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-17482

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the (a) error rate and (b) durability of (i) fingerprint identification, (ii) retina identification and (iii) facial mapping and what assessment has been made of the effects of (1) age and (2) seasonal work on the accuracy of fingerprint identification.

The Scottish Fingerprint Service (SFS) and the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) have carried out and continue to carry out assessments of fingerprint identification techniques.

A benchmarking exercise on two Automatic Fingerprint Recognition systems was carried out by the SFS and PITO in 2004. Both systems recorded a 98.5% accuracy rate. The quality of a fingerprint mark is at its best between the ages of 16 and 50, and it is recognised that occupational or leisure activities can scar the fingers to the extent that a detrimental effect on accuracy can result for some people.

Work on developing iris (rather than retina) and facial recognition systems has been carried out by the United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) and PITO. Data about fingerprint, iris and facial identification accuracy, which is specific to the UKPS work, is included in the UKPS Biometrics Enrolment Trial Report. This is available at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs4/UKPS_Biometrics_Enrolment_Trial_Report.pdf.

Question reference: S2W-17454

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison officers and prisoner custody officers employed in Scotland by (a) the Scottish Prison Service and (b) Reliance failed their most recent annual fitness test and what proportion of those engaged in these roles by their respective employers they represent.

Question reference: S2W-17450

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive who generally undertakes transport of prisoners between Scotland and (a) Northern Ireland, (b) The Republic of Ireland, (c) other countries of the European Union and (d) countries or territories outwith the European Union and on how many occasions such transport has been undertaken since 1999.

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

The transfer of prisoners from Scotland to Northern Ireland is undertaken by Reliance Custodial Services. The Northern Ireland Prison Service is responsible for the transfer of prisoners to Scotland. 12 prisoners have transferred from Scotland and six prisoners from Northern Ireland since 1 April 2000. Records are not available prior to this.

The transfer of prisoners between Scotland and countries outwith the UK is the responsibility of the receiving jurisdiction, and is undertaken by SPS for prisoners returning to Scotland. Two prisoners have transferred from Scotland and five prisoners have been transferred to Scotland since 1999.

Question reference: S2W-17455

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many people employed by Reliance as prisoner custody officers in Scotland have been subject to action in relation to their discipline or behaviour.

Question reference: S2W-17456

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests to Disclosure Scotland for clearance have been made by Reliance.

Question reference: S2W-17452

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 18 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it is legally obliged to allow prisoners to marry at a location other than in a prison.

Question reference: S2W-17641

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Robert Brown on 14 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many temporary buildings there have been on school premises in each local authority area in (a) 1999, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005, broken down into (i) primary, (ii) secondary and (iii) special schools.

Question reference: S2W-17635

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 12 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the interest rate range, relative to the base rate, within which core funding for PFI and PPP contracts should fall.

The swap rate is negotiated as part of the competitive dialogue under the invitation to negotiate procurement process. There is no set range as it will depend on the prevailing market factors in each case. It is for each public authority, supported by professional advisers, to obtain the best deal possible, and to ensure that overall their project delivers good value for money. The Scottish Executive’s funding for PPP projects requires that prior to contract signature the authority can demonstrate in its final business case value for money and affordability using the relevant swap rate assumptions.

Question reference: S2W-17471

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 12 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average water sewerage and council tax bills have been as a proportion of average income in each local authority area in each year since 1997.

Question reference: S2W-17575

Asked by: Stewart Stevenson, MSP for Banff and Buchan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 8 July 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending per pupil was in the 10 per cent (a) least deprived and (b) most deprived local authority areas in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2002-03, (iii) 2003-04 and (iv) 2004-05.

Information on education spend per pupil by each local authority is published by the Scottish Executive in Expenditure on Scottish Education, 2005:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00389-00.asp.

Figures are not yet available for 2004-05. Information on education spend per pupil is not available below the local authority level.

There is no one way for defining which local authorities are most and least deprived. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation identifies small areas with concentrations of multiple deprivation, and its income and employment domains can be used to measure levels of deprivation at the local authority level http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/simd2004/. Other measures looking at children dependent on benefits and credits and free school meal entitlement are also available.