Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-18174

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cost to Police Scotland of backdated overtime payments in relation to the judgement that police officers are entitled to an extra shift payment for every 24 hours that they work away from home.

The payment of overtime to police officers is a matter for the chief constable of Police Scotland. The Police Negotiating Board (PNB) agreed to introduce a set of allowances that officers can claim when they are deployed away from their usual place of duty and as a consequence are unable to return home. This agreement came into force on 4 June 2018 and is published in PNB circular 2018/2 – link attached: https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00538317.pdf .

Question reference: S5W-18176

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland has taken increased overtime payments into account in its financial planning in light of the judgement that police officers are entitled to an extra shift payment for every 24 hours that they work away from home.

The payment of overtime to police officers is a matter for the chief constable of Police Scotland. The Police Negotiating Board (PNB) agreed to introduce a set of allowances that officers can claim when they are deployed away from their usual place of duty and as a consequence are unable to return home. This agreement came into force on 4 June 2018 and is published in PNB circular 2018/2 – link attached: https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00538317.pdf .

Question reference: S5W-18175

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cost to Police Scotland of future overtime payments in relation to the judgement that police officers are entitled to an extra shift payment for every 24 hours that they work away from home.

The payment of overtime to police officers is a matter for the chief constable of Police Scotland. The Police Negotiating Board (PNB) agreed to introduce a set of allowances that officers can claim when they are deployed away from their usual place of duty and as a consequence are unable to return home. This agreement came into force on 4 June 2018 and is published in PNB circular 2018/2 – link attached: https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00538317.pdf .

Question reference: S5W-18033

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any settlement agreement, confidentiality agreement or similar post-employment contract that has been put in place for the former chief executive of NHS Tayside.

The conclusion of any matter relating to the termination of employment of any NHS Scotland employee is principally a matter between the employing health board and former employee concerned. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to make any comment in individual cases.

In this case NHS Tayside have indicated that, upon leaving the board, Ms McLay only received what she was contractually entitled to and nothing more. In concluding all employment matters, NHS Scotland health boards are guided by both national and local employment policies and the principles of UK employment law.

Question reference: S5W-17948

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17467 by Humza Yousaf on 27 June 2018, whether any costs have emerged to date and, if so, how much, and whether it will commit to providing any further costs within 28 days of their being incurred.

Question reference: S5W-17947

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17469 by Humza Yousaf on 27 June 2018, whether it will answer the question that was asked and confirm the advice given at the staff engagement session on 20 June 2018, and, regardless of the final costs of integration, whether it will meet those costs or whether other bodies would be expected to meet some or all of these.

Question reference: S5W-17950

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17474 by Humza Yousaf on 25 July 2018, whether it has received any legal advice that states that, under no circumstances, any British Transport Police officer in Scotland would be in a redundancy situation following the merger with Police Scotland and, if so, whether it will provide that advice.

Question reference: S5W-17949

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17471 by Humza Yousaf on 25 July 2018, whether it will answer the question that was asked and confirm what assessment, if any, it has undertaken on the integration, and whether it will provide such assessment.

The extensive re-planning work which has been underway has brought to light practicalities that were of concern to Police Scotland and in light of their recent advice, and as announced on 27 August, we now looking at further options available. We remain committed to full integration as legislated for in the Railway Policing (Scotland) Act 2017, which we will keep under review in the intervening period.

Question reference: S5W-17946

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17468 by Humza Yousaf on 25 July 2018, whether it will answer the question that was asked, and provide the list of external consultants that was requested, and the contractual rate agreed by each provider.

Police Scotland held two separate competitive tender processes in relation to BTP Integration. One for Programme Management Support and the other for specialist integration Due Diligence analysis. The successful bidder for both tenders was Ernst & Young who have been engaged through Police Scotland/SPA. The tenders are priced at £400,000 and £298,000 respectively and are being delivered on budget.

Scottish Government engaged an independent consultant through Harvey Nash Recruitment at a rate of £595 per day charged.

Question reference: S5W-17941

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether conviction rates are a useful measure of crime levels or of the success of the justice system as a whole.

The number of people convicted of criminal offences in Scotland's courts is one measure which can be used to assess trends in levels of crime. Other measures which help to provide a picture of levels of crime are the number of crimes recorded by the police in Scotland and the number of crimes experienced by adults in Scotland, including those not reported to the police.

For example, the latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, a large-scale social survey which asks people about their experiences and perceptions of crime, including crimes that haven’t been reported to, or recorded by, the police and captured in police recorded crime statistics, estimated there were 712,000 crimes experienced by adults in Scotland in 2016-17. This represents a reduction of nearly a third (32%) since 2008-09. Over the same time period, the proportion of the adult population that reported through the SCJS having been a victim of at least one crime fell from an estimated 20.4% to 13.4%.

Comparing the same years' figures for crime recorded by the police, in 2008-09, the police recorded 377,433 crimes. In 2016-17, they recorded 238,651 crimes, a reduction of 37%

The number of people convicted of criminal offences in Scotland's courts also fell over the same time period. In 2008-09, there were 125,893 people convicted of criminal offences. In 2016-17, there were 92,334 people convicted of criminal offences, a reduction of 26.6%.

Together, these statistics indicate that there has been a significant reduction in crime over this time period.

Other statistical information, for example concerning the proportion of crimes that are 'cleared up' by the police, the level of re-offending and the proportion of cases tried in court that result in conviction may help to provide a fuller picture of the effectiveness of the justice system as a whole.

Chamber and committees