- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 23 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to deaths in custody determined to be suicides, in how many instances were (a) non-prescription and (b) illegal drugs found or suspected to be present in the deceased, including in cases where this was detected following a toxicology report, in each year since 2016.
Answer
The Scottish Prison Service publish information regarding all deaths in SPS custody on a quarterly basis, which includes the ‘medical certificate of cause of death’ (MCCD). However, data is not held by either the Scottish Government or the Scottish Prison Service on the number of instances of deaths in prison custody determined to be suicides involved non-prescription or illegal drugs found or suspected to be present in the deceased.
Steps are being taken through the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody to improve availability of data relating to deaths in prison custody.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Gumtree, Pets4Homes, Facebook and other relevant online platforms regarding the illegal trade and sale of puppies, and when it last discussed this matter with Police Scotland.
Answer
The Puppy Trade Working Group (PTWG), of which the Scottish Government is a member, seeks to disrupt the unlicensed puppy trade, including online sales of low welfare puppies. We work closely with other members of the PTWG, which includes Gumtree and Pets4Homes, to address the advertising of illegally bred puppies on online platforms. As a consequence of this collaborative working, Gumtree and Pets4Homes continue to adapt their advertising practices in order to address online selling by unscrupulous breeders.
At this time Facebook are not members of the PTWG. The PTWG and the Scottish SPCA continue to seek to engage with Facebook on this matter.
The Scottish Government has regular discussions with Police Scotland on the threats from organised crime, including criminal activities associated with the illegal puppy trade. While it would not be appropriate to comment on the detail of those discussions, we know that Police Scotland continue to work in partnership with the Scottish SPCA to disrupt the activities of those involved in this abhorrent trade.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) money and (b) time was spent on translating the series of papers entitled, Building a new Scotland, into other languages, including the summaries and supporting documents, and for what reasons any specific languages were chosen.
Answer
The Scottish Government seeks to meet statutory requirements and deploy best practice in the ways in which it communicates information with people in Scotland, and wider audiences. We regularly translate key advice and information into other languages and formats. The Building a New Scotland prospectus series has been designed to be as accessible as possible to ensure that communities across Scotland are able to access the information. Languages were selected on the basis of their frequency of use and experience of usage of translations of previous Scottish Government publications. Audio and Easy Read versions make the Building a New Scotland prospectus series more accessible to more people.
The costs associated with the series are published proactively and the costs for the first three papers can be found on the Scottish Parliament website at –
Written question and answer: S6W-11001 | Scottish Parliament Website
Written question and answer: S6W-11002 | Scottish Parliament Website
Written question and answer: S6W-13303 | Scottish Parliament Website
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service estate.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2023
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported statistics showing that the level of unpaid work that offenders need to carry out has risen to more than 700,000 hours.
Answer
We are confident in local authorities’ ability to deliver unpaid work and other community orders but we recognise the huge impact which the pandemic had on justice social work and the ongoing efforts to ensure an effective and sustainable recovery.
We continue to work with key partners including Social Work Scotland, COSLA, and Community Justice Scotland to monitor recovery work, including measuring the level of outstanding unpaid work hours regularly and exploring any issues arising.
At present, management information indicates that the number of outstanding unpaid work hours across Scotland is close to pre-pandemic levels, at around 720,000 hours in November 2022 compared to around 690,000 hours in April 2020. Having some outstanding hours in the system is normal, as it takes time for individuals to undertake the unpaid work they have been sentenced to.
The ongoing recovery work is also supported through the draft budget for 2023-24, which maintains the additional funding of £15m provided in 2022-23 for justice social work services.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Elena Whitham on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10856 by Ash Regan on 21/09/2022, for what reason it has opted to use the total number of people who answered the consultation (254), rather than the total number of people who answered Question 31 (137), in its analysis of Question 31 in the Review of Children (Scotland) Act 1995 consultation: analysis.
Answer
The analysis referred to was carried out by independent contractors, rather than internally by the Scottish Government. The approach of recording ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘no response’ was followed throughout the analysis for all of the questions asked by the consultation. Accurately representing ‘no response’ answers alongside the other options available reflects that some respondents to the full consultation may not have held views on certain areas, or may have had mixed views that did not fall into the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response categories. Most of those who answered Question 31 were in favour of changing the legislation.
As well as the analysis, we also published individual responses, where we had permission to do so, on the consultation website: https://consult.gov.scot/family-law/children-scotland-act/consultation/published_select_respondent .
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Redress Scotland Progress Report 2022, which was published on 5 December 2022.
Answer
The Scottish Government welcomes the commitment to transparency evidenced in Redress Scotland’s Progress Report and accompanying Facts and Figures Report, both of which were published on 5 December 2022.
The Progress Report details the first six months of the body’s existence (December 2021 – June 2022). Further progress has been made in the period since - on governance, staffing and processing capacity as Redress Scotland matures. A further update on activity will be given in Redress Scotland’s first annual report, due next year.
The Facts and Figures Report is the first of a regular series, sharing information about completed redress applications, types of applications, timescales for decision making and levels of redress awards. The reports will give up-to-date data on the work that Redress Scotland delivers. The Scottish Government welcomes Redress Scotland’s continuing plans to consult with the Survivor Forum about the information they publish and how they should develop their work in this area.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers have requested to take ill-health retirement for mental health reasons in each year since 2016.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collect information on ill-health retirement of officers due to mental health reasons. Staffing issues are a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.
The Scottish Government welcomes the support provided by Police Scotland to its workforce through initiatives such as the "Your Wellbeing Matters" programme which covers psychological, physical, social and financial wellbeing.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Elena Whitham on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reforming the Child Abduction Act 1984 in order to make international parental child abduction illegal without the need for a court order, as is the case in England and Wales.
Answer
Paragraph 9.15 of the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy (link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/family-justice-modernisation-strategy/pages/11/ ) outlines the work that will be undertaken to consider if changes are needed to the Child Abduction Act 1984. We have now started this work and are currently seeking views from key stakeholders. I am happy to receive any comments from the Member about whether or not changes should be made to the 1984 Act.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Elena Whitham on 19 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12028 by Elena Whitham on 17 November 2022, whether Police Scotland has any plans to further engage on matters of human trafficking with other countries' police forces through the temporary recruitment of officers, and, if so, whether it will list each (a) police force and (b) recruitee job title.
Answer
Police Scotland continue to develop international partnerships with law enforcement authorities and support agencies to assist with investigations into human trafficking and exploitation offences and support for victims.
Development of those partnerships remains an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland.
