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: S5W-19689

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of the prison-court transfer contract in each of the last five years.

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

The cost of the prisoner escort contract is made readily available in SPS’ annual accounts published on our website at:

The annual costs for each of the years requested are as follows:

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
Net operating costs	£20,889,000	£20,778,000	£20,981,000	£22,137,000	£23,399,000

Question reference: S5W-19688

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in video link technology in (a) prisons and (b) courts in each of the last five years.

Investment and operational usage of video link technology is a matter for the independent Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and the Scottish Prison Service.

The Scottish Government recognises the benefits of using digital technology, such as video link technology, wherever possible to broaden access to justice, improve quality of service and safeguard the rights of citizens and users.

During financial year 2018/19 the Scottish Government provided funding of £480,000 to SCTS to refresh an additional 10 courts, accelerating the delivery of modern court estate which meets user needs. This builds on the SCTS technology refresh programme which has already refreshed 108 of 205 courtrooms to the latest equipment, focusing investment on most frequently used courtrooms and those being used to enable core improvements, such as video links to Prisons.

Question reference: S5W-19668

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to the recently reported administrative error by Police Scotland, which means that, potentially, significant numbers of dangerous drivers could avoid prosecution.

Question reference: S5W-19667

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when the 12-month review of the code of practice for stop and search will be published.

Question reference: S5W-19687

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is provided regarding the use of video links in criminal courts.

Question reference: S5W-19685

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to facilitate court appearances from prison by video link; what its position is on the effectiveness of such appearances, and whether it plans to take action to increase the use of this method.

Question reference: S5W-19684

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) accused and (b) witnesses have given evidence or appeared from prison using a video link in each of the last five years, broken down by type of hearing.

Question reference: S5W-19659

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the independent review of P1 assessments will take into consideration the effect and usefulness of the use of assessments for those with both identified and undiagnosed learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental disorders.

The expectation is that the independent review of P1 assessments will consider both the effect of the assessments on children and young people and the usefulness of the diagnostic information provided to teachers. The detailed remit of the review will be finalised shortly, including whether this consideration will focus on specific groups of children and young people, such as those with additional support needs.

Question reference: S5W-19683

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many courtrooms in each court (a) have and (b) do not have video link technology.

Question reference: S5T-01303

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect emergency workers during the firework season, in light of the reported increase in levels of violence and intimidation that they face at this time of year.