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: S4O-01589

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on prisoners being issued with contracts for father and child visits.

Question reference: S4W-11414

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Mary Scanlon on 4 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the cost is of processing a parliamentary motion.

The costs of processing parliamentary motions are largely those attributable to the time of Parliamentary staff in making checks on admissibility, compliance with the relevant guidance and publishing motions in accordance with Standing Orders.

Due to the fact that motions lodged by Members will require different levels of input from Parliamentary staff, it is not possible to be precise about the costs. However, most motions require minimal intervention by staff and on this basis processing costs for motions submitted by e-mail to the Chamber Desk can be estimated at £5.50 for a motion.

The cost of processing a motion submitted using the self-service system that was developed jointly by the Chamber Desk and BIT and introduced in November 2012, is estimated at £4.50. Since the start of Session 4, around 5,000 motions have been submitted and, given that an increasing number of motions are now being lodged via the self-service system, we would anticipate this leading to a reduction in processing costs.

Costs for the minority of motions that require further work will rise with increasing levels of intervention, which can include a dialogue with Members, but we do not hold information on how many submissions require more than the minimal intervention reflected in these figures or the amounts of extra intervention that can be required.

Question reference: S4W-11333

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals there have been in prisons for mental health treatment in each year since 2008.

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish prison service, to respond. His response is as follows:

“This information is not held by the Scottish prison service (SPS). You will be aware that responsibility and accountability for the provision of health care services to prisoners transferred from the SPS to the national health service on 1 November 2011, and these services are now provided by the respective local health boards. As part of this transition, all prisoner health care records, including mental health records, transferred from SPS to the respective health boards.”

Question reference: S4W-11332

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners are receiving treatment for mental health problems.

Question reference: S4W-11336

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how schools support children with imprisoned parents.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended) places duties on education authorities and other agencies to provide support to children and young people who have an additional support need which is causing a barrier to their learning. Education authorities must identify, plan and make provision for the support to be provided and review that support to ensure it is appropriate. This would include support for those who have an imprisoned parent.

Question reference: S4W-11330

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many third sector organisations are involved in the criminal justice system.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The scope of the criminal justice sector is broad, encompassing policing, courts, imprisonment, community justice, victims concerns and general public safety concerns. This is reflected in the wide range of third sector organisations that contribute to criminal justice issues, whether as their main focus, or in broader public services which can respond to the circumstances of victims, offenders, or others effected by crime (including housing, mental health, learning, employability, or disability focussed activities, for example).

As such it is difficult to quantify the exact numbers of third sector organisations who contribute to the criminal justice sector.

However, informal discussion with third sector representative groups would suggest that there are over a hundred third sector organisations in Scotland which are active on criminal justice sector activities, whether at national or local levels.

Question reference: S4W-11334

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many hours per week a psychiatrist is on duty at each prison.

Question reference: S4W-11335

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of self-harm have been reported in prisons in each year since 2008.

Question reference: S4W-11331

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the reoffending rates are for each prison.

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish prison service, to respond. His response is as follows:

“It is not possible to accurately align reconviction rates with individual prisons as prisoners may transfer between prisons on a number of occasions during their sentence. However, reconviction rates for offenders released from a custodial sentence are published by the Scottish Government and can be accessed on-line at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubReconvictions.”

Question reference: S4W-11329

Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many rehabilitation programmes there are in prisons.

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