Parliamentary questions

Roseanna Cunningham

965 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, how it will ensure recruitment standards in privately-operated prisons are as high as in publicly-operated prisons.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29278. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's …

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, how it will ensure that the workforce in privately-operated prisons are no less well paid than in publicly-operated prisons.

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, how it will ensure that the workforce in privately-operated prisons are no less well trained than in publicly-operated prisons.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:This will, like all other inputs, be a matter for the successful tenderers as they will be taking the risks of not delivering the outputs deman…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what steps it will take to ensure that there is not a two-tier workforce in the Scottish Prison Service between the privately-operated and the publ…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The contract will be for the provision of a new service to the Scottish Prison Service delivering about 700 new prisoner places, not the creati…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what specific steps he is taking to improve the management of the Scottish Prison Service.

Answer · Jim Wallace: My statement to Parliament on 5 September (Official Report cols. 13371 to 13375) referred to a number of developments intended to improve performance management, effectiveness and best value in the prison service. These include the Partnership Agreemen…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the commitment given by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice to the Justice 1 Committee on 6 June 2002 (Official Report, col 3821) to reflect on the idea of a not-for-profit trust to own and operate new prisons and to consider whether it could be taken forward, w…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The announcement on 5 September of the Executive's decisions on the Prison Estates Review included a statement that in seeking tenders fo…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it will publish the (a) outline business case or (b) full business case for the private-build, private-operate prison once prepared.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29272 on 11 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available o…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28127 by Mr Jim Wallace on 29 August 2002, whether it is aware of the internal procedures for preventing conflict of interest in PricewaterhouseCoopers and whether these procedures were applied in the case of the prison estates review.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The Scottish Prison Service is satisfied that PricewaterhouseCoopers' procedures for preventing conflict of interest were applied in the case o…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether a public sector comparator will be calculated as part of the business case for the new private-build, private-operate prison.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:A detailed case for procuring a new private-build private-operate prison was set out in the Estates Review consultation paper and supporting do…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what its estimate is of what the contract monitoring costs of the new private-build, private-operate prison will be, including both construction an…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29269. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's …

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it envisages paying non-domestic rates for the new private-build, private-operate prison.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29269 on 11 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available o…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it envisages providing land free of charge or for a peppercorn rent to the new private-build, private-operate prison.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The approach to be taken will be determined as part of work on the detail of the procurement strategy and will be designed to secure value for …

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what criteria it will use to assess the (a) robustness, (b) credibility, (c) competitiveness and (d) value for money of a plan for a privately-buil…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29267 on 11 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available o…

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

Answer · Jim Wallace: The criteria will be those set out in my statement: that is, whether any proposals can consistently thereafter deliver the required number and quality of prisoner places, on time and consistently thereafter in a way that is competitive and delivers value for …

13 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002 and to the remarks by the Minister in the Sunday Herald on 8 September 2002 on market-tested prisons in England, whether it is considering market-te…

Answer · Jim Wallace: No.

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26764 by Cathy Jamieson on 27 June 2002, whether the information requested in respect of 2000-01 is now available.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Information on children residential care for 2000-01 was published on 2 September, and is available via the Scottish Executive website using the link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00191-00.asp. This includes information on children in secure acc…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has commissioned any research relating the performance indicators in the contract for HM Prison Kilmarnock to the level of re-offending on leaving the prison.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:No. The SPS has carried out research into the rates of return to custody but the data is not on a prison specific basis. Details are publ…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what quality indicators it uses to measure the performance of Medacs in delivering medical services in prisons.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer to question S1W-28224 on 2 September 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what performance indicators the pay of the members of the Scottish Prison Service Board is related to.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:The SPS Board, as members of the Senior Civil Service, are set appropriate performance targets following discussion between the individua…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has held, or now holds, on past political activity of members of its staff and staff of the Scottish Prison Service.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:Information on political activities would rarely be held, except in the case where a civil servant had applied for permission to undertak…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any member of staff of the Scottish Prison Service has been offered and/or has received in the last six years any enhancement of salary for concluding or progressing contracts for private prisons and, if so, whether it will provide details.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:Yes. The SPS, in line with Government pay policy operates a system of performance related pay. Separate schemes apply to staff within the…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any member of staff of the Scottish Prison Service has been offered and/or has received in the last three years any enhancement of salary for concluding or progressing the contracting-out of social work services in prisons and, if so, whether it will provide details.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:No. The SPS in line with Government pay policy operates a system of performance related pay. Separate schemes apply to staff within the m…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any member of staff of the Scottish Prison Service has been offered and/or has received in the last three years any enhancement of salary for concluding or progressing the contracting-out of the medical service in prisons and, if so, whether it will provide details.

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28180 by Mr Jim Wallace on 30 August 2002, how the cost of answering question S1W-25568 was calculated and whether it will give a precise definition of the meaning given in this calculation to the terms "direct cost" and "opportunity cost".

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The cost was not calculated as this would itself have incurred considerable expenditure. The cost was guesstimated and the answer therefore sai…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-25569 and S1W-27720 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 May and 14 August 2002 respectively, how incidents of the disciplinary offences of (a) denying an officer access to any part of the prison, (b) intentionally endangering the health or personal safety of o…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The performance measures in Schedule F of the contract relate to the extent to which the contractor is expected to manage events, incidents or …

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-25568 and S1W-27720 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 May and 14 August 2002 respectively, in regard to HM Prison Kilmarnock, why no performance points were incurred in year 1 of the operation of the prison for incidents of hostage taking, given that there w…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:There were no incidents of hostage taking in year one at HM Prison Kilmarnock. Three charges against prisoners of having been in possession of …

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27919 by Mr Jim Wallace on 26 August 2002, how including non-domestic rates in the costing of a public sector prison, but not including non-domestic rates in the costing of a private sector prison represents best value to the taxpayer.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28223 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliam…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27874 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 August 2002, why incidents incurring penalty points under paragraph 2.2(g) of schedule F of the contract for HM Prison Kilmarnock occurring together with incidents incurring penalty points under paragraph 2.2(h) are trea…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:When a prisoner tests positive for more than one substance, the application of multiple disciplinary offences is not in the SPS's view he…

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27920 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 August 2002, how incidents in HM Prison Kilmarnock incurring performance points are recorded when there is no Scottish Prison Service controller present in the prison.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:Serious incidents and significant events are notified immediately to the Duty Controller by telephone if he is not present.

2 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27913 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 August 2002, why the grade of staff is not a relevant consideration for the cost of staff.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:Because the model in question is a cost model and therefore used the cost of staff rather than grades of staff.