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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 15 August 2025
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Displaying 2341 contributions

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Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Willie Coffey

Could you give us a wee example of that? Are developers saying, “Yes, we can comply with this overarching requirement, but we need extra resource and funding”? What exactly are they saying?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Willie Coffey

I do not think that there any more comments on 20-minute neighbourhoods and how they are shaping developers’ proposals, so thanks very much for your comments. I know that colleagues will want to come back in on some of these areas.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Willie Coffey

Do Tony Cain and Donna Young want to comment on 20-minute neighbourhoods? Are we embracing the concept fully or partially?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Willie Coffey

Thank you.

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

Meeting date: 2 May 2024

Willie Coffey

Good morning, everybody. Allister, the statistics that you read out are encouraging, but I want to put to you a point that David Jones, GEOAmey’s managing director, made when he appeared before us. He talked about the increased obligation on GEOAmey. He said, for example, that it had to deal with 44 per cent more solemn cases, 35 per cent more bed watches and 38 per cent higher costs, and that 60 per cent more people were involved in hospital appointments than was the case prior to the pandemic.

As I understand it, those increases in the numbers and in the demands that were placed on GEOAmey were never specified in the contract, but we still imposed penalties on GEOAmey for not meeting those increased obligations and higher targets. Was it fair to not specify increased targets and, at the same, to penalise the company for not meeting them?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

Meeting date: 2 May 2024

Willie Coffey

Why would penalties be enforced at all if such flexibility was built into the agreement?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

Meeting date: 2 May 2024

Willie Coffey

In summary, there is a direct correlation between performance improvements and the number of staff who are available to implement those improvements. I needed to put that point to you, because Mr Jones made it to us.

I turn to the point that my colleague Graham Simpson asked about—the fact that seven prisons are at red status. Are they at red status because of the numbers? Are the numbers in a prison the main driver for that, or is it to do with conditions or capacity?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

Meeting date: 2 May 2024

Willie Coffey

It sounds as though you need to take a range of actions to bring those seven prisons back from the brink—back from red status. Do you have the flexibility, the freedom of resource and so on to bring those prisons back from that red status?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

Meeting date: 2 May 2024

Willie Coffey

I will ask Neil Rennick about that directly. What is the Scottish Government doing to address that and to pull those seven prisons back from red status? I am glad to hear that Kilmarnock prison is not one of them, by the way.

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

Meeting date: 2 May 2024

Willie Coffey

Can I pin you down and ask, on behalf of the public, when you anticipate the seven prisons being pushed back from red status?