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: S5W-26667

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to improve police scrutiny since the publication of the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland report, Thematic Inspection of the Scottish Police Authority - Phase 1 Review of Openness and Transparency, and what progress it has made in implementing each of the report's recommendations.

Audit Scotland, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Scottish Parliament amongst others are responsible for the scrutiny of the police service. The SPA Improvement Plan 2018-19 sets out their key priority improvements and is available on the SPA website: www.spa.police.uk/assets/126884/441011/441165/457127/8.4ispaimprovementplan . The Plan responds to recommendations from a number of reviews, inspections and audits of the Authority that were published during 2017-18.

Question reference: S5W-26341

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how much money has been recovered from private sector justice contracts in each of the last five years, relative to the penalty charges deployed, determined and exercised by the Scottish Prison Service, and to what this revenue has been allocated.

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

Over the last 5 financial years SPS has received service credit notes for the values set out in the following table:

Service Credits	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
APL – HMP Addiewell	-	£41,616.51	£397,847.62	£591,631.10	£947,990.66
KPSL - HMP Kilmarnock	-	£42,387.74	£2,191.21	£107,171.93	£366,942.00
G4S - CCPES	£1,288,816.87	£1,215,296.57	£710,045.13	£673,589.42	£229,623.13
GEOAmey - SCCPES					£84,240.00

Credit notes are received as a result of the contractors failing to meet the performance measures set in the private sector contracts. These costs are offset as a reduction to the cost of the contracts for that period and are processed and recorded in SPS’ annual accounts.

Question reference: S5W-26193

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it undertook when taking the decision to transfer the vetting of offenders away from Police Scotland and placing it with local authority social workers.

Question reference: S5W-26192

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the extension of VISOR vetting to local authority social workers is an intrusion into their private life, and whether any assessment was carried out of the process being a potential breach of Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 regarding the right to privacy, including family life, home life and correspondence.

Question reference: S5W-26191

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the extension of VISOR vetting to local authority social workers is a proportionate means of fulfilling the obligations of councils to keep the public safe.

ViSOR (The Violent and Sex Offender Register) is a key tool in the effective management of sex offenders and other persons posing a risk of harm to the public. It provides a cross-UK secure database which facilitates the safe retention and prompt sharing of up to date risk management information on such individuals.

ViSOR is a Home Office system and the Home Office are responsible for setting the vetting level required to access this database. The Scottish Government does not have a role in setting the vetting requirements.

The vetting level has recently been increased by the Home Office, however the requirement for all users of ViSOR to be vetted has been in place since the system was introduced.

ViSOR is the agreed system used by the authorities responsible for Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and facilitates the secure exchange and storage of information about individuals subject to these arrangements. Justice Social Workers are a key partner in MAPPA where individuals are subject to statutory supervision. Their expertise in the assessment and management of risk, along with that of other MAPPA partners, is critical to public safety.

Question reference: S5W-25828

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it plans to ensure that prisoners' rights to direct communication with their solicitor are upheld and protected, in light of the comments in Council of Europe paper, Report to the Government of the United Kingdom on the visit to the United Kingdom carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 17 to 25 October 2018, which suggest that that the CPT's previous recommendation for it to do so has not been acted on.

The Scottish Government aims to ensure Scotland is a modern, inclusive nation which protects, respects and realises internationally recognised human rights. We actively engage with international human rights monitoring mechanisms and value the expert insight they provide on human rights issues. While the delivery of police custody is an operational matter for Police Scotland, we will consider carefully the Committee’s findings and recommendations to ensure we meet our ambitions for Scotland in upholding human rights in all places of detention.

The Scottish Government is content that Police Scotland will always facilitate direct consultations between persons held in custody and their solicitor prior to interview or appearing in Court, in line with the provisions set out in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, the guidance and processes set out in custody Standard Operating Procedures and the Letter of Rights.

Question reference: S5W-25892

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 5 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when the Crown Office last updated it on the status of the investigation into the use of Scottish airports in extraordinary rendition by the United States government.

The Lord Advocate is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of all criminal matters which occur in Scotland. Where a matter requires investigation, this is undertaken by COPFS on behalf of the Lord Advocate. The Crown provides advice, support and direction to investigators from Police Service of Scotland, throughout the course of an investigation.

The Lord Advocate exercises his responsibilities as head of the system of prosecution independently of the Scottish Government. There is no requirement on him to keep the Scottish Government updated on the status of an investigation. However, in this case, when Members of the Scottish Government wrote to the First Minister on 25 and 26 September and 17 October 2019, regarding the use of Scottish airports on the rendition of individuals to Guantanamo Bay, the Crown advised the Scottish Government that the investigations were ongoing.

When a decision is made as to whether a prosecution will be initiated the Lord Advocate will advise the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S5W-25891

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 5 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report into interrogation practices and the use of Scottish airports in extraordinary rendition.

Question reference: S5O-03724

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the Good Food Nation Bill.

Question reference: S5O-03690

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to alleviate the impact of the two-child cap on social security benefits in Scotland.