Chamber and committees

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: S3W-09096

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents there have been involving the recovery of illegal drugs by prison officers carrying out searches of prisoner accommodation and prisoners in each year since 1999, broken down by category of drug recovered and prison.

Incident Establishment Name	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Grand Total
Aberdeen	13	68	52	35	41	20	29	4	262
Barlinnie	128	146	168	200	265	307	378	40	1,632
Castle Huntly	2	5	13	17	37	79	19		172
Cornton Vale	46	79	52	58	94	83	106	4	522
Dumfries	5	12	31	23	20	22	33	2	148
Edinburgh	112	231	309	231	265	219	215	38	1,620
Glenochil Prison	79	93	69	98	116	114	137	15	721
Glenochil YOI	13	21	4						38
Greenock	27	51	50	85	71	80	64	8	436
Inverness	1	1			1	18	12	1	34
Kilmarnock	79	86	123	171	236	333	226	30	1,284
Low Moss	80	71	66	89	102	68	25		501
Noranside	2	2	4	24	23	22	5		82
Open Estate							48	8	56
Perth	44	94	103	182	202	163	130	14	932
Peterhead	4	2	2	3	1	9	5		26
Polmont	32	71	53	163	157	102	99	20	697
Shotts	68	29	47	65	154	135	90	15	603
Grand Total	735	1,062	1,146	1,444	1,785	1,774	1,621	199	9,766

Question reference: S3W-09087

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners were assaulted in Scottish prisons while (a) on remand and (b) serving their sentence in each year since 1999, broken down by gender and category of assault.

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

The following table illustrates the total number of assaults broken down by establishment and gender. Reliable data is not available prior to 2001, neither is it possible to distinguish between remand and convicted.

Establishment	Prisoner Gender	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Grand Total
Aberdeen	F	1	4			1				6
	M	19	30	21	12	30	32	20	2	166
Barlinnie	M	55	77	47	34	51	62	60	8	394
Castle Huntly	M	1					3			4
Cornton Vale	F	11	8	8	7	31	22	32	1	120
Dumfries	M	6	10	17	8	17	18	29		105
Edinburgh	M	32	41	51	51	52	80	66	7	380
Glenochil Prison	M	14	8	13	15	15	15	20	5	105
Glenochil YOI	M	3	9	2						14
Greenock	F		1	3	6	1				11
	M	8	10	10	30	21	25	22	3	129
Inverness	M				2	12	13	17		44
Kilmarnock	M	18	31	16	21	41	38	49	11	225
Low Moss	M	4	19	9	14	19	16	6		87
Noranside	M		1		1	2				4
Open Estate	M							1		1
Perth	M	10	33	53	92	59	37	59	8	351
Peterhead	M	8	4	3	2	4	8	10		39
Polmont	M	24	51	95	151	151	145	141	10	768
Shotts	M	6	10	13	10	15	14	11	1	80
Grand Total		220	347	361	456	522	528	543	56	3,033

Question reference: S3W-09103

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many official protocols have been agreed between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and government agencies and departments responsible for administering justice in Scotland in each year since 1999 and what the protocols are.

Eleven formal protocols have been agreed between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Services (COPFS). These protocols are:

ACPOS/COPFS Protocol on Disclosure of Evidential Material in Criminal Prosecutions, February 2007;

COPFS/ACPOS/Scottish Executive/Scottish Prison Service/Scottish Court Service (SCS)/District Courts Association Protocol on the Prioritisation of Warrants in the Scottish Criminal Justice System, April 2007;

Work Related Death Protocol “ COPFS/ACPOS/Health and Safety Executive/British Transport Police, January 2006;

COPFS and ACPOS Protocol in relation to Search Warrants, December 2005;

COPFS National Forensic Science Protocol, February 2004;

ACPOS and COPFS Joint Protocol on Police Reports, 2004;

COPFS and Police Protocol for witness citation targets, May 2004;

Joint Protocol between ACPOS and COPFS on Domestic Abuse, November 2004;

COPFS and ACPOS Family Liaison Protocol April 2003;

Protocol between COPFS/SCS/ACPOS for Instruction of interpreters for criminal court diets, February 2002, and

ACPOS/Crown Office Major Intelligence led Crime Investigations protocol, November 2001.

Question reference: S3W-09094

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many weapons have been recovered from (a) prisoner accommodation and (b) prisoners following searches by prison authorities in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

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

The following table displays the total number of weapons recovered in each SPS establishment. Reliable data is not available prior to 2001. Records do not distinguish between finds in accommodation and on persons.

Establishment	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Aberdeen			2	2	10	7	5	2
Barlinnie		12	13	11	31	60	64	5
Castle Huntly	1		1		1	2
Cornton Vale				7	16	10	13
Dumfries				1	13	1	16	4
Edinburgh	46	111	61	46	31	48	76	4
Glenochil	1	32	34	20	16	25	30	1
Greenock		6	6	14	9	31	21	3
Inverness	8	4	2	3	4	7	1
Kilmarnock		36	85	31	30	53	66	5
Low Moss	1	16	7	8	15	16	1
Noranside						2
Open Estate							4
Peterhead						2
Polmont		4	118	125	133	104	82	1
Perth			3	23	61	46	80	4
Shotts	32	31	30	34	48	34	18	7
Grand Total	89	252	362	325	418	448	477	36

Question reference: S3W-09090

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many reported incidents of self-harm by prisoners have taken place in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S3W-09092

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many suicides have taken place in Scottish prisons in each year since 1999, broken down by gender.

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

I refer the member to the answers to questions S2W-14693 on 9 March 2005, and S2W-15577 on 14 April 2005, for the years 1999-2000 to 2003-04. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The following table sets out self-inflicted and apparent self-inflicted deaths in prison custody for the years 2004-05 to 2006-07, by prison. There were only two female deaths over this period, both occurring at HM Prison and Institution, Cornton Vale. Information relating to statistics of self-harm or attempted suicide is not available for these years.

Establishment	Year
Establishment	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Aberdeen	2	0	1
Barlinnie	1	5	4
Cornton Vale	1	1	0
Dumfries	0	0	0
Edinburgh	0	0	1
Glenochil	0	0	0
Greenock	0	0	0
Inverness	1	0	2
Kilmarnock	0	0	0
~Low Moss	0	0	0
Open Estate	1	0	0
Perth	2	2	1
Peterhead	0	1	0
Polmont	0	1	0
Shotts	1	0	1
Total	9	*10	#10

Notes:

~Low Moss closed, spring 2006.

*1 apparent self-inflicted death subject to Fatal Accident Inquiry Determination.

#5 apparent self-inflicted deaths subject to Fatal Accident Inquiry Determination.

Question reference: S3W-09098

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners required inpatient hospital treatment from (a) an NHS hospital and (b) a prison hospital in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

Question reference: S3W-09099

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners, eligible for parole and serving sentences in Scottish prisons, were refused parole in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

The information sought is as follows:

Year	Number of Eligible Prisoners Refused Parole	Number of Prisoners not Recommended for Release on Life Licence
1999	304	Not available
2000	279	110
2001	301	85
2002	272	89
2003	354	117
2004	380	124
2005	395	136
2006	463	117

It is not possible to provide the information by prison. The figures also include those who were transferred to England to serve their sentences and those transferred to serve their sentences in psychiatric hospitals.

Question reference: S3W-09104

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to bringing Scotland’s eight police forces together under one structure.

Question reference: S3W-09091

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many suicide attempts have been made by prisoners serving sentences in Scottish prisons in each year since 1999, broken down by gender.