Questions and answers

Question reference: S5O-03775

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Destination Orkney and Orkney Islands Council about the future needs of the tourism sector.

Question reference: S5W-26048

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it maintains data showing the number of hours that inmates spend in their cells, and whether it will publish any data collected.

Question reference: S5W-26049

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how frequently it believes that inmates of Scottish prisons spend “22 to 23 hours per day in their cells”, as reported by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

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

This quote from the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) report was made specifically in relation to HMP Barlinnie, not the wider SPS estate.

On Friday 1 November 2019 HMP Barlinnie was operating at 144% capacity. HMP Barlinnie has been routinely operating significantly above its intended capacity for some time and this has had a notable impact upon the operation of the prison.

Where any prison routinely operates above capacity then this inevitably impacts upon the ability to provide an enhanced regime across. HMP Barlinnie’s building design also inhibits open association and in order to ensure the safety of people in our care, out of cell activity requires `more structured delivery than at other prisons.

The CPT report highlighted that in the other prisons they visited, including HMP Edinburgh and HMP & YOI Grampian, people held on remand were provided the opportunity for out of cell activity which exceeded two hours per day.

In 2018/19 SPS facilitated a total of 6,258,125 Purposeful Activity (PA) Hours. This equates to, on average, 20 hours per week of PA, undertaken by each convicted person outside of their cell.

Question reference: S5W-26052

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), in relation to Scottish prisons, that “cumulatively a lack of access to association and activities meant that in practice segregated inmates were deprived of regular meaningful human contact rendering the segregation akin to solitary confinement”.

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

The decision to remove any individual in our care from association is always done in accordance with Rule 95 of the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011.

An individual may only be removed from association and accommodated in a Separation and Reintegration Unit (SRU) where the Governor is satisfied that it is appropriate for maintaining good order or discipline; protecting the interests of any person; or ensuring the safety of others.

Individuals are only removed from association on a temporary basis and a management plan should always be devised, at the earliest possible opportunity, in order to support reintegration.

As part of the normalisation routine, people held in SRUs are afforded the opportunity to engage in outside exercise, education and the use of other SRU facilities including gym areas, when available.

Additionally, people held in SRUs retain their entitlement to access family visits, phone calls and mail correspondence.

Question reference: S5W-26050

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture that in Scotland's prisons “in practice, recreation time was the exception rather than the norm. Overall, remand prisoners were getting, at best, two hours unlocked from their cells per day.”

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

The quote provided was made specifically in relation to HMP Barlinnie, not the wider SPS estate.

On Friday 1 November 2019 HMP Barlinnie was operating at 144% capacity. HMP Barlinnie has been routinely operating significantly above its intended capacity for some time and this has had a notable impact upon the operation of the prison.

Where any prison routinely operates above capacity then this inevitably impacts upon the ability to provide an enhanced regime. HMP Barlinnie’s building design also inhibits open association and in order to ensure the safety of all those in our care, out of cell activity therefore requires more structured delivery than at other prisons.

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture’s (CPT) report highlighted that in other Scottish prisons visited, people held on remand were provided with opportunity for out of cell activity which exceeded two hours per day.

Question reference: S5W-26058

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many transfers have been made from prisons in Scotland to Rampton Hospital in each of the last 10 years.

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

There have been no transfers made directly from prisons in Scotland to Rampton Hospital in each of the last 10 years.

However in the last 10 years SPS has worked in partnership with NHS and HMPPS to manage the transfer of two women in our care to a high secure hospital in England; one in 2011 and one in 2014.

Question reference: S5W-26053

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the finding by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) that there has been a considerable deterioration in the presence of GPs in Scottish prisons, how many GPs have (a) been employed to work in or (b) attended prisons in each year since 2012-13.

Question reference: S5W-26055

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which prisons have officials qualified to administer first aid overnight.

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

Emergency Response Training is compulsory for all SPS operational staff. This training provides staff with the skill to perform immediate care, until the arrival of medical help, to aid any person, or persons, who become injured or suddenly ill. All prisons are operationally staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Question reference: S5W-26057

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average and (b) longest time spent on remand by individuals was in in each year since 2014-15.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information at present. As stated in the answer to S5W-20884 on 30 January 2019, the Scottish Government are currently working with the Scottish Prison Service to develop a shared approach to publishing the data captured by the operational database (as well as the range of historical data held) and making more data and information accessible to users. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Question reference: S5W-26059

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the findings and recommendations made by NHS Chief Executives in relation to female pathways across the forensic mental health estate.

The report Women's Service and Pathways Across the Forensic Mental Health Estate has been prepared by the Forensic Mental Health Services Managed Care Network working with NHS Boards. It will be published in due course by the Forensic Network.

The Independent Review of Forensic Mental Health Services in Scotland is undertaking a wide-ranging review of the delivery of forensic mental health services and must take account of existing pieces of work, including this report.

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