Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-04648

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on reports that the Scottish Prison Service did not allow Carnegie College to engage in discussion or consultation with the college's staff during the bidding process for the provision of the prison education service and that, as a result of this, the staff were unaware of any possible threat to their positions until after the contract had been signed.

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

It is routine practice during bidding processes with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) that bidders are asked not to advertise or publicly announce that they are entering into discussions with and/or undertaking work for the SPS without prior written consent. This position is intended to minimise collusion amongst bidders and is not intended to restrict internal management discussions within the bidder organisations or effective management of incumbent staff. The SPS did not receive a request from Carnegie College seeking approval to discuss or consult on their bid with staff during the bidding process.

The Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) Regulations are applicable to this contract. The SPS has received assurances from Carnegie College that they are complying fully with the TUPE Regulations, including the required consultations with both staff and their representatives. Any matters that arise from these consultations are matters for negotiation between the employer, the staff concerned and their representatives.

Question reference: S4W-04646

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the proposal by Carnegie College to replace qualified lecturing staff with non-qualified staff for the delivery of prison education.

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

It is a matter for Carnegie College to determine how best to deliver the service it has contracted for. The staffing model proposed by Carnegie College to deliver Learning and Skills Services to the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), was assessed by the SPS as being technically competent to deliver the required services to the SPS establishments.

Question reference: S4W-04647

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the possibility that the prison education service provided in the west and east of the country might differ if Motherwell College continues to provide a service using fully qualified lecturing staff but Carnegie College does not.

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

The staffing model proposed by Carnegie College to deliver Learning and Skills Services to the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), was assessed by the SPS as being technically competent to deliver the required services to the SPS establishments. The contracts have only been in place for a short time and to date the SPS have no concerns about the services being delivered.

Question reference: S4W-04645

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to resolve the dispute between the Educational Institute of Scotland and Carnegie College in light of any possible short-term impact that this might have on the prison education service.

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

As the current dispute between the Educational Institute of Scotland and Carnegie College concerns the college staffs terms and conditions, the SPS has no locus to intervene. Such matters are for negotiation between an employer, the staff concerned and their representatives.

To date the impact on the provision of learning and skills services to prisons has been limited to a reduction in services at two sites on the 8 December, following industrial action by EIS members.

The SPS is currently in discussions with Carnegie College to determine how they will ensure continuity of service to the SPS during any extended period of Industrial action.

Question reference: S4O-00526

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects all local authorities to recycle at least 70% of their waste by 2025, with a maximum of 5% being sent to landfill.

Question reference: S4W-04402

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 14 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be available to South Lanarkshire Council for the No Knives, Better Lives initiative.

To build on the success of the initial two years of the successful No Knives Better Lives campaign, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice announced a doubling of the funding to £500,000 for 2011-12. The budget is managed centrally and there is no specific allocation per area. Monies are used to create a national program of materials that can be used as No Knives Better Lives rolls out to new areas. This includes social advertising, web resources, educational and youth work toolkits, training to build the capacity of local workers, resources to support youth diversion activities/youth engagement projects, peer education and schools programmes.

Each area level campaign is tailored to the local communities needs, building on work that is already existing. Our investment is then maximised by local partners who are also bringing their time, resources and in-kind support to the local campaigns.

Question reference: S4W-04403

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 14 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be available for the No Knives, Better Lives initiative in (a) South Lanarkshire, (b) North Lanarkshire, (c) South-east Glasgow, (d) West Edinburgh, (e) East Ayrshire and (f) North Ayrshire.

To build on the success of the initial two years of the successful No Knives Better Lives campaign, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice announced a doubling of the funding to £500,000 for 2011-12. The budget is managed centrally and there is no specific allocation per area. Monies are used to create a national program of materials that can be used as No Knives Better Lives rolls out to new areas. This includes social advertising, web resources, educational and youth work toolkits, training to build the capacity of local workers, resources to support youth diversion activities/youth engagement projects, peer education and schools programmes.

Each area level campaign is tailored to the needs of local communities, building on work that is already existing. Our investment is then maximised by local partners who are also bringing their time, resources and in-kind support to the local campaigns.

Question reference: S4W-03231

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions and and on what dates the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs have met Nil By Mouth to discuss the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill since it was introduced.

Question reference: S4W-03245

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has provided to local authorities since 2007 on dealing with sectarianism.

Question reference: S4W-03230

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions and on what dates the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs have met the Scottish Inter Faith Council to discuss the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill since it was introduced.

Chamber and committees