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-07385

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of prisoners are aged over (i) 49 and (ii) 59.

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

On 27 February the number of prisoners over the age of 49 was 1009, which is 13.9% of the total prison population.

On 27 February the number of prisoners over the age of 59 was 314, which is 4.4% of the total prison population. The 314 is also included in the figure provided for those over the age of 49.

Question reference: S5W-06118

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to alternatives to the integration of the British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government's Railway Policing (Scotland) Bill was published on 8th December, with the objective of paving the way for the integration of the British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland. Paragraphs 66-70 of the Policy Memorandum for the Bill sets out the Scottish Government's consideration to "Alternative Approaches" to integration, and can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/102502.aspx

Question reference: S5W-06117

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the cost is of (a) creating a new Scottish Transport Police service and (b) integrating the British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government's Railway Policing (Scotland) Bill was published on 8 December, with the objective of paving the way for the integration of the British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland. The Financial Memorandum for the Bill sets out the Scottish Government's assessment of the associated costs, and can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/102502.aspx

Question reference: S5W-06119

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to establishing a separate (a) Scottish Transport Police authority and (b) Scottish Transport Police service, and for what reason it decided not to pursue these options.

Question reference: S5O-00588

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when the health secretary will next meet NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Question reference: S5O-00562

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support children with additional support needs in light of the reported reductions to local government budgets.

I want to reassure all members that funding for additional support for learning has in fact gone up - the last report to Parliament on the implementation of Additional Support for Learning indicated that overall spending on additional support for learning increased by £24 million to £579 million.

Members will want to be aware that under the Additional Support for Learning Act, it is the responsibility of education authorities to identify and provide the support required for any child or young person who has additional support needs.

Question reference: S5W-05030

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support young offenders to find sustainable employment opportunities to assist them in their journey to stop reoffending.

As part of a preventative approach to reducing offending, the Scottish Government is working with a range of partners to enable young people who have been involved in offending to develop the skills and capacity to find and sustain employment.

This includes specific support through Skills Development Scotland, Scotland’s Employer Recruitment Incentive and the Open Consortium which provides specialist in-work support to 16-29 year olds to help them sustain employment. Investment in Community Jobs Scotland since 2014 has ensured a focus on young people with an offending history, supporting over 3000 paid job training opportunities for young people including those with convictions.

The Scottish Government is working with employers through Developing the Young Workforce regional groups to create employment opportunities for all young people including those young people being released from custody.

Dedicated work is being delivered within HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont to create a joined up approach to through-care for young people in custody as part of the Scottish Prison Services Vision for Young People in Custody.

Question reference: S5W-05029

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for continuing investment in the public social partnership model to promote early intervention approaches that reduce youth offending.

Future Scottish Government funding for offender mentoring services will be dependent on the outcome of the 2017-18 Spending Review.

The Scottish Government has given an indication that, subject to budget being available, it plans to provide further funding to the Public Social Partnership projects which have previously been funded via the Reducing Reoffending Change Fund (supporting prolific young male offenders (18-25yo), and female offenders) in 2017-18. However, two offender mentoring projects (Includem PSP, and VASLan PSP) have already been advised that SG will not provide funding to replace the RRCF grant allocation beyond March 2017, and they should look to local funding bodies for sustainable funding.

Question reference: S5W-05028

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the public social partnership on reducing youth reoffending.

The Scottish Government commissioned an independent evaluation of the six Public Social Partnership projects established under the Reducing Reoffending Change Fund (RRCF), which was conducted by Ipsos Mori, and whose report was published on 12 February 2016. The RRCF has funded six PSP projects across 2013-2017, which provide assistance to young prolific male offenders (aged 18-25), and women with convictions.

The report concluded that the mentoring services delivered by these projects is an effective approach which helps individuals to learn and implement constructive, non-criminal ways of addressing problems in their lives, and to reduce risk factors associated with offending behaviour.

The report is available at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/02/9184.

Question reference: S5O-00432

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last received an update from COSLA or the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers regarding the enforcement of minimum standards for Gypsy/Traveller sites.