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-09089

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 held in segregated protective custody whilst serving sentences in Scottish prisons in each year since 1999.

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

The SPS does not have a category of prisoners who are held in segregated protective custody. The following table displays the number of prisoners who have been held on protection conditions within SPS establishments.

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-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-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-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-09141

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 preparations are being considered to deal with any major outbreak of avian flu originating from large-scale poultry developments.

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-08920

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 January 2008
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all existing protocols between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Crown Office which determine and set out when police investigations should be undertaken.

The current formal protocols between ACPOS and the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) which determine and set out when police investigations should be undertaken are as follows:

Joint Protocol between ACPOS and COPFS on Domestic Abuse.

Work Related Deaths - A Protocol for Liaison among COPFS, ACPOS, the Health and Safety Executive and British Transport Police.

These protocols deal with specific types of investigation.

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.

Question reference: S3W-09695

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8921 by Frank Mulholland QC on 7 February 2008, whether the protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Electoral Commission, specifically relates to the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections of May 2007.

on 7 February 2008, whether the protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Electoral Commission, specifically relates to the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections of May 2007.

(S3W-09695)

Frank Mulholland QC I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9752, 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-09752

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 February 2008
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland on 20 February 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8921 by Mr Frank Mulholland QC on 7 February 2008, whether the protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Electoral Commission relates specifically to the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections held in May 2007 and no other elections held in Scotland for any purpose.

on 7 February 2008, whether the protocol between the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Electoral Commission relates specifically to the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections held in May 2007 and no other elections held in Scotland for any purpose.

(S3W-09752)

Frank Mulholland QC The Protocol between the Electoral Commission and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland deals with offences created by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The protocol is not specific to the May 2007 elections.