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 MSPs 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: S6W-37426

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any assessment of the impact of the potential closure of the Notre Dame Centre in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6W-37427

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to those impacted by the potential closure of the Notre Dame Centre in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6O-04670

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle any violence against teachers and school staff in South Ayrshire.

Question reference: S6W-37396

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many emergency beds were used within secure care accommodation for young people in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and 2025 to date.

Question reference: S6W-37394

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it recommends be taken if there are no open beds available for those under 18 years of age who have been referred to secure care accommodation.

Question reference: S6W-37395

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of any instances of people under 18 being diverted from secure care accommodation due to a lack of open beds in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025 to date.

Question reference: S6W-37011

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the overcrowding situation in HMP Barlinnie and any impact this is having on prison standards, before the opening of HMP Glasgow scheduled for 2028, in light of the HM Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland paper, Report on HMP Barlinnie Full Inspection 18-22 November 2024.

The Scottish Government are progressing a range of actions to support a sustainable reduction in the prison population, including:

The passage of the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025, which changes the point of release for most prisoners serving short-term sentences of under four years from following 50% of their sentence, to following 40% of their sentence.
Increasing community justice funding by £14m this year to a total of £148m to further strengthen alternatives to custody.
Introducing regulations that enable GPS technology to be used to monitor individuals being released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC).
SPS continue to optimise the appropriate use of HDC which allows certain prisoners who have met the requirements of a risk assessment to spend up to 180 days in the community.
We intend to bring forward secondary legislation to amend the use of HDC with the intention of increasing the period of time individuals can spend on release under licence conditions.
We have increased the use of electronically monitored bail which is now available in every local authority and its use is at record levels.
The establishment of an independent review of sentencing and penal policy which will focus on reducing reoffending and ensuring custody is used at the right time, for the right individuals.
The safety and wellbeing of those who work in prisons and those in their care must also remain at the forefront of our actions to ensure prisons continue to function effectively.
We must ensure that we have a prison system that focuses on those who pose the greatest risk to the public and provide a range of support to help reduce reoffending and aid integration back into the community.

Question reference: S6W-37009

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it plans with the Scottish Prison Service regarding the recommendations made in the HM Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland paper, Report on HMP Barlinnie Full Inspection 18-22 November 2024.

The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, Teresa Medhurst, meets the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters including reports such as the recent HMIPS inspection report on HMP Barlinnie.

The most recent meeting of 23 April included discussion of HMIPS’ report, noting its key finding that HMP Barlinnie is a safe, stable, well-run prison and 33 examples of good practice. The Scottish Government agrees with the Inspectorate that the need for a replacement prison through the planned new HMP Glasgow is “overwhelming and urgent”.

There are 83 recommendations made in the report, with the Chief Inspector prioritising 12 of those.

The Scottish Prison Service will respond to all the HMIPS recommendations.

Question reference: S6W-37010

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, what its response is to the findings in the HM Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland paper, Report on HMP Barlinnie Full Inspection 18-22 November 2024, which indicate that 65% of prisoners were in shared cells that did not meet the standard cell space of four metres square per prisoner, largely due to the overcrowding of 300 prisoners more than capacity.

The safety and wellbeing of everyone in the prison estate is a priority for this government and the Scottish Prison Service and we continue to aspire to comply with all relevant standards and international obligations.

The further refurbishment, including the cells, within HMP Barlinnie has been fully assessed but continued refurbishment is not a long-term solution.

The Scottish Government agrees with the Inspectorate that the need for a replacement prison through the planned new HMP Glasgow is “overwhelming and urgent”. That is why it is welcome that the construction contract for HMP Glasgow was signed in January this year.

HMP Glasgow, with a design capacity of 1,344, will add 357 places to the prison estate, featuring larger cells than previous builds and meeting international standards set by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

A sustainable reduction in the prison population, also highlighted in the report, remains a focus for this Government as we work with justice partners to develop measures which prioritises prison for high-risk offenders whilst working on solutions to reduce reoffending and aid reintegration into the community.

Question reference: S6W-37008

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, what its response is to the findings in the HM Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland paper, Report on HMP Barlinnie Full Inspection 18-22 November 2024, which recorded that there were “significant challenges to supporting the timeous engagement of prisoners in development or treatment programmes in Barlinnie” and attributed these to the availability of resources.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS welcome HMIPS inspection report of HMP Barlinnie, especially the recognition of the encouragement given to the efforts shown to try and bring many of those in our care back into education.

SPS are currently experiencing a challenging period caused by an increased population we do, however, continue to recognise the importance in our role in preparing those in our care to return to their communities. As such, we have now developed a multiyear recovery plan to prioritise the delivery of offending behaviour programmes, including the introduction of new delivery sites to increase programme delivery and capacity.