Parliamentary questions
Richard Baker
2,136 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
25 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24824 by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009, which quotes the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service statement that “there are a number of prisoners who do not work in many of Scotland’s Prisons”, what its position is and what action it will tak…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The statement accurately reflects the position at the present time.</p> <p >The availability of activity places, including work, i…
25 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24818 by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009, whether it plans to increase the number of places on the Sex Offender Treatment Programme for those deemed eligible.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >It is envisaged that the new Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP) will provide the opportunity to deliver more of these programmes ann…
25 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24818 by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009, when it expects the Scottish Prison Service to (a) complete and (b) roll-out the new Sex Offender Treatment Programme.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The new Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP) is contracted to be completed, including initial training of trainers, by 30 October 200…
25 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average annual prison population was in each of the last three financial years, broken down by institution.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Prison</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td nowrap valign=bottom > <p align=center >Establishment</p> <…
25 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24828 by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009, how many offender development hours were delivered in each of the last three years, broken down by institution.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td nowrap valign=bottom > <p align=center >Establishment</p> </td> <td nowra…
23 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £5.5 million of funding announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in a news release on 23 June 2009 to help deliver swifter and more effective community justice will be allocated to each local authority and how many additional community justice staff it estimates will…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The £5.5 million additional funding for community sentences announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 23 June 2009 will be released in two tranches. £1.5 million is being released in the financial year 2009-10 for the specific purposes of assisting …
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comments by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland reported in The Press and Journal on 11 June 2009 that “inmates from the Aberdeen area are more likely to reoffend if the city is left without a jail” and that “family contact is essential to the rehabili…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >It is widely recognised that family contact is beneficial to the rehabilitation process and it is undoubtedly the case that some people w…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the average number of hours prisoners spend working per week has increased since May 2007.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The SPS does not record this information, in the manner requested.</p> <p >The SPS currently records offender development hours (O…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times per week on average a prisoner engages in work, broken down by prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The SPS does not record this information.</p> <p >I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24825 on 23 June 2009. All ans…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours per week on average a prisoner spends working, broken down by prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The SPS does not record this information.</p> <p >I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24825 on 23 June 2009. All ans…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners engage in work while in prison, broken down by (a) average number of hours per week and (b) prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The SPS does not currently record this information.</p> <p >The key performance indicator, offender development hours, includes so…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comment in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 that “in nearly every prison many prisoners are not working”; what its position is on the comment that “nothing would better equip Scottish prisons for the task of rehabilitation tha…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >There are a number of prisoners who do not work in many of Scotland''s Prisons.</p> <p >The SPS provides work, activity and interv…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of sex offenders it considers to receive adequate preparation prior to release from prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24822 on 23 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on …
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that every sex offender released from prison receives adequate preparation for release while in prison.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Ideally every sex offender would have effectively completed a Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP), would have effectively compl…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comments in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 in relation to sex offenders that there is an “absence of any real testing in the community before release” and that “a cornerstone of the preparation for release of the most seriou…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p align=left >Preparation for release during an individual''s custodial sentence includes, where appropriate, access to opportunities…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the comment in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 that it is “time that research evidence was produced to support a programme which remains the principal resource for addressing the offending behaviour of sex offenders in Scottish pri…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >SPS has monitored and researched its Sex Offender Treatment Programmes (SOTPs) since their introduction in 1994.</p> <p >A study o…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comment in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 in relation to sex offenders that “equally disturbing is the fact that there is very little statistical evidence in the UK that the Sex Offender Treatment Programme makes a differenc…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The Home Office have conducted research on the treatment impact of the Sexual Offending Treatment Programme (SOTP) in England and W…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comment in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 in relation to the Sex Offender Treatment Programme that “for those convicted of the most serious crimes, serving long sentences, the number of spaces available on the programme is t…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Provided a sex offender is prepared to engage on these programmes the majority of sex offenders are able to access Sex Offender Tre…
12 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comments in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 that “sex offenders receive the worst preparation for release” and that “only a relatively small proportion … of long-term sex offenders will have completed the Sex Offender Treatme…
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p align=left >Sex Offenders get some of the best preparation for release of all prisoners held in Scottish prisons in terms of acces…
8 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many black and minority ethnic police officers were serving in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08, broken down by (i) rank, (ii) gender and (iii) the percentage of all police officers that this represents.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Data on the total number of police officers, and the total number of black and minority ethnic police officers, broken down by both rank and gender, is available on the HMICS (Her Majesty''s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland) website, available at: </…
8 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has that “institutional racism does not exist in the police service in Scotland – of that I’m sure” as stated by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to the SemperScotland conference on 1 June 2009.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24641 on 29 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/B…
8 Jun 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the comments made by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 1 June 2009 to the SemperScotland conference that “institutional racism does not exist in the police service in Scotland – of that I’m sure”.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Scottish police forces take their responsibilities under equality regulations extremely seriously, and since the 1999 MacPherson report have sought to ensure they are exemplars in their approach to racial equality. Progress has been made and will continue to…
29 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners in the open estate were serving sentences, broken down by (a) length of sentence and (b) main charge proven, as at May 2009.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >All prisoners held within the open estate are serving sentences the length of which is shown in the following table. This informati…
29 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners in the open estate were serving (a) life, (b) long-term and (c) short-term sentences, as at May 2009.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >As of 31 May 2009 there were 44 prisoners serving a life sentence (including life recalls), 205 prisoners serving a long-term sentence (o…
29 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive at what date and time government officials first became aware that prisoner John Burt Brown had absconded from HMP Castle Huntly on 27 May 2009.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The SPS HQ was advised of the abscond of John Burt Brown at 4.45 pm on Wednesday 27 May 2009.</p>
29 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive at what date and time the Cabinet Secretary for Justice first became aware that prisoner John Burt Brown had absconded from HMP Castle Huntly on 27 May 2009.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The office of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice was advised of the abscond at approximately 5pm on Wednesday 27 May 2009.</p>
29 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive at what date and time the First Minister first became aware that prisoner John Burt Brown had absconded from HMP Castle Huntly open prison on 27 May 2009.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >The office of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice was advised of the abscond at approximately 5pm on Wednesday 27 May 2009. I believe that …
28 May 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in the provision of affordable housing in the north east.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has in 2009-10 announced £36.273 million to support the start on site this year of 256 affordable homes in the four council areas in the north east constituency.</p> <p >In addition we awarded £850,000 to help with the council house n…
27 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether class sizes in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Aberdeen have decreased since May 2007.
Answer · Keith Brown: Information on class sizes in secondary schools is not routinely collected. In primary the average primary class size has risen from 23.7 in September 2006 to 24.7 in September 2008. It is clear that Aberdeen City Council faces a substantial financial challen…
27 May 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Aberdeen City Council has maintained (a) primary and (b) secondary teacher numbers since May 2007.
Answer · Keith Brown: Information on the number of teachers employed in Aberdeen can be found in the statistical bulletin <i >Teachers in Scotland 2008</i> published on 24 March 2008 and can be found at the following link <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/270926/008…