Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for ��˿�� to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-09102

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to ensure public accountability of professional associations, such as the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, which are wholly or partially funded from the public purse.

Any organisation in receipt of Scottish Government funding will be subject to conditions of grant attached to that funding.

A copy of the Memorandum of Understanding between ACPOS and the Scottish Government agreed in October 2007 setting out the provisions governing the payment of grant-in-aid to ACPOS is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 44794).

On 1 April 2007, ACPOS became an incorporated company limited by guarantee. This means that it has responsibilities under the Companies Acts 1985 and 1989 to register its memorandum and articles and to produce annual accounts.

Question reference: S3W-09093

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many attempted prisoner escapes have been identified and prevented by prison authorities in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table illustrates the number of instances of attempted escape. Reliable data is not available prior to 2001.

Incident Establishment Name	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Grand Total
Aberdeen		1			2	2		5
Barlinnie			1	2	1			4
Cornton Vale	1				1		2	4
Edinburgh	1	2		1	1	1		6
Glenochil Prison	1			1				2
Kilmarnock		1				1		2
Low Moss	1	1	2	1		2	1	8
Perth	1	1			4	1	2	9
Peterhead						1		1
Polmont		5	2	2		1	1	11
Shotts		1						1
Grand Total	5	12	5	7	9	9	6	53

Question reference: S3W-09087

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners were assaulted in Scottish prisons while (a) on remand and (b) serving their sentence in each year since 1999, broken down by gender and category of assault.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table illustrates the total number of assaults broken down by establishment and gender. Reliable data is not available prior to 2001, neither is it possible to distinguish between remand and convicted.

Establishment	Prisoner Gender	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Grand Total
Aberdeen	F	1	4	��	��	1	��	��	��	6
��	M	19	30	21	12	30	32	20	2	166
Barlinnie	M	55	77	47	34	51	62	60	8	394
Castle Huntly	M	1	��	��	��	��	3	��	��	4
Cornton Vale	F	11	8	8	7	31	22	32	1	120
Dumfries	M	6	10	17	8	17	18	29	��	105
Edinburgh	M	32	41	51	51	52	80	66	7	380
Glenochil Prison	M	14	8	13	15	15	15	20	5	105
Glenochil YOI	M	3	9	2	��	��	��	��	��	14
Greenock	F	��	1	3	6	1	��	��	��	11
��	M	8	10	10	30	21	25	22	3	129
Inverness	M	��	��	��	2	12	13	17	��	44
Kilmarnock	M	18	31	16	21	41	38	49	11	225
Low Moss	M	4	19	9	14	19	16	6	��	87
Noranside	M	��	1	��	1	2	��	��	��	4
Open Estate	M	��	��	��	��	��	��	1	��	1
Perth	M	10	33	53	92	59	37	59	8	351
Peterhead	M	8	4	3	2	4	8	10	��	39
Polmont	M	24	51	95	151	151	145	141	10	768
Shotts	M	6	10	13	10	15	14	11	1	80
Grand Total		220	347	361	456	522	528	543	56	3,033

Question reference: S3W-09096

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents there have been involving the recovery of illegal drugs by prison officers carrying out searches of prisoner accommodation and prisoners in each year since 1999, broken down by category of drug recovered and prison.

Incident Establishment Name	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Grand Total
Aberdeen	13	68	52	35	41	20	29	4	262
Barlinnie	128	146	168	200	265	307	378	40	1,632
Castle Huntly	2	5	13	17	37	79	19	��	172
Cornton Vale	46	79	52	58	94	83	106	4	522
Dumfries	5	12	31	23	20	22	33	2	148
Edinburgh	112	231	309	231	265	219	215	38	1,620
Glenochil Prison	79	93	69	98	116	114	137	15	721
Glenochil YOI	13	21	4	��	��	��	��	��	38
Greenock	27	51	50	85	71	80	64	8	436
Inverness	1	1	��	��	1	18	12	1	34
Kilmarnock	79	86	123	171	236	333	226	30	1,284
Low Moss	80	71	66	89	102	68	25	��	501
Noranside	2	2	4	24	23	22	5	��	82
Open Estate	��	��	��	��	��	��	48	8	56
Perth	44	94	103	182	202	163	130	14	932
Peterhead	4	2	2	3	1	9	5	��	26
Polmont	32	71	53	163	157	102	99	20	697
Shotts	68	29	47	65	154	135	90	15	603
Grand Total	735	1,062	1,146	1,444	1,785	1,774	1,621	199	9,766

Question reference: S3W-09094

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many weapons have been recovered from (a) prisoner accommodation and (b) prisoners following searches by prison authorities in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table displays the total number of weapons recovered in each SPS establishment. Reliable data is not available prior to 2001. Records do not distinguish between finds in accommodation and on persons.

