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-18336

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost is per year of keeping a prisoner serving a life sentence in jail.

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

Scottish Prison Service (SPS) does not record the costs of housing differing categories of people in our care.

As a Key Performance Indicator, SPS publishes the Average Annual Cost per Prisoner Place in our Annual Report and Accounts. In 2017-18, the Average Annual Cost per Prisoner Place was £35,293.

Question reference: S5W-18340

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) criteria, (b) process and (c) decision-making process is in relation to enrolling a prisoner on the Scottish Prison Service's (SPS) Self-Change programme, and who within the SPS takes the final decision as to whether an individual prisoner must take part in the programme.

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

Decisions surrounding an individual’s suitability for the Self-Change Programme (SCP) follow the same process undertaken for other offending behaviour programmes available in the SPS.

A Generic Programmes Assessment is carried out by either a member of the Programmes or Psychology staff group and the results are reported back into the establishment’s Programmes Case Management Board (PCMB).

The PCMB is a multi-disciplinary group tasked with reviewing assessments and identifying the most appropriate course of action to address identified risk and needs in individuals. When determining the need for the SCP, the PCMB will give careful consideration to the selection criteria which is as follows:

Is there a current conviction for violence or a previous conviction for violence that requires further consideration for programme intervention?
Does the individual have a Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LSCMI) (case management plan) risk score of medium or high?
Is there a pervasive and persistent pattern of violence causing serious harm (including a current offence and 3 or more incidents of previous violence)?

If the response to each of the set criteria is ‘yes’ the individual will then be considered for participation on the programme. Once this is confirmed, it is the responsibility of the PCMB to make the final decision about a prisoner’s need to undertake the programme.

Question reference: S5W-18338

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners per annum the Scottish Prison Service's Self-Change Programme has the capacity to handle, and how many prisoners are currently on the programme, broken down by prison facility.

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

The Self-Change Programme (SCP) is a rolling programme which runs continuously throughout the year, with group members ‘rolling’ out of the programme when they complete the required work, and new members ‘rolling’ in to fill the available spaces.

There are typically 4 strands of the SCP underway at any one time. Each strand can proceed with a maximum of 8 group members with the average time on the programme being approximately 10 months, although this can vary based on individual needs. On that basis, the maximum number of potential prisoners who could participate in SCP is estimated to be 40 per annum. At present there are 23 prisoners participating in the various SCP strands: 14 at Low Moss and 9 at Shotts.

Question reference: S5W-18337

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) total budget and (b) the actual expenditure for the Self-Change Programme administered by the Scottish Prison Service has been in each year since it commenced, broken down by (i) prison facility and (ii) average cost per prisoner.

Question reference: S5W-18339

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have (a) commenced and (b) completed the Scottish Prison Service's Self-Change Programme in each year since the programme started, also broken down by prison facility.

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

Due to the nature of the delivery of the Self Change Programme (SCP), this information is not held in the format requested. SPS do however record the number of individuals who complete SCP and the attrition rate and this information is provided in the following table:

	Low Moss		Shotts
	Completed	Non-completions	Completed	Non-completions
2014-15	0	7	2	4
2015-16	8	2	11	5
2016-17	12	5	6	6
2017-18	17	2	23	8

Question reference: S5W-18342

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have not been able to commence the Scottish Prison Service's Self-Change Programme on the targeted start date and, of these, how many have, as a result, not been granted parole on their (a) parole qualifying date or (b) punishment part expiry date, broken down by prison facility.

Question reference: S5W-18343

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment or evaluation has been made of the Scottish Prison Service's Self-Change Programme since it commenced, and whether it will make this publicly available.

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

Since the introduction of the Self Change Programme (SCP) in 2014, no evaluation has been undertaken.

A small scale study was however conducted on a very small number of participants involved in the pilot phase of the programme. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the introduction of SCP into SPS, and used prison misconduct reports and attitudinal questionnaires to measure the outcomes.

The results showed promising preliminary indications that the programme was being effective in achieving its aims and objectives; those who completed the programme showed a significant reduction in violence-related misconduct reports in prison and significant reductions in overall scores on attitudinal tests.

In terms of a full scale evaluation, SPS is currently in the process of preparing the SCP for a submission to the Scottish Advisory Panel on Offender Rehabilitation (SAPOR) before the end of this year. This is the body that can confer accredited status to the programme. As part of that process the means of evaluating the programme will be established, and timeframes for the completion of an independent evaluation outlined, in accordance with the requirements of SAPOR. SPS would anticipate publishing the outcome of the evaluation on its website when this becomes available.

Question reference: S5F-02406

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2018

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will take urgent action to ensure that appropriate life-saving drugs are made available to people with cystic fibrosis.

Question reference: S5W-15013

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 13 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Lord Advocate will consider ordering an independent criminal investigation into all aspects of the case of Donal Alphonsus Nolan against Advance Construction (Scotland) Ltd and others, which was heard in the Court of Session in 2013 and was subject to a number of subsequent actions regarding allegations of the attempted bribery of a witness, the potential conflict of interests regarding the role of the judiciary and relatives of theirs acting on behalf of one party to this dispute, the unexplained disappearance of what was considered crucial documentation from within the Court of Session, and of alleged malpractice related to the court proceedings.

Question reference: S5W-14677

Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 13 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Scottish Parliament has the legislative competence to introduce a so-called wealth tax similar to that proposed by the Scottish Labour Party.

It is not possible for the Scottish Parliament to introduce a new tax unilaterally. Under the powers conferred by the Scotland Act 2012, the Scottish Government could make a case to introduce such a tax but would need the agreement of the UK Government to do so. The process for obtaining such agreement would involve lengthy negotiation and the collation of substantial evidence, including in respect of the macro-economic impact of any proposed tax.

The Scottish Labour Party have provided few details on their proposal for a wealth tax and how it would work. Based on the very limited information that has been given, there would clearly be significant challenges, which they have so far failed to address, in terms of identification of taxpayers, assessment of wealth, administration of the new tax and enforcement and compliance. It would not be possible to make a case to the UK Government without clarity on these issues.