Chamber and committees

The criminal law in relation to drugs offending is reserved. Sentencing decisions, including the use of custodial and community-based options, in any case are for the independent court who consider the facts and circumstances of each case before reaching their sentencing decision.

This data is not held centrally by the Scottish Government but VisitScotland’s data shows that footfall to iCentres has decreased significantly over several years. The decrease from 2019 to 2023 ranges from 16% to 57% across 25 locations.

The Scottish Government continues to build a strong evidence base in relation to the development of key infrastructure, transport routes and supply chains necessary to develop hydrogen export opportunities.

The deployment of green hydrogen production will develop alongside the growth of onshore and offshore wind and the availability of constrained renewable electricity from existing wind farms.

Over fifty hydrogen production projects are at varying stages of development amounting collectively to more than our 5 GW’s of hydrogen production capacity by 2030.

The Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP), due to be published by summer this year, will set clear ambitions for increasing Scotland’s renewable energy capacity. It will outline a route map of actions that the Scottish Government will taketo deliver these ambitions whilst supporting a just transition.

Our Offshore Wind Policy Statement (2020) set out the Scottish Government’s ambition for 8-11 GW of offshore wind in Scotland by 2030. This is currently being reviewed in light of the significant ambition demonstrated by the private sector via the ScotWind leasing round. We also consulted on setting a further ambition for 2045 through the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving the ambitions as set out in the 2020 Offshore Wind Policy Statement and will invest up to £500m over the next five years to develop the infrastructure and supply chain critical to growing our offshore wind sector.

As of December 2023, Scotland’s onshore wind operational capacity is around 9.5 GW. Within the project pipeline there is additional 13.9 GW of potential onshore wind capacity in Scotland.

We are continuously working to strengthen and develop new relationships through our international hydrogen engagement programme.

Our Offshore Wind International Engagement Strategy is aligned with, and informed by, a number of Scottish Government strategies, including Scotland’s International Strategy (published in January 2024) and Scotland’s Vision for Trade. These strategies are in turn aligned with our international development policy.

As stated in the answer to S6W-26808, given the dynamic nature of the offshore wind market, our approach and the identified priority countries will be reviewed regularly to reflect the latest market intelligence.

The prison population on the morning of 6 May 2024 was 8,203 in custody. Excluding people held for index offences in Group 1 (Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence) or where the index offence could not be classified or originated outwith Scotland, provides a population of 3,927 people.

Further excluding Group 2 (Sexual Crimes) index offences of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault this population totals 2,466.

The full prison population is broken down by index offence type in the following table.

Where individuals in custody are accused or convicted of multiple offences, these are summarised by index offence. This is the offence for which they have received the longest sentence or, where they are on remand, which would on average receive the longest sentence. Each may have other associated offences for which they have received shorter sentences, or for which they have not yet been convicted, which may include acts of violence. Some offences cannot be classified in this way because the charges originate in other jurisdictions or because the data required were not available at the time the snapshot was taken.

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

I refer the member to the response provided for S6W-27206 on 13 May 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) will set clear ambitions for increasing Scotland’s renewable energy capacity. It will outline a route map of actions for the Scottish Government, the UK Government and others to take to deliver these ambitions whilst supporting a just transition.

In 2023, Scotland generated over 33 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity from renewable sources. The most recent consumption statistics (from 2021) show that Scotland generated the equivalent of 23.7% of its energy consumption from renewable sources.

Energy Statistics for Scotland - Q2 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Energy Trends: UK renewables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

On the morning of Monday 6th May 2024 there were 192 people under the age of 21 held in the prison estate. This population is broken down by index offence group in the following table.

Where individuals in custody are accused or convicted of multiple offences, these are summarised by index offence. This is the offence for which they have received the longest sentence or, where they are on remand, which would on average receive the longest sentence. Some offences cannot be classified in this way because the charges originate in other jurisdictions or because the data required was not available at the time the snapshot was taken.