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-00115

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Elish Angiolini on 19 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how many reports procurators fiscal received from HM Customs and Excise in 2002-03 and, of these, how many (a) were marked "no proceedings" on account of delay on the part of HM Customs and Excise and (b) proceeded to trial

During the financial year April 2002 to March 2003 HM Customs and Excise submitted 22 reports to procurators fiscal. (a) None of these cases were marked "no proceedings" on account of delay on the part of HM Customs and Excise, and(b) nine cases proceeded to court, all of which resulted in a conviction. One case proceeded to a full trial and the remaining eight were dealt with by way of a guilty plea. Twelve cases are currently pending before the courts but proceedings have not yet concluded. One case was submitted to the Procurator Fiscal for an opinion only, and proceedings were not considered.

Question reference: S2W-00185

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what control and restraint training the Scottish Prison Service has provided to the operator of Dungavel House immigration removal centre.

Question reference: S2W-00114

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30310 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 October 2002, how many offences of (a) illegal importation of drugs, (b) producing, manufacture or cultivation of drugs and (c) supply or possession with intent to supply of drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 the police recorded in 2002, broken down by local authority area.

The recorded crime statistics collected centrally can not identify individual sections of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The most detailed crime categories available are shown in the following table. These contain crimes recorded under various statutes and several different sections of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.Crimes Recorded by the Police by Council Area, Scotland, 2002

Council area	Illegal importation of drugs	Production, manufacture or cultivation of drugs	Supply, possession with intent to supply of drugs
Scotland	3	185	10,139
Aberdeen City	0	4	615
Aberdeenshire	0	1	161
Angus	0	2	116
Argyll and Bute	0	1	80
Clackmannanshire	0	1	79
Dumfries and Galloway	0	6	342
Dundee City	0	5	296
East Ayrshire	0	6	299
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	122
East Lothian	0	5	147
East Renfrewshire	0	3	43
Edinburgh, City of	0	20	1,329
Eilean Siar	0	2	14
Falkirk	0	1	230
Fife	0	42	672
Glasgow City	0	21	2,002
Highland	1	11	271
Inverclyde	0	1	274
Midlothian	0	4	120
Moray	0	2	58
North Ayrshire	0	3	278
North Lanarkshire	1	9	553
Orkney	0	3	19
Perth and Kinross	0	4	374
Renfrewshire	1	7	259
Scottish Borders	0	8	178
Shetland	0	0	26
South Ayrshire	0	1	240
South Lanarkshire	0	4	273
Stirling	0	1	174
West Dunbartonshire	0	3	184
West Lothian	0	4	311

Question reference: S2W-00291

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 5 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the absolute exemption in section 36(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to the general entitlement to information in section 1 of that act would apply to the release of information other than permitted disclosures relating to a school public private partnership where that partnership had an information and confidentiality clause modelled on clause 59 of the Scottish Schools Standard PPP Contract and, if not, what the circumstances would be in which such a release of information would not be so exempt.

Clause 59 of the Scottish Schools Standard Contract is designed to ensure the co-operation of any contractor in supplying the information that a public authority may require in order to respond to a request made to them under the Freedom of Information legislation.The absolute exemption in section 36(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act will only apply in circumstances where the disclosure of information by a public authority could constitute an actionable breach of confidence by a third party. In that event, authorities should discuss with the third party whether the information still needs to be classified as such. If these particular circumstances did not apply the public authority could not properly withhold information under that exemption. Any decision by a Scottish public authority to use this exemption would of course be subject to the appeal procedures set out in the act including a review by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Question reference: S2W-00054

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to questions S1W-31088, S1W-31487, S1W-32018, S1W-33898 and S1W-34139 by Mr Jim Wallace on 8 November, 22 November and 10 December 2002 and 18 February and 28 February 2003 respectively, what performance points were accrued by the operating company of HM Prison Kilmarnock, broken down for each heading and subsection in Schedule F to the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock, for the quarter January to March 2003.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The information requested is given in the following table.Performance Points - January to March 2003

