Parliamentary questions

Alison McInnes

1,004 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

11 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what improvements to (a) food service, (b) access to shower facilities, (c) the provision of purposeful activities and (d) confidentiality at the medical facilities have been made at HMP Polmont since its follow-up inspection in 2014.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: (a) What improvements have been made to food service? Results from the 2015 Prisoner (Young People) Survey show an improving position acr…

11 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are being made to ensure the continuity of programmes and educational study for HMP Cornton Vale prisoners moving to HMP Polmont.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “I refer to the response to parliamentary question S4W-29929 on 24 February 2016. Services women would be expected to receive at HMP Cornton…

11 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what changes are planned to the current regime at HMP Polmont to deliver appropriate services for the prisoners coming from HMP Cornton Vale.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “Services women would be expected to receive at HMP Cornton Vale will be replicated at HM YOI Polmont. Where this is not possible in every …

11 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are being put in place to accommodate the prisoners currently held at HMP Cornton Vale in preparation for its closure and whether any prisoners will continue to be housed on the site once the building works for the new prison have started.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: ‘As was previously confirmed by the Cabinet Secretary in his announcement of 11 February 2016, a large number of the women in HMP Cornton Va…

11 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether HMP Polmont or HMP Cornton Vale will hold the mother and baby unit after prisoners are moved from HMP Cornton Vale.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: “Mothers and their babies will continue to be held at HMP & YOI Cornton Vale however it should be noted that HMP Grampian also has mother an…

10 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government further to the answers to questions S4W-25353, S4W-26131, S4W-27521 and S4W-28458 by John Swinney on 7 May 2015, 7 July 2015, 29 September 2015 and 2 December 2015 respectively, on what date it will publish its response to the consultation on proposed amendments to the National Health Se…

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28458 on 2 December 2015, I will provide to Parliament our analysis of the consultation in due course. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facili…

10 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-28457 by John Swinney on 2 December 2015, whether a privacy champion has now been appointed to the NHS Central Register Governance Board.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: National Records of Scotland (NRS) appointed five new non-executive directors on 1 February 2016. One of these appointments will have a particular role in information governance and privacy across NRS, including through the NHS Central Register Governance Boa…

10 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-28458 by John Swinney on 2 December 2015, with which public sector bodies it has held discussions since the consultation on proposed amendments to the National Health Service Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006 closed.

Answer · John Swinney: The public sector bodies that have been involved in discussions on the consultation include: the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and Disclosure Scotland. As the need arises further public bodies will be included in the discussion.

10 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times each day it expects that the NHS central register will be shared with other organisations if access is extended under its proposed amendments to the National Health Service Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Answer · John Swinney: No decisions have been taken that would give rise to such an eventuality.

10 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that information on the NHS central register has been shared 20 million times in the last 10 years and whether it will provide a breakdown of the (a) public bodies that have accessed this information, (b) number of times each body accessed it and (c) reaso…

Answer · John Swinney: National Records of Scotland are responsible for the NHS Central Register (NHSCR) and have published the details of (a) which public bodies have requested information from the NHSCR (b) the access type that was granted and (c) the reason for the access. This …

10 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions it has taken more than a year to publish its response following the closure of a public consultation and what proportion of total consultations this represents.

Answer · John Swinney: The information requested is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Consultations and published responses are available on the Scottish Government website: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/.

9 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to support service providers affected by (a) access issues in relation to mental health services, (b) offender use of new psychoactive substances, (b) access to stable housing for offenders and (c) a lack of information from other agencies, as identified in the re…

Answer · Michael Matheson: It is clear from the Community Payback Order (CPO) annual reports received from local authorities that they are putting considerable effort into delivering robust, effective CPOs which enable payback to communities and help to address the underlying causes of…

9 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that community payback orders should be more widely used as an alternative to imprisonment based on the feedback from communities and offenders in the report, Community Payback Order: Scottish Government Summary of Local Authority Annual Reports 2014-15.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is committed to reducing the rate of imprisonment in Scotland – particularly the use of short-term imprisonment. Shifting the emphasis towards greater use of robust community sentences, in particular Community Payback Orders (CPOs), wi…

9 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its position is and (b) action it is taking to tackle the potential systemic problems and some actual reported problems with access to legal services in relation to (i) protective orders in cases of domestic abuse and (b) access to judicial review (housing), as identified in the…

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-29859 on 9 March 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusi…

9 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its position is on and (b) action it is taking to tackle the potential systemic problems of access to legal services in relation to protective orders in cases of antisocial behaviour and contentious pensions, unfair dismissal and redundancy matters as identified in the Scottish …

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) published its fourth report on monitoring of availability and accessibility of legal services on 4 February 2016 in line with its statutory duty set out in the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010. The report reflects on data…

9 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its position is on and (b) action it is taking to tackle the high level of probability of systemic access issues regarding contentious welfare and benefit issues in relation to mental health, as identified in the Scottish Legal Aid report, Monitoring of availability and accessib…

9 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its position is on and (b) action it is taking to tackle the medium level of probability of systemic problems, and actual instances of problems, with access to legal services in relation to (i) homelessness and (ii) contentious repossession of rented and owned property, as ident…

9 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the suggestion in relation to community payback orders that when a mental health treatment requirement was imposed "the effect was that services were more joined up and communicated more effectively which resulted in a better outcome for the individual involved" a…

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government recognises that the imposition of a mental health treatment requirement under a Community Payback Order (CPO) can assist in supporting multi-agency working. We also recognise that the mental health treatment requirement is used less o…

4 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will (a) publish an analysis of responses to the consultation on proposals to strengthen the presumption against short prison sentences and (b) set out how it plans to proceed, and what discussions it has had on this matter.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I am grateful to everyone who submitted a response to the consultation on proposals to strengthen the presumption against short sentences. We consulted on these proposals because it is important to have a wide range of views to inform our approach to the issu…

3 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what data protection protocols have been implemented to ensure that the information contained in the Blue Badge holder database is not accessed inappropriately.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Blue Badge Improvement Service system is a secure web based database which allows local authorities to access data on the badges that they have issued. Other local authorities and Police Scotland are able to access limited, non-personal data, to help with…

3 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many job vacancies there are in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS); how many of these have been open for (a) less than a month, (b) one-two months, (c) three-four months and (d) over four months, broken down by (i) frontline staff and (ii) support staff and (iii) SFRS divisi…

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: This information is not held by Scottish Government. The allocation of resources, both people and equipment, is a matter for the board of the SFRS. The SFRS does undertake regular recruitment for both operational and support staff, as dictated by the need of …

3 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which Scottish Fire and Rescue Service divisions are experiencing frontline staff shortages; how long these have lasted; what impact they have had on the availability of fire appliances at any one time, and when they will be resolved.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: This information is not held by Scottish Government. The allocation of resources, both people and equipment, is a matter for the board of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). The SFRS does undertake regular recruitment for both operational and support…

1 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice’s recent report recommending that children should no longer be prosecuted in adult courts.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Preventing Offending: Getting it right for children and young people is our national youth justice strategy, published in June 2015. Among that strategy’s priorities is supporting timely and effective interventions to minimise the number of children in the cr…