Chamber and committees

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:Information about prisoners unlawfully at large by security category is not available. The SPS annual reports give details of numbers of prisoners escaping/absconding from custody.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The director has indicated that some further work is being undertaken which will not be completed until the end of March, at which point he will consider whether any procedural changes are required.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:Since the phase-in of prisoners in 1999, the number of Available Prisoner Places, as defined in the contract between SPS and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited, has remained at 500.The number of Additional Prisoner Places, as defined in the contract, was 48 from July 2000 until January 2003. Since 1 February 2003, the number of such places has been 96.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The director has indicated that some further work is being undertaken which will not be completed until the end of March. It is therefore too early to say what conclusions he will reach.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34950 on 24 March 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

Yes. The Sewel Convention, which provides that the UK Parliament will not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament, has always been observed. The convention does not prescribe the precise stage at which consent should be sought, though the Scottish Executive has undertaken normally to seek the Scottish Parliament's consent before the UK Bill is given its Second Reading in the House of the UK Parliament in which it is introduced. It is recognised, however, that adherence to this timetable is not always feasible and can, in any event, put considerable demands on the Scottish Parliament. It is anticipated that improvements will be effected through the introduction of the revised process proposed by the Scottish Executive to the Scottish Parliament's Procedures Committee.

The first meeting of the Criminal Justice Social Work Accreditation Panel is to be held on 22 and 23 April. The development of criteria for the accreditation of youth justice programmes will be discussed at this meeting.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34950 on 24 March 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

This is a matter for Strathclyde Police. The force has emphasised that the various factors referred to in the earlier answer are inter-related, that the increase in detection rates is a further factor, and that a review is under way involving procurators fiscal with a view to reducing delays as far as possible. I understand that the reference to technology relates to a number of on-going developments including electronic communications systems and an upgraded digital dictation system which is currently being rolled out.

This is a matter for Strathclyde Police. The force has emphasised that the various factors referred to in the earlier answer are inter-related, that the increase in detection rates is a further factor, and that a review is under way involving procurators fiscal with a view to reducing delays as far as possible. I understand that the reference to reporting policies relates to the prioritisation of the different sorts of cases dealt with by the police and procurators fiscal as well as other related factors such as the procedures for reporting where there are cases with a significant number of charges.