John Wilson

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8352 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 January 2008, whether the secondments from the Scottish Prison Service will be subject to review and, if so, when.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >Current information is that the following will be subject to review as indicated:</p> <p >HM Inspectorate of Prisons - One (from October …

29 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8352 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 January 2008, when each of the secondments from the Scottish Prison Service started and how long they are expected to last.

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 > <thead> <tr > <td valign=top > <p align=left >Organisation</p> </td> <td valig…

17 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any variance has been made to the budget for prisoner escort duties and, if so, when the variance was agreed; how much extra expenditure is projected to the end of 2011-12, and how many prisoner movements the revised estimates envisage in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and …

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>To date, there has been no variationsto the annual budget set by SPS for this contract.</p><p>In determining any additionalexpenditure,…

17 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the contract awarded to Reliance for prisoner escort duties is still operating to the original budget set.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>Expenditure to date has beenwithin the agreed annual budget each year since the contract went live.</p>

17 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any revisions to the volume bandings at which prisoner movements are reimbursed in the contract for prisoner escort duties with Reliance.

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>Additional bandings have beenadded to reflect the increased volume of prisoner movements. The contract variationis available on the SPS…

17 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any revisions to the financial penalties for breach of performance thresholds in the contract for prisoner escort duties with Reliance.

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 term “financial penalties”is not used in the contract. Service credits are applied where performance failureoccurs. The minimum threshold…

17 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any revision to the performance thresholds in the contract for prisoner escort duties with Reliance.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>There have been no revisionsto the minimum threshold standards within the PECCS contract.</p>

10 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the number of secondments that currently operate in relation to Scottish Prison Service staff.

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 no plans to reviewthe number of secondments that currently operate in relation to SPS staff.</p>

10 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the salaries and positions of employees of the Scottish Prison Service who are currently on secondment.

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 Grades (Bands) and salariesof the SPS staff who are currently seconded to external organisations are as follows:</p><table bord…

10 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the nature is of the Scottish Prison Service’s relationship with the International Corrections and Prisons Association.

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 Scottish Prison Service isa national member of the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA).</p>

10 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees of the Scottish Prison Service are currently on secondment and to which organisations they are seconded.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>There are six SPS staff currentlyseconded to other organisations. The organisations are: Inspectorate of Prisons(two staff), The Wise Group (…

9 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the role of the Scottish Prison Service was in relation to an incident at HM Prison Kilmarnock on 4 January 2008.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:</p><p>The SPS were made fullyaware of the incident at HM Prison Kilmarnock on 4 January 2008. The SPS played no active role onsite in relation to the…

9 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the event of prison staff needing assistance to deal with internal violent incidents, it is normal practice for staff to be deployed from other prisons to provide such assistance.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:</p><p>Yes and contingency plansexist to enable this.</p>

9 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures were undertaken to transfer responsibility from Premier Prison Service's management to Strathclyde Police in respect of an incident in HM Prison Kilmarnock on 4 January 2008.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:</p><p>The management of theincident on 4 January 2008 remained the responsibility of SERCO and theincident was brought to a successful conclusion wit…

9 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive in what capacity Strathclyde Police assisted Premier Prison Service’s management at an incident in HM Prison Kilmarnock on 4 January 2008.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>Strathclyde Police attended thecommand room within HM Prison Kilmarnock as part of the nationally agreed IncidentCommand Protocol in order to…

9 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it was informed that Strathclyde Police had been called out to HM Prison Kilmarnock on 4 January 2008 to quell a disturbance.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>Strathclyde police were not calledout to HM Prison Kilmarnock on 4 January 2008 to quell a disturbance. In line with the Nationally AgreedMem…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff from local authorities are seconded to the Improvement Service.

Answer · John Swinney: This is a matter for the Improvement Service and individual local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.</p>

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the nature of its relationship is with the Improvement Service.

