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-03703

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish an updated evaluation report on domestic abuse courts and, if so, when.

Question reference: S5W-03683

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on training (a) prisoners and (b) prison staff in each year since 2006.

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

Year	Prisoner Vocational Training Costs
2006-07	£239,145.14
2007-08	£253,268.31
2008-09	£299,644.76
2009-10	£283,261.37
2010-11	£361,800.17
2011-12	£398,190.73
2012-13	£391,672.50
2013-14	£352,342.58
2014-15	£412,971.76
2015-16	£335,480.56

The table represents the cost of delivering Vocational Training only within the SPS over the last ten years. This figure includes purchase of VT Materials, Equipment and Tools and the cost of the Training Fees and the cost of maintenance of the Equipment and Tools.

This figure does not include the cost of SPS staff involved or the overhead costs of delivering the activity, as this cannot be separately identified or costed. The SPS does not record its expenditure in such a way to provide that breakdown. Nor does it include other costs such as education.

The SPS cannot provide an overall cost of training for prisoners across all areas in the estate as this can be embedded in other Purposeful Activity areas, and cannot be separately quantified or costed.

The Scottish Prison Service College has an annual operating budget to cover staff training that builds and maintains professional standards across the business. Included in that suite of corporate training is our operational risk management training, which minimises risk for operational staff working in custodial environments and those within our care. Annual expenditure also includes any upskilling, professional or vocational training required for specialist roles in the Service and the provision of all management and leadership training.

The following table shows annual expenditure on staff training in the SPS since 2006-07, and includes College staffing, facilities and overheads, and the cost of any external training provision.

	SPS College Expenditure*	Staff Development Costs Across Organisation	Total Expenditure on Staff Training in SPS
2006-07	£3,319,034	£285,314	£3,604,348
2007-08	£3,023,517	£283,114	£3,306,631
2008-09	£3,129,004	£274,181	£3,403,185
2009-10	£1,992,465	£244,954	£2,237,419
2010-11	£3,062,848	£230,215	£3,293,063
2011-12	£3,043,948	£285,102	£3,329,050
2012-13	£3,876,274	£348,775	£4,225,049
2013-14	£4,174,437	£631,190	£4,805,627
2014-15	£4,578,548	£608,434	£5,186,982
2015-16	£4,413,909	£665,096	£5,079,005

*Figures include staffing, depreciation charges and exclude income

Question reference: S5W-03688

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have left the Scottish Prison Service in each year since 2006, broken down by reason for leaving.

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

Leaving Reasons

Financial Years

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

Death In Service	2	3	7	3	6
Dismissal	50	55	33	29	28
End of Contract	27	79	24	14	13
Resignation	175	168	151	95	69
Retirement	46	40	52	49	41
Voluntary Exit Scheme	0	0	3	16	9
Public Sector Transfer	0	0	0	0	0
	300	345	270	206	166

In 2006-07 and 2007-08, figures relating to Voluntary Exit Scheme leavers were not held separately therefore any leavers in this category have been subsumed into the Retirement leaver figures.

Leaving Reasons

Financial Years

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Death In Service	5	4	5	5	3
Dismissal	41	35	37	25	34
End of Contract	23	14	19	22	15
Resignation	73	99	98	141	117
Retirement	54	59	58	59	71
Voluntary Exit Scheme	0	1	9	0	0
Public Sector Transfer	249	0	0	0	0
	445	212	226	252	240

For 2011-12, the 249 leavers are attributed to a Public Sector Transfer where SPS Nursing Staff were transferred to the employment of the NHS.

Question reference: S5W-03702

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government in what month it will introduce its proposed Domestic Abuse Bill.

The First Minister announced in the Scottish Government's Programme for Government in September 2016 that legislation to create a specific offence of domestic abuse will be introduced in this Parliamentary year.

The Scottish Government is currently considering the responses received to the consultation on the draft offence of domestic abuse and, as a part of this work, has published a document outlining a number of proposed reforms to criminal procedure that relate to the creation of a specific offence of domestic abuse. This document can be viewed at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/10/3259/0.

The Bill will be introduced following the outcome of this further work.

Question reference: S5W-03684

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many assaults there have been on prison staff in each year since 2006, also broken down by how many were recorded as "serious".

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

Prisoner on Staff Assaults from 2006 to 2017 (Present) broken down by Establishment and injury criteria:

Serious Assaults

	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Aberdeen	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Addiewell	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1
Barlinnie	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0
Cornton Vale	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	1	1	0
Dumfries	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	1
Glenochil	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
Grampian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greenock	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
Inverness	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kilmarnock	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Low Moss	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Open Estate	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Perth	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0
Peterhead	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Polmont	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Shotts	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1
Totals	0	4	2	3	8	5	1	2	9	4	3

Minor/No Injury Assaults

	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-2016	2016-2017
Aberdeen	6	2	6	8	7	2	10	7	0	0	0
Addiewell	0	0	14	48	22	13	17	12	5	10	15
Barlinnie	32	19	28	21	29	22	12	20	27	22	21
Cornton Vale	23	23	49	41	66	50	43	13	30	42	6
Dumfries	0	3	3	1	1	3	2	4	1	2	1
Edinburgh	15	13	9	14	67	13	28	9	15	9	9
Glenochil	4	8	3	3	2	3	4	13	3	11	0
Grampian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	29	12
Greenock	5	1	0	4	3	3	1	2	2	1	2
Inverness	3	3	1	0	5	0	1	0	5	2	1
Kilmarnock	12	19	11	9	11	21	20	13	8	14	7
Low Moss	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	20	7	9	4
Open Estate	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
Perth	9	14	11	15	11	5	20	13	13	26	5
Peterhead	4	1	2	0	7	2	2	5	0	0	0
Polmont	17	7	7	14	8	19	19	23	22	17	10
Shotts	8	3	10	6	15	5	9	7	6	8	5
Totals	138	116	154	184	254	161	203	161	161	204	98

The figures for 2016-17 denotes figures to date.

Question reference: S5W-03706

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many sheriff court staff have (a) had training to support and (b) supported the function of domestic abuse courts in each year since 2011, and what percentage of the sheriff court workforce this represents.

Question reference: S5W-03704

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Court Service (SCS) staff have (a) had training to support and (b) supported the function of domestic abuse courts in each year since 2011, and what percentage of the SCS workforce this represents.

Question reference: S5W-03687

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoner suicides there have been in each year since 2006.

Question reference: S5W-03574

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many child witnesses have given evidence in (a) sheriff and b) high courts in each of the last five years, broken down by the alleged offence.

Question reference: S5W-03573

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many pre-recorded joint investigative interviews of children have been used as evidence in chief in courts in the last five years.

2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
9	10	6	6	10	6	8	5	3	1	0