with a domestic aggravator recorded, 2010-11 to 2014-15

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Up to 3 months	444	381	441	487	501
Over 3 months to 6 months	377	491	513	658	667
Over 6 months to 9 months	63	73	87	107	108
Over 9 months to 1 year	57	54	76	94	100

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database