2.1(a)	Absconds	0
2.1(b)	Temporary Release: Inadequate Risk Assessment	0
2.1(c)	Release of Prisoner in Error	0
2.1(d)	Failure to Provide Accurate Daily Report	0
2.1(e)	Failure to input basic Details into Prisoner Records	0
2.1(f)	Failure to Process Accurate Warrant Details	0
2.1(g)	Discovery within Prison of Smuggled-in-Items	350
2.1(h)	Key/Lock Compromise	0
2.1( i)	Failure of Security Procedures	150
2.2(a)	Serious Injury	0
	Minor Injury	20
	No Injury	55
2.2(b)	Serious Injury	0
	Minor Injury	20
	No Injury	70
2.2(c)	Incident of Concerted Indiscipline	120
2.2(d)	Incident of Hostage Taking	0
2.2(e)	Incident of Roof Climbing	0
2.2(f)	Incident of Self-Harm	20
2.2(g)	Incident of Class 'A' Drugs	370
2.2(h)	Incident of Drugs Other than Class 'A'	60
2.2(i)	Contingency Planning Exercise (Non-Completion)	0
2.2(j)	Fire Evacuation Exercise (Non-Completion)	0
2.2(k)	Failure to Comply with Agreed Reporting Procedures	0
2.2(l)	Tool/Implement Loss (Recovered)	4
2.2(m)	Tool/Implement Loss (Not Recovered)	4
2.3(a)	Failure to Provide Timeous Medical Assistance	0
2.3(b)	Failure to see Medical Officer on Admission	0
2.3(c)	Failure to Provide Meal	0
2.3(d)	Failure to Comply with Health and Safety and Hygiene Requirements/Legislation	0
2.3(e)	Failure to Respond to Prisoner Complaint Timeously	0
2.3(f)	Substantiated Complaints Against Staff	0
2.3(g)	Failure to Comply with Cleaning Schedule	0
2.3(h)	Failure to Repair (Equipment and Services)	10
2.3(i)	Failure to Repair (Accommodation and Other Areas of Prison)	0
2.4(a)	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (76-95%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (66-75%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (56-65%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (Less than or Equal to 55%)	0
2.4(b)	Failure to deliver Work Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (76-95%)	60
	Failure to deliver Work Hours (Sentenced Prisoner )(66-75%)	10
	Failure to deliver Work Hours (Sentenced Prisoners)(56-65%)	0
	Failure to deliver Work Hours (Sentenced Prisoners)(Less than or Equal to 55%)	0
2.4(c)	Failure to Deliver Education Hours (76-95%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Education Hours (66-75%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Education Hours (56-65%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Education Hours (Less than or Equal to 55%)	0
2.4(d)	Failure to Provide Structured Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) ( 75-95%)	200
	Failure to Provide Structured Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (66-75%)	30
	Failure to Provide Structured Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (56-65%)	0
	Failure to Provide Structured Activity Hours (Sentenced Prisoners) (Less than or Equal to 55%)	30
2.4(e)	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours for Remand Prisoners (76-95%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours for Remand Prisoners (66-75%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours for Remand Prisoners (56-65%)	0
	Failure to Deliver Regime Activity Hours for Remand Prisoners (Less than or Equal to 55%)	0
2.4(f)	Failure to Provide Sentence Planning	0
2.4(g)	Failure to Provide Prisoner Compacts	0
2.5(a)	Failure to Deliver Pre-Release Programmes	0
2.5(b)	Visits - Failure to Start within 20 Minutes of Visitor arriving	18
2.5(c)	Prisoner not Visited by Legal Advisor	0
2.6	Failure to Report/Incorrect Reporting of any Performance Measure	0

Question reference: S2W-00050

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34453 by Mr Jim Wallace on 13 March 2003, what the quarterly baseline total, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule F of the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock, was in the last quarter of the performance year 2002-03.

Question reference: S2W-00047

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34684 by Mr Jim Wallace on 25 March 2003, what conclusions the director of HM Prison Kilmarnock has reached with regard to the procedures for suicide prevention at the prison.

Question reference: S2W-00048

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34683 by Mr Jim Wallace on 25 March 2003, what changes the director of HM Prison Kilmarnock has concluded need to be made to improve procedures for suicide prevention at the prison.

Question reference: S2W-00279

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 4 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it will use to determine which operators of private prisons will be designated as public authorities under section 5 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Question reference: S2W-00282

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 4 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether including existing public private partnership schools in schedule 1A of the Race Relations Act 1976 by an order under section 71(5) of the act would constitute either a discriminatory change of law or a specific change of law, as defined in the Scottish Schools Standard PPP Contract

Only the Secretary of State has the power to make an order under 71(5) and therefore, any question of extending Schedule 1A is a matter for the UK Parliament.It is for the courts to interpret the Scottish Schools Standard PPP Contract (SSSC), as with any other contract, if and when an issue is presented. Although the SSSC is a standardised contract, there are project specific issues and the SSSC is completed and agreed individually for each Schools PPP project. Interpretation of one clause may depend upon other parts of the contract.