Sharon Dowey

6 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support the provision of additional training or guidance for staff involved in custody hearings and early case processing, in light of any increased reliance on body-worn video evidence.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: Officials within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have prepared detailed policy and process documents to assist staff across the service, including those involved in custody hearings and early case processing, dealing with body-worn video footag…

2 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to those impacted by the potential closure of the Notre Dame Centre in Glasgow. 

Answer · Maree Todd: While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for Health and Social Care Partnerships to ensure that support services are in place to provide people with the appropriate support in the right plac…

2 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any assessment of the impact of the potential closure of the Notre Dame Centre in Glasgow. 

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government was concerned to hear about the withdrawal of funding from the Notre Dame Centre. We recognise that the potential closure of the Centre as a result will be causing concern for the children and families that use its services. Scottish G…

30 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many emergency beds were used within secure care accommodation for young people in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and 2025 to date.

Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The information is not available in the format requested. Information on the use of emergency beds for 2023 and 2024 can be found in Table 2 of the Children's Social Work Statistics: Secure Care 2023-24.In December 2024, the Care Inspectorate published a prot…

30 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it recommends be taken if there are no open beds available for those under 18 years of age who have been referred to secure care accommodation.

Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: There are multiple routes by which a child may be referred to secure accommodation. The head of each centre retains discretion over whether or not to accept any individual child’s placement.If a placement is required, and secure accommodation capacity i…

30 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of any instances of people under 18 being diverted from secure care accommodation due to a lack of open beds in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025 to date.

Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government does not routinely hold case-specific information in respect of children’s cases. The principal responsibilities lie variously with the Principal Reporter, the chief social work officer of the implementation authority and the hea…

28 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many self-catering accommodation operators have been removed from the non-domestic rates register in each of the last five years.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The maintenance of the valuation roll, including the collection of evidence, valuation of properties, and decisions on the removal of properties, are the responsibility of the independent Scottish Assessors, in accordance with the legislative framework establ…

22 Apr 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve public transport connectivity in south west Scotland.

15 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the overcrowding situation in HMP Barlinnie and any impact this is having on prison standards, before the opening of HMP Glasgow scheduled for 2028, in light of the HM Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland paper, Report on HMP Barlinnie Full Inspection 18-22 …

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government are progressing a range of actions to support a sustainable reduction in the prison population, including:The passage of the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025, which changes the point of release for most prisoners serving s…

15 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it plans with the Scottish Prison Service regarding the recommendations made in the HM Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland paper, Report on HMP Barlinnie Full Inspection 18-22 November 2024.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, Teresa Medhurst, meets the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters including reports such as the recent HMIPS inspection report on HMP Barlinnie.The mo…

15 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, what its response is to the findings in the HM Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland paper, Report on HMP Barlinnie Full Inspection 18-22 November 2024, which recorded that there were “significant challenges to supporting the timeous engagement of prisoners in development or treat…

Answer · Angela Constance: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:SPS welcome HMIPS inspection report of HMP Barlinnie, especially the recognition of the encouragement given to the efforts shown to try …

15 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, what its response is to the findings in the HM Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland paper, Report on HMP Barlinnie Full Inspection 18-22 November 2024, which indicate that 65% of prisoners were in shared cells that did not meet the standard cell space of four metres square per prisoner…

Answer · Angela Constance: The safety and wellbeing of everyone in the prison estate is a priority for this government and the Scottish Prison Service and we continue to aspire to comply with all relevant standards and international obligations.The further refurbishment, including the …

8 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the fishing industry following changes to the minimum landing size for lobster on the west coast of Scotland.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Scottish Government Marine Directorate has two main fora for fishing industry engagement on inshore fisheries such as lobster. The first is the Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) network which has existed in its current form since 2016. This network give…

8 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any assessment of the reported competitive disadvantage faced by west coast fishermen following changes to the minimum landing size for lobster.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Scotland’s diverse fishing industry is subject to a variety of management measures including temporal and spatial restrictions on gear deployment, vessel type and catch. As with the 2017 change to minimum landing size for lobster, there are instances wh…

