Michael Matheson

4 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many copies of the summary document of Recording Our Achievements were produced and what the (a) production and (b) distribution costs were.

Answer · Andy Kerr: In total, 93,000 copies of <I>Recording our Achievements</I>: <I>A Summary</I> were produced for distribution at a cost of £15,747. Of the 93,000 copies, 1,711 were distributed with the main <I>Recording our Achievements</I> document; therefore, the costs for…

3 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22603 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 February 2002, how many summary criminal cases were called for trial in (a) Scotland and (b) each sheriff court district and how many such cases were adjourned to another trial date.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The following table sets out for 2002 the number of summary criminal trials which were called in court for trial, and the number which were adjourned to another date for a variety of reasons.<P>Summary Trial Adjournments 2002<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPA…

3 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33010 by Mr Jim Wallace on 31 January 2003, why information on the number of sheriff court cases adjourned on the day of commencement is not held centrally, given that the number of summary criminal cases called for trial and the number adjourned to …

Answer · Jim Wallace: The original parliamentary question asked for information on the number of sheriff court cases adjourned on the day of commencement and the reasons for these adjournments. Such information is not held centrally. However, detailed information on summary crimin…

31 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to send any representatives to the EU conference, Towards an Effective Policy on Drugs: Policy Choices, Scientific Facts and Day-to-Day Practice, in Athens on 6 to 8 March 2003 and, if so, of what grade and department each such representative will be.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive will not be sending representatives to the EU Conference in Athens on 6 to 8 March. The Home Office, which leads for the UK on international drugs policy issues, is sending a small delegation, which will represent UK interests. Although…

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32525 by Hugh Henry on 29 January 2003, when the Scottish Prison Service will submit the appropriate planning notification for the construction of a new prison to the relevant authority.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>When a suitable site has been identified and the necessary information is available to support a planning application.

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32358 by Hugh Henry on 17 January 2003, what the (a) estate development budget and (b) budget for cost of capital has been in (i) 1997-98, (ii) 1998-99, (iii) 1999-2000, (iv) 2000-01, (v) 2001-02 and (vi) 2002-03 to date and what the expenditure outt…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The available information is:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=595><TR><TD WIDTH="24%" VALIGN="TOP" ROWSPAN=2><P>Expenditure</TD>…

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32358 by Hugh Henry on 17 January 2003, what the total delegated budget has been for each prison and young offenders institution in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99, (c) 1999-2000, (d) 2000-01, (e) 2001-02 and (f) 2002-03 to date and what the expenditure out…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The available information is as shown in the following table.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=604><TR><TD WIDTH="39%" VALIGN="TO…

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32863 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 16 January 2003, why information on abortions performed in order to save the life of the woman is only available from 1991, given that recording the grounds on which an abortion is being carried out has been required sin…

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Until 1990, all emergency abortions were recorded together, making it impossible to distinguish between those carried out to save the lives of the women and those carried out to prevent grave permanent injury to their health. <P>The grounds for legal abortion…

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30372 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 November 2002, what the total number of injuries to prisoners reportable to the Health and Safety Executive at all prisons, including HM Prison Kilmarnock, was in each of the last five years and in 2002-03 to date.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The available information for the last five years, and for the period 1 April 2002 to 31 December 2003, is contained in the following table: <T…

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30372 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 November 2002, how many injuries have occurred in each prison that were reportable to the Health and Safety Executive in 2002-03 to date.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The available information is as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=160><TR><TD WIDTH="72%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Aberdeen</TD><T…

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of injuries reportable to the Health and Safety Executive at HM Prison Kilmarnock is included in the figures shown on page 9 of the Scottish Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts 2001-02.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>No.

30 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25950 by Mr Jim Wallace on 17 May 2002, why it discontinued its key ministerial target for the Scottish Prison Service relating to the number of injuries reportable to the Health and Safety Executive.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The action was taken because it was becoming apparent that the target introduced in 2000-01 was no longer a reliable indicator of performance. Moreover, targets had been introduced by the Health and Safety Commission in their publication <I>Revitalising Healt…

29 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-32797 and S1W-32400 by Patricia Ferguson and Mr Jim Wallace on 21 and 20 January 2003 respectively, how the answer to S1W-32400 which states that legal advice was obtained is consistent with the answer to S1W-32797 which states that by long-standin…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The <I>Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information</I> indicates that certain categories of information are exempt from the commitment to provide information, including internal discussion and advice. <P>By longstanding convention, the genera…

29 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-33093 and S1W-32973 by Cathy Jamieson and Mr Jim Wallace on 22 and 20 January 2003 respectively, how it was able to state the percentage of inmates that have mental problems and the number that are in receipt of prescribed psychiatric medication at…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The information provided which is an approximation, is based on data collected locally at HM Young Offenders Institute Polmont but at no other …

29 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-32815 and S1W-32816 by Hugh Henry on 13 January 2003, whether there has been any case where an incident at HM Prison Kilmarnock has been recorded as a serious assault for the purposes of the Scottish Prison Service's key performance indicators, but…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Yes, for the reasons set out in the question.

