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-23518

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23146 by Humza Yousaf on 28 May 2019, whether it was aware that the Scottish Police Authority reportedly did not meet its commitment to move 100 officers from support roles to the front line in 2018-19, and, if it is not aware of such issues, whether it can meet its commitment that "decisions to slow police officer recruitment must not be taken until there is evidence that increases in operational policing capacity have been delivered".

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the number of police officers and staff in workforce categories. The deployment of police officers and staff is a matter for the Chief Constable and it is for the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) to hold the Chief Constable to account for policing in Scotland, including the delivery of increased operational capacity.

HMICS is working with Police Scotland to provide scrutiny and assurance around the delivery of increased operational capacity and provides regular updates to the Chair of the SPA in this regard. It is important to note that Police Scotland’s plans for increasing capacity are based on improved ways of working (developing an enhanced understanding of and response to demand) and productivity gains associated with new technology, as well as adjustments in the balance of the workforce (including between officers and police staff). It is not simply a matter of moving officers around.

Police Scotland have recently developed a Framework for Strategic Workforce Planning to inform their approach. Crucially, it is for the Chief Constable to consider the right workforce mix and to continue to review Police Scotland’s capacity and capability in the context of any new and emerging threats.

The police officer quarterly strength data, as at 31 March 2019, shows there were 17,251 police officers in Scotland, an increase of 81 officers since 31 March 2018. This increase was in response to the risks associated with Brexit and shows the service's ability to respond to emerging threats, with the aim of always having the policing capacity to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our communities.

Question reference: S5W-23492

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what is being done with all of the materials recovered from the Aberdeen to Inverness rail improvements project.

Network Rail is responsible for delivering the Aberdeen to Inverness Improvement Project (A-I) on behalf of Scottish Ministers. Network Rail advise they are committed to recovering, re-using and recycling materials as much as possible. An example of this on the A-I project is where Network Rail plan to re-use earthworks materials as part of the new station at Kintore.

Full details of how Network Rail work to recycle materials can be found via the following link:

www.railwayrecycling.co.uk

Question reference: S5W-23493

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on its review of the National Transport Strategy, and when it expects to (a) publish a consultation on and (b) complete this review.

Question reference: S5O-03371

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-23239

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether prison officers receive formal training for dealing with prisoners with mental health problems and, if so, what form this takes.

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

Responsibility for the delivery of clinical mental health services transferred from SPS to the NHS on 1 November 2011. NHS Health Boards are responsible for ensuring appropriate mental health provision, including psychiatric and psychological services are available in all prisons and that the needs of the prisoner population are met.

Whilst formal mental health training is highly specialised, the Officer Foundation Programme undertaken by all SPS Prison Officers on their initial appointment, includes formal training in Health and Wellbeing, and Suicide Prevention. All Prison Officers undertake refresher training in Suicide Prevention every three years.

The SPS has introduced additional training for key staff groups and is currently delivering Mental Health First Aid for Young People at HMYOI Polmont as well as providing mental health training for staff who work with women in custody. We intend to evaluate and learn from the impact of such training when introducing a new suite of continuing professional development for Prison Officers from 2020.

Question reference: S5W-23158

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it has monitored the use of serious crime prevention orders since their introduction, and whether it will provide any data or reports produced from this.

Since the introduction of serious crime prevention orders (SCPOs) in 2016, the Scottish Government has met and corresponded regularly with relevant stakeholders including Police Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service to monitor their use and to consider issues around their future use and effectiveness.

The Serious Organised Crime Taskforce will be reporting on the use of SCPOs to date as part of a wider update on progress in implementing Scotland’s Serious Organised Crime Strategy later this year.

Question reference: S5W-23153

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it last published an annual report on its serious organised crime strategy.

Question reference: S5W-23157

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been (a) charged and (b) convicted under sections 28 to 31 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 in each year since its commencement.

Sections 28 to 31 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 commenced on 13th December 2010. Section 29 relates to the recording of aggravators and is not an offence in itself so there are no charges or convictions under this section of the Act.

(a) Information on the number of people charged is not held centrally. The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service have provided the following table.

Charges reported to COPFS under Sections 28-31 of Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010

Charge Description	Financial Year Reported
Charge Description	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
S28(1)	11	101	112	108	157	101	97	48
S30(1)(A)	-	*	*	14	*	30	*	20
S30(1)(A) & S30(2)	-	-	-	*	*	*	-	-
S30(1)(B) & 30(2)	-	*	-	-	-	-	-	*
S30(1)(B)	-	9	14	20	29	9	17	5
S31(1)(A) & B(I)	-	-	*	*	-	*	*	*
S31(1)(A) & B(II)	-	-	-	6	*	*	-	*
Grand Total	11	113	141	151	212	147	125	79

* = data suppressed

COPFS does not normally disclose statistical information for data entries of fewer than 5 to ensure it meets its obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018. As such, where the number of charges is fewer than 5, these figures have been replaced with an asterisk. In some cases it may be necessary to apply a further suppression to a figure equal to or higher than 5 to prevent other suppressed data being deduced through subtraction. This applies to all data published by COPFS where Data Protection considerations apply.

(b) Information on people convicted in Scottish courts is provided in the following table.

People convicted of offences under Sections 28-31 of Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, where main charge

Main charge	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
Total convicted	-	-	-	3	2	6	4	4
S 28(1)	-	-	-	2	1	3	3	2
S 30(1)(A)	-	-	-	1	1	3	1	1
S 31(1)(A) & B(I)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Please note that there should be no direct comparison between the two sets of data, where SG data is based on number of people prosecuted at disposal date based on the main charge, COPFS data is based on actual charges reported as at report date.

Question reference: S5W-23155

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to divert individuals from serious organised crime in (a) schools, (b) communities and (c) prisons since June 2015; how it has evaluated this activity’s effectiveness, and what the result of this evaluation was.

The Scottish Government and its partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce have supported a wide range of activities in schools, communities and prisons since June 2015. These activities include The Slide education resource about a young person's involvement with drugs and the Team Building and Leadership course for young offenders at HMYOI Polmont which encourages participants to reflect on their behaviours and attitudes. These activities are delivered by partners and overseen by the Divert subgroup whose chair reports on progress to the Taskforce.

Question reference: S5W-23156

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has surveyed awareness of serious organised crime in the private, public and third sectors since June 2015, and whether it will provide the data from any such surveys.

The Scottish Government published a report on public perceptions of organised crime in Scotland on 4 June 2018, a copy of which can be found on the Scottish Government's website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/public-perceptions-organised-crime-scotland/ . The Scottish Government also published research commissioned on behalf of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce into community experiences of serious organised crime in Scotland on the same date. A copy of this report can be found on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/community-experiences-serious-organised-crime-scotland/ .