The Scottish Conservatives pushed the first minister on the hundreds of criminals who received the wrong risk level due to a computer glitch, claiming the government has lost its way on justice
Nicola Sturgeon said there were no public protection issues as a result of the glitch and that seven out of eight individuals who were given first grant of temporary release were still in custody
Jamie Greene, who was standing in for Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, also highlighted the court backlog, saying it is stacked against victims - some of whom are asking for domestic abuse cases to be dropped
Scottish Labour raised the cost of living crisis, asking why the SNP has refused to back plans for a windfall tax on oil and gas firms
The Scottish Lib Dems highlighted potential problems with mental health provision for Ukrainian children coming to Scotland when current targets are not being met
Concerns were raised about P&O Ferries pausing services in preparation for a company announcement - the FM said she hoped there will not be large scale firing and rehiring
The FM confirmed that as many Test and Protect staff will be redeployed across the NHS as possible, after concerns were raised over "tone deaf" handling of redundancies in Glasgow
National Treatment Centre recruitment going well - FM
Following a question from Sir Edward Mountain from the
Scottish Conservatives, Ms Sturgeon confirms recruitment for the rollout of National Treatment Centres is going well.
She says 200 staff have been recruited so far out of the 1,500 that will be
needed in total.
She says over the next 12 months three of these new centres - which are designed
to clear the backlog caused by Covid - will open, including one in Inverness which will open by the end of the year.
Children's mental health raised by Scottish Lib Dems
NHS will redeploy as many Test and Protect staff as possible - FM
Labour's Paul O'Kane raises the issue of Test and Protect staff in Glasgow being made redundant - while being issued with what he calls a "tone deaf" letter linking them to Redundancy Scotland.
He asks the FM for clarity on whether these staff in will be kept on until September or redeployed elsewhere in the NHS as other health boards have done.
Ms Sturgeon agrees to look at the material issued to staff in Glasgow, saying it is important that workers are treated properly.
She confirms the NHS will seek to redeploy as many people as possible as there will be opportunities in health and social care.
Concerns about future of Cairnryan to Larne ferries
Mr Carson says the Cairnryan to Larne service is of particular concern to him.
The first minister says her government has sought to engage with the UK government and will continue to engage with P&O.
She says parliament will be kept updated with any developments.
She hopes there will not be "a mass scale fire and rehire situation".
Sturgeon says she will ask PM for more taxation powers
Clearly frustrated at the mention of the constitutional debate, Mr
Sarwar says that to “simply point at the Tories isn’t good enough” and argues the
SNP government could have used their powers more progressively.
“Warm words won’t keep the bills down,” he says.
Ms Sturgeon says she will agree to prepare a
letter to the PM and Chancellor alongside Mr Sarwar, asking for a windfall tax
on profiteering companies and for additional powers for Scotland to take action
on the matter.
Labour should argue for Scotland to have more powers - FM
Mr Sarwar argues that through Labour’s plans, people hit by
the cost of living would have received £400 – rather than the £150 council tax
rebate which is now being spread over 10 months.
He asks Nicola Sturgeon how she can believe her plans are
good enough when the Poverty Alliance called them “deeply disappointing”.
However the FM challenges Labour’s plan, saying the proposed
windfall tax would fail to include companies like Amazon.
She says the £150 rebate was a result of the Scottish
government having limited powers and limited data. She adds it would be better
for Mr Sarwar to argue for the Scottish government to have more powers.
What is Scotland doing to ease the cost of living crisis?
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar raises the issue of the cost of living crisis, saying his party have published detailed plans of action for the Scottish and UK governments.
He asks the first minister if she will instruct SNP MPs to back those plans, which he says includes cutting VAT on fuel bills, scrapping the National Insurance increase, reversing the cut to Universal Credit and a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
Ms Sturgeon says her party has already called for a tax on
any company that had made substantially increased profits because of the Ukraine conflict or the pandemic.
However she says Scotland's powers are limited in this area, but her government are doing everything possible - including a 6% increase in certain social security benefits.
FM says more funding is on the way for court service
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Mr Greene says his party are clear that automatic early release is not fair.
"Justice is not a priority for this government," he says.
He says he has spoken to a woman who has waited three years to get her case, involving a convicted domestic abuser, to court. He adds her court case has been delayed 18 times.
