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-32385

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government which budget stream supports the Victims' Fund, and what the initial source of finance for the Fund was.

Question reference: S5W-32386

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much financial support it plans to provide to the Victims' Fund, in light of Victim Support Scotland’s recent announcement that it requires at least double the amount of investment that was initially put into the Fund in March 2020.

In response to the pandemic, the Scottish Government provided Victim Support Scotland with a grant increase for 2020-21 of £70,000 to enable them to increase the Victims’ Fund from £30,000 to £100,000.

Since April, the Fund has supported over 200 individuals who have been in urgent need of financial help. Victims are accessing support worth up to £3,000 for food vouchers, help with bills and practical assistance for domestic abuse victims who may have to urgently leave their homes, amongst other types of support.

Victim Support Scotland has subsequently been able to use more of its 2020-21 grant award of £4,708,700 from the Scottish Government to add to the Victims’ Fund.

Question reference: S5W-32367

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how the £300,000 committed to the Restorative Justice Action Plan has been spent to date.

Expenditure on Restorative Justice Action Plan activity to date is as follows:

2019-20

£345.89 - SACRO. Stakeholder Workshop, held February 2020.

£130,388 - Grant to University of Strathclyde. This is to support a 3 year (2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23), part-time Restorative Justice national co-ordinator for youth justice in the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ). .

2020-21

£8,200 - Ipsos Mori. An opinion monitor survey on Restorative Justice carried out in June 2020 - 1014 respondents were surveyed via telephone.

In addition to the above expenditure, £153,000 grant funding (£51,000 per year for 3 years) has been committed to Community Justice Scotland to support a full-time national Restorative Justice coordinator working within adult justice (in collaboration with the CYCJ post). The post is expected to be in place by the end of 2020. As with the CYCJ post, the post will be in place for 3 years (2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23).

Question reference: S5W-32087

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has conducted with the Parole Board for Scotland to update the guidelines on the criteria that boards have to account for when making decisions, specifically relating to the safety and welfare of victims and their families, as stated in Transforming Parole in Scotland: consultation report.

Question reference: S5W-32129

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what resources it is providing to Police Scotland to address any anticipated rise in police activity resulting from increased government measures to tackle COVID-19, and whether it will report on what impact it considers such increased measures might have on Police Scotland's ability to tackle other types of crime.

Police Scotland has been at the front and centre of the response to COVID-19 in Scotland, and continues to work closely with partners including local authorities and the NHS to support the response. We continue to be grateful to both police officers and staff who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public.

This year the Scottish Government has increased funding for policing by £60 million to more than £1.2 billion. This 5.1% rise, compared to 2019-20, is ensuring that Police Scotland can maintain officer numbers, enhance its community policing capability and maintain and modernise its estate.

At 30 June 2020, there were 17,273 officers, which issignificantly above the level inherited in 2007, with a higher number of officers than at any time during the previous administration.

The demands on policing have been unprecedented over the last few months, and while Police Scotland has a key role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, it continues to respond to a wide range of crimes. This was highlighted in the Police Scotland submission to the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing in June 2002, which stated:

“ Despite organisational change caused by the pandemic there has not been, nor will there be, any change in Police Scotland’s key priority to protect vulnerable individuals and reduce harm ”

The Chief Constable’s most recent report to the SPA Board highlighted a range of areas, apart from policing the COVID-19 pandemic, in which Police Scotland continues to work successfully, including: serious violence including homicide, serious organised crime, drug supply and harm, road safety and road crime and international human trafficking. It was further reported to the same meeting that domestic crime and the potential for supressed vulnerability remain a significant concern and priority. Police Scotland has taken steps to identify those at risk and give support to those who need their help.

The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to monitor and manage the financial impacts of COVID-19 on the policing budget. Where relevant, this includes the latest information on the impact of the pandemic on levels of recorded crime in Scotland (taken from an associated release of monthly Official Statistics).

Question reference: S5W-32088

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what options it has explored regarding the use of exclusion zones for offenders who have been released to ensure that they do not come into contact with their victim, as stated in Transforming Parole in Scotland: consultation report.

The Parole Board for Scotland can, and already do, use exclusion zones as part of licence conditions, to help manage the risk that a released prisoner comes into contact with their victim. These exclusion zones can be electronically monitored at present. Last year we legislated through the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019 to put in place a framework for improving monitoring capabilities, which has the potential to change how those exclusion zones are monitored. A new national contract for electronic monitoring was procured and was put in place from April this year which allows for the introduction of GPS technology into the electronic monitoring service. While Covid disruption has meant recent activity on electronic monitoring has focussed on maintaining and stabilising the current service, development of the service to incorporate new technology remains a key part of our planning for expansion of electronic monitoring in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-32086

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on allowing victims and their families to make representations at Parole Board for Scotland meetings, as set out in Transforming Parole in Scotland: consultation report.

The Victim Notification Scheme already allows registered victims to make representations to the Parole Board for Scotland. Not all victims make representations and some find it re-traumatising to do so. Opting in to the Scheme is a matter of choice for the victim concerned. We are working to improve the victim experience of the parole process and are amending the Parole Board (Scotland) Rules 2001 to specify a process for victims to observe hearings, provided there is no impact on the safety of those concerned, nor impact to the fairness of the process. These changes will come into force early next year. The Scottish Government has also committed to bringing all relevant partners together to discuss the Victim Notification Scheme and determine where improvements could be made.

Question reference: S5W-32085

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has conducted with the Scottish Information Commissioner and the Parole Board for Scotland regarding the publication of reasons for Board decisions to the victims of the offender whose case is being decided, as stated in Transforming Parole in Scotland: consultation report.

Question reference: S5O-04701

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect teachers in the north east from COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-32093

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 13 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the First Minister's statement and Scottish Government press release on 22 September 2020, which section of which coronavirus regulations excepts "non-cohabiting couples" from the new restriction on gatherings in private dwellings.

The current define extended household as follows –

“extended household” means two households—

(a) which have chosen to be treated as a single household for the purpose of—

(i) these Regulations, or

(ii) the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, and

(b) have not already chosen to be treated as a single household with any other household

The Scottish Government on extended households sets out the circumstances in which we advise extended households could be formed. There is a section in this guidance entitled “Couples who do not live together”, where more information on forming an extended household in these circumstances can be found.