To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-8485 S2W-10935 S2W-16507 and S2W-16955 by Cathy Jamieson on 8 June 2004, 19 October 2004, 23 May 2005 and 6 June 2005 and given that the contract with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd for the provision of prisoner escort and court custody services is now fully rolled out, how many prison officer hours have now been released from prisoner transport duties as a result of the contract.

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

For the purposes of clarity, the contract is now fully rolled out and around 200 officers have been made available.