The first minister says giving the public assurances that there was no public protection issues is important.
Ms Sturgeon adds: "We have one of, if not the, proportionate highest prison population in the whole of Western Europe."
'This government has lost its way on justice' - Greene
Mr Greene says: "The reality is we still don't know. We don't know how many people were wrongly released. We also don't know how many of them possibly went on to reoffend in our communities."
He argues: "This blunder is just another sign that this government has lost its way on justice."
The Scottish Conservative justice spokesman then turns to automatic early release.
He asks if the first minister thinks it is "morally right that serious criminals are automatically released just a third of the way through their sentence".
No public protection issues found, FM says
Ms Sturgeon says her Justice Secretary Keith Brown has given much of the detail to parliament already.
The first minister says all 285 open cases have been checked and no public protection issues have been identified.
Following a review by the Scottish Prison Service, she can also confirm there are "no public protection issues as a consequence of this issue in relation to the eight identified first grant of temporary release cases".
She says that of these eight, seven are still in custody.
Live Reporting
BBC Scotland News
All times stated are UK
-
The Scottish Conservatives pushed the first minister on the hundreds of criminals who received the wrong risk level due to a computer glitch, claiming the government has lost its way on justice
-
Nicola Sturgeon said there were no public protection issues as a result of the glitch and that seven out of eight individuals who were given first grant of temporary release were still in custody
-
Jamie Greene, who was standing in for Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, also highlighted the court backlog, saying it is stacked against victims - some of whom are asking for domestic abuse cases to be dropped
-
Scottish Labour raised the cost of living crisis, asking why the SNP has refused to back plans for a windfall tax on oil and gas firms
-
The Scottish Lib Dems highlighted potential problems with mental health provision for Ukrainian children coming to Scotland when current targets are not being met
-
Concerns were raised about P&O Ferries pausing services in preparation for a company announcement - the FM said she hoped there will not be large scale firing and rehiring
-
The FM confirmed that as many Test and Protect staff will be redeployed across the NHS as possible, after concerns were raised over "tone deaf" handling of redundancies in Glasgow
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Latest PostThe headlines
Here's what we learned from FMQs:
National Treatment Centre recruitment going well - FM
Following a question from Sir Edward Mountain from the Scottish Conservatives, Ms Sturgeon confirms recruitment for the rollout of National Treatment Centres is going well.
She says 200 staff have been recruited so far out of the 1,500 that will be needed in total.
She says over the next 12 months three of these new centres - which are designed to clear the backlog caused by Covid - will open, including one in Inverness which will open by the end of the year.
Children's mental health raised by Scottish Lib Dems
Alex Cole-Hamilton says almost a third of children are not seen in time for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
The Scottish Lib Dem leader asks about mental health provision for Ukrainian children coming to Scotland.
He says it is the government's shame that they will join the "longest queue in the National Health Service".
The first minister says the issue is treated with the "utmost seriousness" and she highlights increases in funding and staffing.
She accepts the CAMHS waiting times are not acceptable, but she says more cash is going to intervention and prevention.
NHS will redeploy as many Test and Protect staff as possible - FM
Labour's Paul O'Kane raises the issue of Test and Protect staff in Glasgow being made redundant - while being issued with what he calls a "tone deaf" letter linking them to Redundancy Scotland.
He asks the FM for clarity on whether these staff in will be kept on until September or redeployed elsewhere in the NHS as other health boards have done.
Ms Sturgeon agrees to look at the material issued to staff in Glasgow, saying it is important that workers are treated properly.
She confirms the NHS will seek to redeploy as many people as possible as there will be opportunities in health and social care.
Concerns about future of Cairnryan to Larne ferries
Tory MSP Finlay Carson says P&O Ferries has paused its services "in preparation for a company announcement" later.
Mr Carson says the Cairnryan to Larne service is of particular concern to him.
The first minister says her government has sought to engage with the UK government and will continue to engage with P&O.
She says parliament will be kept updated with any developments.
She hopes there will not be "a mass scale fire and rehire situation".
Sturgeon says she will ask PM for more taxation powers
Clearly frustrated at the mention of the constitutional debate, Mr Sarwar says that to “simply point at the Tories isn’t good enough” and argues the SNP government could have used their powers more progressively.