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered launching a national campaign to encourage people to sign up to be an on-call firefighter.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: Decisions concerning the recruitment of on-call firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Changing demographics can make the recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters particularly challenging in some communities. …

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to recruit more (a) on-call and (b) full-time firefighters.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: Decisions concerning the number and recruitment of both On-Call and Wholetime firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered reforms to the fitness test for new firefighters.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: The standard of fitness required for firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs has had with the (a) Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, (b) Fire Brigades Union and (c) Fire and Rescue Services Association since 29 March 2023, and what was discussed.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: Portfolio responsibility for fire and rescue sits with myself and therefore the majority of meetings with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and its trade unions are undertaken by myself rather than the Cabinet Secretary. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice a…

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service about providing extra funding for the purchase of new equipment to fight wildfires, and, if so, what the outcome of any such discussions was.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government’s budget for 2025-26 includes £412.2 million for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) which is an increase of £18.8 million. This will enable SFRS to continue to deliver the high standard of services required t…

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regarding the condition of fire stations, and, if so, what the outcome of any such discussions was.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Minister for Victims and Community Safety regularly meets with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Chief Officer and Board Chair where a wide range of issues are discussed, including the capital budget allocation and the SFRS estate. The Scottish …

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service requires new equipment to fight wildfires.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: I refer the member to the answer to her question S6W-36661 on 24 April 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commit…

2 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34588 by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025, when the report on key issues raised at the cross-party summit on violence among young people will be published.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: The report of the key issues raised at the summit will be published shortly. The member will also be aware that preparations are currently being made for a further cross-party meeting of MSPs at which these issues will be discussed.

2 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication in January 2025 of the paper, Scottish Government Response to the Report by the Independent Expert Group for the Unlocking the Value of Data Programme, whether it will provide an update on the progress with the Proof of Concept project.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Since the publication of the Scottish Government’s response to the final report by the Independent Expert Group for the Unlocking the Value of Data programme, in January 2025, an Industry Data Access Steering Group has been established to oversee the de…

2 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which sheriff courts have closed in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Angela Constance: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

2 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent by each public inquiry in each of the last 10 years, broken down by the type of cost incurred, including the salary of the chairperson.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Public inquiries are independent of Government, and each inquiry is responsible for publishing its own financial information. This can be found on the website of each respective Inquiry. For inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005 there is a statut…

28 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35953 by Natalie Don-Innes on 27 March 2025, whether it will publish the minutes of these meetings, and those of any subsequent meetings that the National Bairns’ Hoose Governance Group has held since July 2024.

Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government has published the minutes of these meetings. The final National Bairns’ Hoose Governance Group meeting took place on 26 June 2024, so no subsequent meetings of the National Bairns’ Hoose Governance Group have been held sinc…

25 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the pilot scheme that provides victims in rape and serious assault cases with access to court transcripts, what the average time has been between victims requesting a copy of a transcript and them receiving one since the scheme launched.

Answer · Angela Constance: The average time for applicants to receive a transcript under the pilot scheme has been seven months, however this does not reflect the length of time that all applicants have waited. The timeline varies across applications, influenced by several factors incl…

25 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent to date on the pilot scheme that provides victims in rape and serious assault cases with access to court transcripts.

Answer · Angela Constance: To date, the total spend on the pilot scheme, inclusive of transcription and redaction costs, is £132,898.93 as at 31 March 2025.To note, this does not include the cost of applications which are waiting to be processed or awaiting redaction.

25 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will put in place to address the reported issues and delays regarding the pilot scheme that provides victims in rape and serious assault cases with access to court transcripts.

Answer · Angela Constance: The pilot, facilitated by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), has received more than 80 applications up until the start of February this year. We are working closely with SCTS to address the issues that have been raised in a minority of these ap…

25 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to support the sustainability and growth of Ayrshire College.

Answer · Graeme Dey: In my recent letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), I made it clear that we expect the SFC to consider the financial sustainability of individual institutions, and needs of learners, as part of any decisions around funding allocations.Franc…