Chamber and committees

Yes. For example, the £15 million college transformation fund that I announced on 7 December 2011 will be available to colleges in 2012-13 to support change in the sector and help fund the cost of regional mergers. As in previous years, there may also be in-year adjustments to amounts allocated.

My officials are routinely involved in discussions with the Scottish Funding Council on matters relating to further education, including on maintaining the baseline of student numbers at colleges.

There has been no delay. The timetable published in our consultation paper on college regionalisation indicated college funding allocations would be made available in March 2012, following parliamentary approval of the 2012-13 budget. This is what we will do.

The block grant to the further education sector for (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 is shown in the following table. The figures for 2012-13 are subject to parliamentary approval and the figures for 2013-14 and 2014-15 are plans. The capital split between further education and higher education in each of the years has not yet been finalised.

Matters relating to the funding of individual colleges fall within the responsibility of the Scottish Funding Council. I have asked its Chief Executive to write to the member.

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

There have been no “full-scale” responses at prisons in the last five years, inclusive of HMP Addiewell. All incidents have been resolved locally without recourse to a full Incident Command response from the Scottish Prison Service.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: The following table shows the number of assaults in HMP Addiewell since it opened in December 2008.

The prisoner on prisoner assaults figures for 2008/09 cannot be directly compared to the figures for 2009/10 onwards as they were calculated differently at that time and do not include assaults as a result of fights between two or more people, which can result in multiple assaults:

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

The table below illustrates the total number of prisoner on prisoner assaults and prisoner on staff assaults broken down by Establishment for the last five years. Serious, minor and non injury assaults are included. The difference in the number of assaults is in part linked to differences in the prisoner population housed in each prison. The prisoner on prisoner assaults figures for 2007/08 and 2008/09 cannot be directly compared to the figures for 2009/10 onwards as they were calculated differently at that time and do not include assaults as a result of fights between two or more people, which can result in multiple assaults.

1. Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults:

2. Prisoner-on-staff assaults:

*HMP Addiewell opened December 2008

**HMP LowMoss closed in March 2007 and re-opened in March 2012

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

This incident is currently subject to an investigation by Lothian and Borders Police and may be subject to court action. It would not be appropriate therefore to comment further in advance of the completion of these enquiries.