“Warm words won’t keep the bills down,” he says.
Ms Sturgeon says she will agree to prepare a letter to the PM and Chancellor alongside Mr Sarwar, asking for a windfall tax on profiteering companies and for additional powers for Scotland to take action on the matter.
Labour should argue for Scotland to have more powers - FM
Mr Sarwar argues that through Labour’s plans, people hit by the cost of living would have received £400 – rather than the £150 council tax rebate which is now being spread over 10 months.
He asks Nicola Sturgeon how she can believe her plans are good enough when the Poverty Alliance called them “deeply disappointing”.
However the FM challenges Labour’s plan, saying the proposed windfall tax would fail to include companies like Amazon.
She says the £150 rebate was a result of the Scottish government having limited powers and limited data. She adds it would be better for Mr Sarwar to argue for the Scottish government to have more powers.
What is Scotland doing to ease the cost of living crisis?
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar raises the issue of the cost of living crisis, saying his party have published detailed plans of action for the Scottish and UK governments.
He asks the first minister if she will instruct SNP MPs to back those plans, which he says includes cutting VAT on fuel bills, scrapping the National Insurance increase, reversing the cut to Universal Credit and a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
Ms Sturgeon says her party has already called for a tax on any company that had made substantially increased profits because of the Ukraine conflict or the pandemic.
However she says Scotland's powers are limited in this area, but her government are doing everything possible - including a 6% increase in certain social security benefits.
FM says more funding is on the way for court service
Mr Greene says his party are clear that automatic early release is not fair.
"Justice is not a priority for this government," he says.
He says he has spoken to a woman who has waited three years to get her case, involving a convicted domestic abuser, to court. He adds her court case has been delayed 18 times.
He also says a BBC investigation showed victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault are asking to drop their cases because court delays are so long.
The first minister says the serious backlog in the court service has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Ms Sturgeon says more cash is coming for the court service.
Tory MSP asks if justice is still a priority for SNP
Mr Greene argues the whole justice system is stacked against victims right from the very start.
He highlights court case backlogs and he asks if justice is even a priority for the government.
Ms Sturgeon replies that her government is investing more than £50m to tackle the backlog in courts.
She returns to automatic early release and says she finds the Tory "hypocrisy" on this to be "utterly breath-taking".
The first minister says the Tories voted against the Scottish government when it scrapped early release in 2016.
FM defends justice system
The first minister says giving the public assurances that there was no public protection issues is important.
Ms Sturgeon adds: "We have one of, if not the, proportionate highest prison population in the whole of Western Europe."
'This government has lost its way on justice' - Greene
Mr Greene says: "The reality is we still don't know. We don't know how many people were wrongly released. We also don't know how many of them possibly went on to reoffend in our communities."
He argues: "This blunder is just another sign that this government has lost its way on justice."
The Scottish Conservative justice spokesman then turns to automatic early release.
He asks if the first minister thinks it is "morally right that serious criminals are automatically released just a third of the way through their sentence".
No public protection issues found, FM says
Ms Sturgeon says her Justice Secretary Keith Brown has given much of the detail to parliament already.
The first minister says all 285 open cases have been checked and no public protection issues have been identified.
Following a review by the Scottish Prison Service, she can also confirm there are "no public protection issues as a consequence of this issue in relation to the eight identified first grant of temporary release cases".
She says that of these eight, seven are still in custody.
Issues with criminal risk assessments raised
Mr Greene says two weeks ago the SNP admitted that hundreds of criminals had received the wrong assessment of the risk they posed to the public.
He asks how many criminals were given a lower risk assessment than they should have been.
The Tory MSP also asks how many were freed from prison before it was safe to do so.
And we're off...
Jamie Greene gets to his feet to begin FMQs this week.
The Scottish Conservative justice spokesperson is standing in for Douglas Ross who has lost his voice.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of First Minister's Questions from Holyrood, on Thursday 17 March 2022.
Nicola Sturgeon will receive her weekly grilling from opposition leaders and other MSPs from about 12:00.
However Douglas Ross will not be in the chamber as he is unwell.
The Scottish Conservative leader will be replaced by colleague Jamie Greene.
We will bring you all the latest developments and analysis here, and you can watch the session by clicking on one of the tabs above.