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: S6W-25541

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 28 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action (a) it and (b) the Scottish Prison Service is taking to reduce the impact of illicit drugs on the prison population.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) recognise the impact of illicit drugs in prisons and the importance of supporting prisoners on their recovery journey.

We are committed to ensuring that the prison population have access to healthcare that is, as a minimum, equal to that offered in the community. A recent example is the development of a prisoner Healthcare Target Operating Model to provide a framework for nationally consistent healthcare delivery including the future state of addictions services. The National Prison Care Network are visiting NHS Boards to support the implementation of this model.

There are already a range of innovative projects in prisons including recovery cafes, recovery walks, mutual aid groups and other positive diversionary activities. Partnership working is crucial and the SPS works with several third sector organisations to deliver consistent recovery pathways to help individuals reintegrate back into communities. The multi-disciplinary Recovery Network also provides the SPS with an opportunity to share and replicate best practice in the community.

Medication Assisted Treatment standards are a key component of our National Drugs Mission and the SPS have committed to embed these standards across the prison estate. It is working with NHS Partners to ensure healthcare choice aligns with community-based treatment services wherever possible. In addition, the Prison to Rehab Protocol supports individuals to access abstinence-based treatment on release and sets out the process for prison staff, service providers and individuals on accessing the pathway.

All this work directly links to the Scottish Government’s National Mission. However, enforcement is also important, and a variety of operational and technological responses are deployed to prevent substances entering the prison estate. These include body scanners and Rapiscan machines, which detect substances that may be concealed in items of mail and personal property.

Question reference: S6W-25539

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action (a) it and (b) the Scottish Prison Service is taking to protect prison staff from the effects of illicit drugs being used by prisoners.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The health and wellbeing of those who live and work in our prisons is a key priority for the Scottish Prison Service.

Investment in technologies such as Rapiscan machines, now available in every prison, and the recent purchase of 9 new Body Scanners, further enhance a comprehensive range of security measures already deployed by the SPS to detect illegal substances. We are also piloting Drone Detection technology to help detect and prevent the introduction of illicit articles and substances through this channel.

By working closely with partners such as Police Scotland, SPS must and does remain vigilant to the continuously evolving nature of drug use to ensure use of technology and tactical measures remain current, adaptable, and capable of detecting and preventing drugs from entering our prisons.

SPS will continue to work with partners to prevent the introduction of contraband and seek convictions where appropriate.

SPS also continue to advise staff on safety and risk assessment processes in conducting their duties, to minimise the impact and risk of exposure to any unknown hazardous substance.

Question reference: S6W-25550

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the average age is of a prisoner in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-25537

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many seizures of illicit drugs have occurred in prisons in each of the last five years, also broken down by (a) establishment and (b) drug type.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The health and wellbeing of those who live and work in our prisons is a key priority for the Scottish Prison Service and we continue to work with numerous organisations to offer those in their care a suite of support to address both their addiction and recovery journey.

1. The total number of Drug Recoveries from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2023 are appended in the following table. This data includes both in prison and preventative finds.

Establishment	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Total
Addiewell	252	624	476	412	237	2,050
Barlinnie	458	277	389	237	286	1,363
Bella				1	2	1
Cornton Vale	17	19	22	12		99
Dumfries	31	59	111	60	29	676
Edinburgh	290	733	1,158	339	415	2,660
Glenochil	34	180	715	90	140	1,251
Grampian	127	144	182	244	232	767
Greenock	87	159	132	98	70	611
Inverness	141	119	156	112	135	1,041
Kilmarnock	535	929	1,102	519	513	3,087
Lilias					2	265
Low Moss	190	336	264	232	265	1,071
Open Estate	63	57	60	19	49	477
Perth	161	371	506	285	278	1,764
Polmont	90	256	407	574	441	1,597
Shotts	131	309	673	196	270	1,321
Stirling					12	3,376
Total	2,607	4,572	6,353	3,430	3,376	16,962

1. SPS work in partnership with Dundee University and Police Scotland to help identify and understand the illicit substance market. The continued change in drug compounds and poly-substance detections makes it difficult to categorically confirm substance types found and as such SPS is unable to accurately identify the drugs recovered.

Question reference: S6W-25373

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners HMP Glasgow is planned to hold.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

HMP Glasgow will deliver safe and secure accommodation, with maximum possible benefit and opportunity to those who live and work there, as well as the surrounding communities.

The new prison will provide a better quality of living environment and enable strong relationships with staff and those in our care. Based on the current plans, HMP Glasgow has a design capacity of 1344.

Question reference: S6W-25533

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many prison officers need to be recruited to ensure that all prisons are able to adhere to minimum staffing requirements.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS has agreed prison officer staffing complements which are tailored to the needs of each establishment and agreed in partnership with the Prison Officers Association (Scotland).

On 2 February 2024 (the most recent data available), SPS had 59 prison officer vacancies across the prison estate, which is a 1.8% vacancy rate.

Question reference: S6W-25532

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many times prisons have been unable to meet minimum staffing requirements in each of the last five years, also broken down by establishment.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25533 on 21 February 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6O-03086

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect the welfare of bees.

Question reference: S6W-24823

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, whether the rape of a child would be considered in the proposed specialist Sexual Offences Court.

Question reference: S6W-24821

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, for what reason it decided to include provisions that reportedly allow for murder to be prosecuted in the proposed specialist Sexual Offences Court if the crime had a sexual element involved.

The Sexual Offences Court will be of equivalent status to the High Court when sitting as a court of first instance. Its processes and procedures will be the same as the High Court unless specifically provided for otherwise by the Bill, or subsequent secondary legislation or court rules. Importantly, judges sitting in the Court will have the same sentencing powers.

The proposed jurisdiction of the Sexual Offences Court includes murder only where it is libeled alongside a sexual offence listed in Schedule 3 of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill . The Crown may prosecute cases involving serious sexual offending where the accused is alleged to have killed one of their victims. Given the experiences of the surviving complainers, the nature of their evidence, and the benefits the Sexual Offences Court will bring, the objective is to ensure there is the opportunity for those cases to be heard in the Sexual Offences Court.

It should also be noted, these cases can still be prosecuted in the High Court, the Bill gives prosecutors this additional option to indict these cases to the Sexual Offences Court should they consider it appropriate to do so.