29 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have (a) had proceedings taken against them for and (b) received (i) an adjudication or (ii) a criminal conviction for violence at HM Prison Kilmarnock in each quarter since the prison came into operation.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The number of cases dealt with in the orderly room has been:<P>Year 1 (including opening months): 3,200<P>Year 2: 4,300<P>Year 3: 4,100<P…

10 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions the controller of HM Prison Kilmarnock has agreed that a cell may be shared by two prisoners under section 23.4.1 of the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited for the Design, Construction, Management an…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Once, on 24 July 2000.

9 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30033 by Mr Jim Wallace on 4 November 2002, how many prisoners have (a) been offered and (b) received immunisation for hepatitis A in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The information requested is not available.

9 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take in the light of the conclusion of the Evaluation of the Scottish Prison Service's Tendering Process for Social Work Contracts that "contracting between public bodies for services that are themselves complex and reflect high levels of inter-connectivity may no…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Overall, the evaluation concluded that while these contracts were working better than the previous arrangements, they could be improved f…

9 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the decision on whether to contract out a service in the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) lies with the Chief Executive of the SPS and when it lies with Scottish Ministers.

Answer · Jim Wallace: As an Executive Agency, the SPS operates under a framework document, the text of which is available on SPS's website at: <A HREF="www.sps.gov.uk">www.sps.gov.uk. </A>Paragraph 3.1 of that Document says that &quot;The Chief Executive is responsible and account…

9 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sheriff court cases in (a) Scotland and (b) each sheriff court were adjourned on the day of commencement in 2002 and what the reasons for any such adjournment were.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

8 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-21191, S1W-30022 and S1W-30032 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 January, 16 October and 10 October 2002 respectively, how performance of the contractor to provide primary care medical services in prisons is measured, given that its contract for the provisio…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The Scottish Prison Service's medical services contract monitoring group meets regularly to review performance against the contract which conta…

8 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29924 by Mr Jim Wallace on 8 October 2002, whether, as part of the procurement process for prison health care services, any consideration was given to (a) the provision of services by the NHS (b) the provision of services otherwise by the public sect…

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Expressions of interest in providing primary care medical services within prisons were sought from a range of providers, including Primary Care…

8 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30022 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 October 2002, whether the new standards for health care of prisoners to be completed by March 2003 will enable current performance of health care in prisons to be monitored against those standards.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Yes.

8 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30022 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 October 2002, what difficulties arose in auditing compliance with Standards of Health Care for Prisoners.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Some of the standards as currently written are difficult to measure compliance against.

8 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30686 by Mr Jim Wallace on 25 November 2002, what the reasons are other than the changing prison population for there being no information available on the number of prisoners that have a mental illness requiring medical treatment.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>No records are held centrally on the number of individual prisoners requiring drug treatment, group therapy or one to one interventions for men…

8 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30674 by Mr Andy Kerr on 13 November 2002, what its planned expenditure on advertising is for each month from January to April 2003.

Answer · Andy Kerr: It is not possible to breakdown total advertising expenditure for each month from January to March because items such as production and printing will, in some cases, have been invoiced and paid for in previous months. While some campaign expenditure has yet t…

8 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29517 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 October 2002, how many prisoner complaints were made with regard to medical treatment in prisons in 2002.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Three hundred and forty-one.

23 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the definition of a persistent young offender in National Standards for Scotland's Youth Justice Services supersedes the definition contained in Spending Proposals 2003-06 - Technical Notes.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Yes.

23 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many abortions have been performed since 1967 under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967 and how many of these have been performed in order to save the life of the pregnant women under section 1(1) of the act, expressed also in percentage of the total number of abortions.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Information on abortions performed in Scotland under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967 are published annually by the Information and Statistics Division (ISD) of NHS Scotland. Figures can be accessed at the following link:<P><A HREF="http://www.show.sco…