Answer · John Swinney: The Improvement Service (IS) exists to support local authorities in their drive towards continuous improvement in service delivery. It was set up as a company limited by guarantee in 2005 by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Society of…

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff are seconded to the Improvement Service and vice versa.

Answer · John Swinney: Two core Scottish Government staff are seconded to the Improvement Service. One Improvement Service employee is on secondment to the Scottish Government.<i ></i></p>

7 Jan 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has contributed to the Improvement Service since 2003-04.

Answer · John Swinney: The Improvement Service was set up in 2005. From 2005-06 to 2007-08 the Scottish Government provided £4.5 million in core funding. From 2008-09, this funding has been transferred to local government. The Scottish Government also provided £5.7 million for spec…

20 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much is being allocated under the spending review to service repayment schemes for PFI/PPP contracts established since 1999.

Answer · John Swinney: Specific amounts to repay PFI/PPPcontracts form part of broader allocations in the spending review for public servicesand investment. For example, in the case of local authorities, as agreed throughthe Concordat, the local government settlement is now all-emb…

13 Dec 2007 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide a breakdown of staff employed across its directorates by (a) nationality and (b) gender in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006 and (iii) 2007.

Answer · Mike Pringle: <p class=MsoHeader>The breakdown of staffemployed across directorates by nationality and gender in 2007 is shown below. Thesystem we currently operate does not facilitate the provision of accurate datafor previous years as we operate on a one year timeframe a…

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recommendation of NHS Lanarkshire to change patients’ medication to Tabphyn PR in its medical practices was subject to any detailed evaluation study or monitoring mechanisms.

Answer · Shona Robison: Any such change to apatient’s medication will be made by the clinician responsible for their carewho will consider whether this is suitable for the patient.</p><p>NHS Lanarkshire has advisedthat in this instance, each patient was informed of the change by let…

13 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was consulted on patients in Lanarkshire medical practices who receive Flomaxtra XL or Flomax MR having their medication changed to Tabphyn PR.

Answer · Shona Robison: Decisions on which medicinesare included in local formularies are matters for NHS boards taking intoaccount advice from the Scottish Medicines Consortium.</p><p>Flomaxtra XL and Flomax MRare proprietary names for tamsulosin hydrochloride, a medicine used in t…

6 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussion it has had with North Lanarkshire Council in respect of future school building provision, with reference to the Scottish Futures Trust.

Answer · Maureen Watt: There have been discussionswith various parts of the public sector about the potential for the Scottish FuturesTrust to assist with the delivery of major public infrastructure. There are alsoperiodic discussions between Scottish Government officials and indiv…

21 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average financial cost is of answering written parliamentary questions.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: The average financial cost of answering a written parliamentary question is £65.18. As this figure has not been updated since 2002 we are currently now reviewing the cost calculation.</p>

2 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what will happen to the information gathered during the police operation at Central Station, Glasgow, on 31 October 2007 under section 44(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: I understand the operationwas carried out by the British Transport Police (BTP). The Scottish Government hasno functions in relation to BTP. However, under the 2000 Act BTP are required to send informationon all stops and searches that take place and the ethn…

2 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications are of the police operation at Central Station, Glasgow, on 31 October 2007 under section 44(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Governmenthas no functions in relation to British Transport Police and we were not informedabout this operation.</p>

24 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding has been allocated to the 218 Centre in each year since it was established.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Funding of the 218Centre in Glasgow is provided through Section 27 of the SocialWork (Scotland) Act 1968 and paid to Glasgow City Councilas the commissioning authority. The allocations for each of the financial yearsis set out as follows:</p><table border=1 c…

24 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how effective the 218 Centre has been in the rehabilitation of female prisoners and whether there are plans for a detailed evaluation of the centre in addition to the report of April 2006.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The initial evaluationof the 218 Centre, published in April 2006, reported that the centre had delivereda number of benefits for the target group, including:</p><p>Reductions or cessationsin offending;</p><p>Reductions in druguse and/or the levels of medicati…