Liam Kerr

13 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response to the claim by the Channel 4 News Fact Check that “it's hard to say how many police officers are actually 'on the beat' in Scotland today.”

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Information on the number of officer deployed in ‘on the beat’ roles is not held centrally. Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the total number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. First published as Offic…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish Scotland-specific standards for a Barnahus model for child victims and witnesses.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate to develop Scotland-specific standards for Barnahus. Draft standards will be shared for consultation at the end of 2019 and publication of finalised standards i…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions and rewards prisons use to support and encourage prisoners in engaging with drug treatment and abstaining from drug misuse.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: SPS does not utilise a system of sanction and reward as a means to encourage engagement with drug treatment. SPS views problem drug us…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it or the Scottish Prison Service has provided guidance to prisons on how to detect and respond to attempts to convey drug-laced paper.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: Operational guidance has been developed to support our staff to better understand how to minimise exposure to unknown substances. As n…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will bring forward legislation to improve forensic medical services for victims of rape and sexual assault.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-24987 on 29 August 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many colposcopes have been installed since March 2017, and how many there will be by April 2020, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Information regarding clinical equipment should be directed to individual NHS Boards.

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Equally Safe Multi-agency Centre for Victims of Gender-based Violence will open.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Equally Safe Multi-Agency Centre (ESMAC) in Edinburgh will bring together experts from child and adult protection, health, police and social work, to provide age-appropriate, wrap-around care for children, young people and adults who have been a victim of…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what communication it has had with Police Scotland regarding the number of patrol cars available to offender management units and the effect that this has on the units’ ability to protect the public.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is in regular contact with Police Scotland and a range of issues are discussed. We are protecting Police Scotland’s revenue budget during this Parliament to deliver a £100 million boost by 2021 and total Scottish Government funding fo…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise standards of online and digital safety in the private and third sectors.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government is delivering, as part of our Cyber Resilience Strategy, bespoke action plans for the private and third sectors which aim to develop a common, aligned approach to cyber resilience across Scotland to ensure all parts of society benefit …

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether roadside drug-testing kits have been delivered to Police Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Procurement of the roadside screening devices for implementation of the Drug Driving (Specified Limits) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 is an operational matter for Police Scotland. However, Scottish Government officials have been in touch with Police Scotland w…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it considers its Miners Strike Review to be relevant to the Victims Taskforce.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There is no direct relevance of the independent Miners’ Strike Review to the work of the Victims Taskforce, to improve support, advice and information for the victims of crime. The Catalogue of Initiatives, which makes reference to the Miners’ Strike Review,…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will bring forward legislation to criminalise the emotional and psychological abuse or neglect of a child.

Answer · Maree Todd: We will shortly publish the analysis report of the responses to the consultation paper " Protecting Children: Review of section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 and section 42 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009" . The consultat…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of its research on juries.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The independent jury research commissioned by the Scottish Government is due to be published on Wednesday 9 October 2019. The Scottish Government is planning to host a launch event for the research on that day, with attendees invited from the legal professio…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce a family law bill.

Answer · Ash Denham: The Children (Scotland) Bill, formerly referred to as the Family Law Bill, was introduced on 2 September 2019. The Family Justice Modernisation Strategy was published on 3 September 2019. This will set out work that is ongoing by Scottish Government and othe…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports of an increase in the number of assaults in prisons.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: SPS has a zero tolerance approach towards violence. SPS staff are trained to recognise and respond to the precursors of violence and m…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on life licence conditions being relaxed after an offender has been out of jail for a certain period of time.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: A person is on life licence until their death. It is not an automatic right to terminate the supervision element of the licence conditions. Supervising officers may submit requests to do so after a period of 10 years or more has elapsed. Termination of superv…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve community payback order completion rates.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Delivering Community Payback Orders (CPOs) and ensuring completion of these orders is the responsibility of the relevant local authority. National completion rates for Community Payback Orders (CPOs) are 70%, as reported in the Criminal Justice Social Work st…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the proportion of community payback orders that include unpaid work or other activities.

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports of an increase in the number of arson incidents in prisons.

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has (a) sought and (b) received regarding the level of expansion of prisoner voting required to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Ministerial Code states that Ministers must not ordinarily divulge either the source or content of legal advice. Legal advice is confidential and it is a very long established convention that legal advice provided to the Scottish Government is no…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been (a) charged, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in each of the last 10 years.

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to resolve its ongoing dispute with prison officers.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: Following several months of positive discussions with the POA(S) regarding prison officers’ pay, SPS made a pay offer on 9 August 2019…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers are armed with Tasers, and what its position is on expanding the number of such officers.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of officers armed with Taser on a day to day basis is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Any plan to increase the number of officers equipped with Taser would be subject to wide consultation by Police Scotland.

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the use of exclusion zones for prisoners on temporary release.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The use of exclusion zones as a licence condition for parole is being considered in light of the public consultation on parole. We will reflect on whether the conclusions of this are applicable to temporary release. In addition, in implementing the Management…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the Scottish Prison Service explicitly takes the safety and welfare of victims and their families into account when making temporary release decisions.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Temporary release is an important part of the rehabilitation process which helps the Parole Board assess whether someone is ready to be released back into the community. It is one of a number of considerations taken into account in assessing the person’s risk…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that victims and/or their families are given the reasons for any temporary release.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We have established the Victims Taskforce to improve the experiences of victims of crime as they interact with the justice system We have also committed to improving the support and information available to victims and their families in relation to temporary …

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to allow the (a) victims and (b) families of victims of non life-sentenced prisoners to make representations before any temporary release.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: For individuals who have joined the Victim Notification Scheme, and have expressed a desire to make representations in relation to licence conditions under section 17 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, Scottish Prison Service will write to seek thei…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) victims and (b) families of victims of life-sentenced prisoners have met the Scottish Prison Service ahead of temporary release in each of the last five years.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: Over the period covered, in the absence of a formal process, no records were kept. However, SPS officials have in the past met informa…

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on ruling out implementing restorative justice as an alternative to prosecution and to allow it to run only in parallel with the current criminal justice processes.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Our vision, as set out in the Restorative Justice Action Plan https://www.gov.scot/publications/restorative-justice-action-plan/ , published in June, is to have restorative justice (RJ) available across Scotland to all those who wish to access it, and at a …

12 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates its stakeholder group on restorative justice has met, and what its terms of reference are.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: As detailed in the Restorative Justice Action Plan https://www.gov.scot/publications/restorative-justice-action-plan/ , published in June 2019, we aim to have stakeholder groups in place by Autumn 2019. We are in the process of establishing these groups.