Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-30150

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many number plate records registered by automatic number plate recognition cameras are available to public bodies in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-30145

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the description of the conditions at Glasgow Sheriff Court in the recent HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland report on Cornton Vale prison; whether it plans to improve conditions at the court, and how it will ensure that similar conditions are not present at other courts.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people's needs.

The maintenance of court buildings is the responsibility of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) who are currently undertaking cell redecoration work in Glasgow Sheriff Court as part of a programme of planned maintenance, which is expected to be completed by the end of March 2016. SCTS will also write to the member with further details regarding the custody facilities at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Question reference: S4W-30143

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-30070 by Michael Matheson on 24 February 2016, what its position is on the chief inspector’s comment in the HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland’s report on Cornton Vale prison that the issue with access to toilets "needs to be remedied immediately".

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

On 11 February 2016, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice announced plans to relocate more than half of the women from HMP and YOI Cornton Vale to suitable accommodation within HMYOI Polmont over the summer.

Project teams are already in place and work is underway to scope out the activities required and the various work streams to support the relocation of women to HMYOI Polmont.

This timescale allows appropriate planning to take place to ensure that there is a full regime of purposeful activities in place that will meet the women’s needs. There will also be a requirement to support the ongoing work to develop a trauma informed approach and ensure any gender specific changes to the environment within HMYOI Polmont are made.

Once the move to HMYOI Polmont is complete, all women remaining at HMP and YOI Cornton Vale will have access to appropriate night sanitation arrangements.

Question reference: S4W-30154

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence it has regarding the (a) efficiency and (b) effectiveness of automatic number plate recognition cameras.

Question reference: S4W-29858

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its position is on and (b) action it is taking to tackle the high level of probability of systemic access issues regarding contentious welfare and benefit issues in relation to mental health, as identified in the Scottish Legal Aid report, Monitoring of availability and accessibility of legal services: Third Report.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) published its fourth report on monitoring of availability and accessibility of legal services on 4 February 2016 in line with its statutory duty set out in the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010. The report reflects on data collected on the willingness of solicitors or advocates to act in areas of law for different client groups which is used for trends analysis purposes.

The data do not suggest there are any systemic problems with access to legal services, nor do they reflect any reported problems with access to legal services.

The work in this area addressed legal services in relation to the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, and not welfare and benefits issues in relation to mental health. The assessment was based on analysis of data which suggested that there may be availability problems in three specific areas of the country; however, no reports of specific instances of access problems occurring in these areas were received. Nonetheless, SLAB will continue to monitor this issue and follow up with relevant local organisations.

Question reference: S4W-29860

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its position is and (b) action it is taking to tackle the potential systemic problems and some actual reported problems with access to legal services in relation to (i) protective orders in cases of domestic abuse and (b) access to judicial review (housing), as identified in the Scottish Legal Aid report, Monitoring of availability and accessibility of legal services: Third Report.

Question reference: S4W-29857

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its position is on and (b) action it is taking to tackle the medium level of probability of systemic problems, and actual instances of problems, with access to legal services in relation to (i) homelessness and (ii) contentious repossession of rented and owned property, as identified in the Scottish Legal Aid report, Monitoring of availability and accessibility of legal services: Third Report.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) published its fourth report on monitoring of availability and accessibility of legal services on 4 February 2016 in line with its statutory duty set out in the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010. The report reflects on data collected on the willingness of solicitors or advocates to act in areas of law for different client groups which is used for trends analysis purposes.

The data do not suggest there are any systemic problems with access to legal services, nor do they reflect any reported problems with access to legal services.

However, in relation to these specific areas a general concern was expressed by a number of local and national sources. Therefore, SLAB will undertake follow-up survey work with relevant organisations, including Citizens Advice Bureaux and others in respect of repossession of owned property.

Question reference: S4W-29859

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) its position is on and (b) action it is taking to tackle the potential systemic problems of access to legal services in relation to protective orders in cases of antisocial behaviour and contentious pensions, unfair dismissal and redundancy matters as identified in the Scottish Legal Aid report, Monitoring of availability and accessibility of legal services: Third Report.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) published its fourth report on monitoring of availability and accessibility of legal services on 4 February 2016 in line with its statutory duty set out in the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010. The report reflects on data collected on the willingness of solicitors or advocates to act in areas of law for different client groups which is used for the purpose of undertaking analysis of trends.

The data do not suggest that there are any systemic problems with access to legal service, nor do the data reflect any reported problems with access to legal services.

The analysis for protective orders in relation to antisocial behaviour was based on a potential issue with availability that was highlighted via the Access to Justice Reference Group. No reports of specific instances of availability problems in this area were raised and we are of the view that this area of law constitutes a comparatively low risk.

No specific instances of availability problems were received in relation to contentious pensions, unfair dismissal or redundancy matters. We are of the view that this area of law also constitutes a low risk.

The assessment of the risk of exposure of legal services for victims of domestic abuse and access to judicial review fell within the lowest risk category.

Based on the analysis and assessments carried out by SLAB, the Scottish Government is satisfied that there are currently no systemic problems with access to legal services resulting from a change in the law or lack of availability for any of the areas.

Question reference: S4W-29913

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the answers to questions S4W-25353, S4W-26131, S4W-27521 and S4W-28458 by John Swinney on 7 May 2015, 7 July 2015, 29 September 2015 and 2 December 2015 respectively, on what date it will publish its response to the consultation on proposed amendments to the National Health Service Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and set out how it will proceed.

Question reference: S4W-29910

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many times each day it expects that the NHS central register will be shared with other organisations if access is extended under its proposed amendments to the National Health Service Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

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