Establishment	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Aberdeen	��	��	2	2	10	7	5	2
Barlinnie	��	12	13	11	31	60	64	5
Castle Huntly	��1	��	1	��	1	2	��	��
Cornton Vale	��	��	��	7	16	10	13	��
Dumfries	��	��	��	1	13	1	16	4
Edinburgh	46	111	61	46	31	48	76	4
Glenochil	1	32	34	20	16	25	30	1
Greenock	��	6	6	14	9	31	21	3
Inverness	8	4	2	3	4	7	1	��
Kilmarnock	��	36	85	31	30	53	66	5
Low Moss	1	16	7	8	15	16	1	��
Noranside	��	��	��	��	��	2	��	��
Open Estate	��	��	��	��	��	��	4	��
Peterhead	��	��	��	��	��	2	��	��
Polmont	��	4	118	125	133	104	82	1
Perth	��	��	3	23	61	46	80	4
Shotts	32	31	30	34	48	34	18	7
Grand Total	89	252	362	325	418	448	477	36

Question reference: S3W-09095

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many weapons that individuals have attempted to smuggle into prison have been recovered by prison authorities for each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The SPS does not record where weapons are specifically recovered from visitors. Any such recovery is included in the overall weapon find count.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9094 on 20 February 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at .

Question reference: S3W-09101

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was received in public funds by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland in each year since 1999.

Information on Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) accounts is held by the Association. The Scottish Government has contributed to the costs of the association''s secretariat. Details of the amounts involved are as follows:

Scottish Government Funding to ACPOS, 1998-99 to 2007-08

Year	Amount (£000)
1998-99	152
1999-2000	146
2000-01	142
2001-02	145
2002-03	185
2003-04	155
2004-05	267
2005-06	231
2006-07	224
2007-08	314

Question reference: S3W-09140

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what role the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has in monitoring large-scale poultry developments and planning requests that lie in the path of migratory birds.

Question reference: S3W-09103

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many official protocols have been agreed between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and government agencies and departments responsible for administering justice in Scotland in each year since 1999 and what the protocols are.

Eleven formal protocols have been agreed between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Services (COPFS). These protocols are:

ACPOS/COPFS Protocol on Disclosure of Evidential Material in Criminal Prosecutions, February 2007;

COPFS/ACPOS/Scottish Executive/Scottish Prison Service/Scottish Court Service (SCS)/District Courts Association Protocol on the Prioritisation of Warrants in the Scottish Criminal Justice System, April 2007;

Work Related Death Protocol “ COPFS/ACPOS/Health and Safety Executive/British Transport Police, January 2006;

COPFS and ACPOS Protocol in relation to Search Warrants, December 2005;

COPFS National Forensic Science Protocol, February 2004;

ACPOS and COPFS Joint Protocol on Police Reports, 2004;

COPFS and Police Protocol for witness citation targets, May 2004;

Joint Protocol between ACPOS and COPFS on Domestic Abuse, November 2004;

COPFS and ACPOS Family Liaison Protocol April 2003;

Protocol between COPFS/SCS/ACPOS for Instruction of interpreters for criminal court diets, February 2002, and

ACPOS/Crown Office Major Intelligence led Crime Investigations protocol, November 2001.

Question reference: S3W-09142

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed in the poultry industry, broken down by local authority area.

Information on the total number of people employed throughout all parts of the poultry industry is not available in the Scottish Government.

Information is available from the June Agricultural Census on the number of people working on specialist poultry holdings¹. The following table shows the number of people working full-time and part-time on 1 June 2007 by local authority area, and includes occupiers, spouses, family members, employees as well as casual and seasonal workers.

Local Authority	Holdings	Workers
Aberdeen City	*	*
Aberdeenshire	231	254
Angus	28	49
Argyll and Bute	64	76
Clackmannanshire	9	30
Dumfries and Galloway	129	212
Dundee City	0	0
East Ayrshire	29	48
East Dunbartonshire	7	17
East Lothian	14	50
East Renfrewshire	*	*
Edinburgh (City of)	*	*
Eilean Siar	73	52
Falkirk	18	33
Fife	69	228
Glasgow City	0	0
Highland	227	194
Inverclyde	*	*
Midlothian	8	23
Moray	40	48
North Ayrshire	27	43
North Lanarkshire	12	15
Orkney Islands	60	43
Perth and Kinross	71	148
Renfrewshire	*	*
Scottish Borders	79	317
Shetland Islands	23	23
South Ayrshire	28	29
South Lanarkshire	44	46
Stirling	34	45
West Dunbartonshire	9	12
West Lothian	27	59
Scotland	1,374	2,124

Source: June 2007 Agricultural Census.

Notes:

* - Indicates cell suppressed to prevent disclosure of information about individual holdings

1. A specialist poultry holding is classified as one where poultry accounts for more than two-thirds of that holding''s economic activities. Consequently, there will be some workers involved in poultry production on other holdings which are not included in these results. Data from the June Agricultural Census show that 89% of poultry in Scotland on 1 June 2007 were kept on specialist poultry holdings.

People working on more than one holding are only recorded once, which explains why for some local authorities the number of holdings is greater than the number of workers.