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: S2W-23895

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the staffing levels have been at the headquarters of the Scottish Prison Service in each year since 1990.

Question reference: S2W-23897

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions illegal drugs have been seized from prisoners by prison officers in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

Ihave asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.His response is as follows:

The information is not availablein the format requested. The following table relates also to drugs found on visitorsor from concealment in prison. Figures are available only from 2001-02 onwards.

Establishment	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Aberdeen	24	79	36	27
Barlinnie	144	142	202	176
Castle Huntly	4	3	11	11
Cornton Vale	43	47	43	42
Dumfries	6	19	32	17
Edinburgh	143	226	256	184
Glenochil Prison	89	91	67	93
Glenochil YOI	16	19	1	0
Greenock	33	51	63	75
Inverness	2	0	0	0
Kilmarnock	102	86	139	111
Low Moss	80	76	62	80
Noranside	3	2	5	5
Perth	50	99	118	164
Peterhead	4	2	3	1
Polmont	50	64	82	137
Shotts	70	36	47	60

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Cathy Jamieson: I have askedTony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. Hisresponse is as follows:

The information is notavailable in the format requested. The following table relates also to drugsfound on visitors or from concealment in prison. Figures are available onlyfrom 2001-02 onwards.

Establishment	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Aberdeen	24	79	36	27
Barlinnie	144	142	202	176
Castle Huntly	4	3	11	11
Cornton Vale	43	47	43	42
Dumfries	6	19	32	17
Edinburgh	143	226	256	184
Glenochil Prison	89	91	67	93
Glenochil YOI	16	19	1	0
Greenock	33	51	63	75
Inverness	22	42	60	61
Kilmarnock	102	86	139	111
Low Moss	80	76	62	80
Noranside	3	2	5	5
Perth	50	99	118	164
Peterhead	4	2	3	1
Polmont	50	64	82	137
Shotts	70	36	47	60

Question reference: S2W-23858

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to it was of the millennium bridge project over the Forth and Clyde Canal on the route of the A80.

Question reference: S2W-23923

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the cost of constructing the M80 through the identified Kelvin Valley route has been analysed by either an independent contractor or consultancy engineers.

Question reference: S2W-23899

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of prisoners intentionally endangering the health or personal safety of others there have been in each prison in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-23896

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison officers have been employed in each year since 1990.

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

Reliable information is readilyavailable only from 2000 and is as follows:

Year	Prison Officers in Post
2000	3,100
2001	2,880
2002	2,855
2003	2,867
2004	2,770
2005	2,589

Question reference: S2W-23920

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21275 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether its estimate of the cost of constructing the M80 through the identified Kelvin Valley route is based on a motorway with the same amount of lanes which it plans for its preferred on-line upgrade of the A80 to full motorway status.

Question reference: S2W-23784

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of the quashing of the conviction of David Asbury for the murder of Marion Ross in Kilmarnock in 1997 on the basis that the fingerprint evidence provided by the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) was unreliable, what action was taken by Scottish Ministers and the Lord Advocate to rectify the deficiencies in the fingerprint evidence being presented by the SCRO.

Question reference: S2W-24105

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have (a) completed and (b) not yet completed the Agenda for Change job matching process and when staff will enter the new grading structure.

Agenda for Change is being implementedin partnership with trade unions and professional organisations in NHSScotland,and significant progress has been made. Just under 90% of posts which have beensubmitted to matching panels have been matched against national profiles. Around67,000 staff in the nursing, midwifery, ancillaryand AHP staff groups have been approved for assimilation to the new Agenda for Change pay bands,and the first groups of staff were paid on those new pay bands in January.

A number of boards have completedthe matching process for all staff who match national job profiles. However, notall of these staff have passed through the local consistency and national monitoringprocesses, which is required before assimilation to the new pay bands can take place.

A plan for 2006 has been drawnup and agreed in partnership, which health boards are committed to delivering. Basedon the plan it is anticipated that Agenda for Change will be introduced and operationalby the end of 2006, with all staff assimilated to the new pay bands by October 2006.

The Pay Modernisation Team, alongsidethe Scottish Executive Health Department, will monitor progress towards the planfor 2006, providing health boards with support and advice as necessary.

Question reference: S2W-24104

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 20 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what it anticipates the cost of Agenda for Change will be in each NHS board and whether it will make additional resources available to implement the process.

The final cost of implementingAgenda for Change on a board by board basis will not be known until such times asstaff have gone though the job evaluation process and are assimilated to the newAgenda for Change pay bands.

In terms of NHSScotland overall,the anticipated cost pressures associatedwith Agenda for Change were reported in The Scottish Executive: Draft Budget2006-07. You can access a copy of this at:

www.scotland.gov.uk/publications.

The Scottish Executive previouslymade available a total of £3.5 million towards the administrative costs of Agendafor Change. This was issued to health boards in NHS Scotland, on a proportionatebasis, in two separate tranches over 2003-04 and 2004-05. There are currently noplans to issue further dedicated funding to assist boards in implementing Agendafor Change.

1 April 2000	277
1 April 2001	293
1 April 2002	307
1 April 2003	319
1 April 2004	317
1 April 2005	274