Chamber and committees

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

As of Friday 22 November, the prison population was 8278, broken down by establishment as shown in the following table:

The reforms would increase public participation in development proposals at pre application stage. The transparency of the process would remain unchanged. All information relating to applications to build, operate or modify onshore electricity generating stations with capacities exceeding 50 megawatts, as well as all applications to install overhead power lines, large oil and gas pipelines, and associated infrastructure are published and searchable on our Energy Consents website, at https://energyconsents.scot/

In my capacity as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, I can confirm that I have not met with the listed Community Councils and I currently have no plans in place to meet them.

The SPCB can confirm that temperatures will be maintained to allow building users to work comfortably within their specific work areas.

We are aware that the temperature in the building recently was below comfortable levels.

We are currently undertaking a major replacement project for the Building Energy Management System (BEMS) which controls and monitors the heating, ventilation, and cooling throughout the building. The outside temperature had taken a sudden dip; this was the first time the new controls were stress tested. We had expected the building to react more quickly to the drop in temperature; clearly this was not the case. The parameters have now been adjusted to take this into account and a faulty external sensor has been re-calibrated.

In order to manage resources across parliamentary staff teams and the campus on busy business nights – as well as the impact on Members’ diaries – agreement was given by the Corporate Body to limit the number of Member-sponsored events accordingly.  The Events and Exhibitions Team currently deliver and support a maximum of between nine and ten Member-sponsored events weekly on behalf of Members, with two of those slots being for Thursday lunchtime events. 

A clinical refresh of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer is currently underway to help ensure the right person is on the right pathway at the right time and are due to be published in Spring 2025.

As part of this update, a guideline will now be included for those patients presenting with symptoms that do not follow the specific tumour referral pathways. This non-specific symptom guideline is closely aligned to the referral route for those who are referred to a Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Service (RCDS) or through a direct access to CT pathway.

The RCDS programme has a role to support these referrals and we are committed to achieving population based coverage by 2026, with a sixth service being established early 2025.

In addition, national guidance developed by Scottish Clinical Imaging Network provides primary care clinicians with information on when to refer for direct access to CT or an existing RCDS.

The figures set out in the following table have been derived from data contained within the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS). IACS contains land parcels that have been registered with Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID) for agricultural subsidy and/or keeping livestock. This data covers most but not all agricultural land within Scotland. When land is de-registered from IACS it is assumed it has been removed from agriculture for analysis purposes but could simply be it is no longer registered for agricultural subsidy and/or keeping livestock. Alongside land being de-registered (removed) additional land is also registered each year. The following table compares land de-registered and land registered for the past ten years highlighting net gain or loss. All figures are in hectares.

I will set out the high-level principles of Air Departure Tax in due course, following which we will work towards implementation as soon as is practicable. However, this first requires a solution to the Highlands and Islands exemption, and we are working with the UK Government to achieve this.

The Scottish Government’s Cladding Remediation Programme Pilot utilised a self-nomination process to identify buildings, of different tenures, that are potentially affected by unsafe cladding. Learning from the pilot supported the development of the Single Building Assessment (SBA) specification, published in June 2024, which will form the core of the standards being set by Ministers in anticipation of the forthcoming commencement of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024. The pilot has been instrumental in enabling the creation of these essential foundations for future programme delivery.

Entries on the pilot are being discharged. Where they meet the requirements set out at section 32 of the Act and don’t have a linked developer, the Scottish Government is taking forward assessment and, where necessary, remediation. Other entries will be discharged in accordance with whether or not they are a relevant building, as set out at section 32 of the Act, and whether they have a building owner, and/or linked developer, who we would reasonably ask to take forward assessment in line with the published SBA specification.

New entries are not being added to the pilot. Nevertheless, in any circumstances where the Scottish Government becomes aware of a building with potentially unsafe cladding, we will take appropriate action. This may include asking a building owner to take action or passing the building onto a linked-development for assessment and, where necessary, remediation. It is possible to engage with the Cladding Remediation Programme directly via email at [email protected]. Pursuant to forthcoming commencement of the Act early next year, we will formally announce new arrangements for people to seek support with the assessment and remediation of in scope buildings.

Transport Scotland, CMAL and NorthLink have regular ongoing engagement with Aberdeen and other port operators regarding existing services and future plans. The introduction of new vessels involves all of the respective ports to which they operate. Each of the 3 ports on the Northern Isles routes are fully aware of the project to replace the MV Hildasay and MV Helliar with larger vessels. These new vessels will not only support the economies of Orkney and Shetland but also add resilience in terms of additional passenger capacity that can be utilised as required.

CMAL and NorthLink continue to liaise with all three port authorities. Discussions with the Port of Aberdeen, including the Pilots have already commenced and this work will continue as the project progresses. Detailed modelling work and simulations have also been undertaken.