Chamber and committees

The use of live facial recognition technology is an operational matter for Police Scotland, under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority. Police Scotland must also abide by the relevant laws; the European Convention on Human Rights; and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner’s statutory code of practice.

The Scottish Government recognises that assurances are required in order to secure public trust and support for any future use of new technology by Police Scotland, including live facial recognition.

We stand ready to work with Police Scotland, the SPA, the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner and others to develop an approach to the use of facial recognition technology which is lawful, effective, proportionate and rights-based.

Offshore oil and gas licensing and consenting and issues pertaining to fuel security, as well as the associated fiscal regime, are currently reserved to the UK Government.

Our Energy System and Just Transition: Independent Analysis highlights the need for careful management of the North Sea energy transition, including the fields linked to the Forties System.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30259 on 8 October 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.

Through the provisions of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, the scientific justification for a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) can be challenged by owners or managers of a site:

• At notification of the site
• Once every 10 years following notification

The number of challenges since 2019-20 and the outcome is summarised in the following table:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30024 on 1 October 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.

To date 17 homes have been approved through the demand-led Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund. This includes 7 homes in Highland, 7 homes in Orkney, 2 homes in Moray and 1 home in North Ayrshire. More Homes Division officials are in discussion with local authority partners on a number of other potential projects.

We are continuing to engage with all local authorities through Scotland Housing Network’s Local Housing Strategy Forum to encourage proposals to be forward where there are identified local requirements.

The Scottish Government is committed to expanding the thrombectomy service, and to ensuring that access to this treatment is as equitable as possible. We recognise, however that achieving an equitable service access across diverse geographical areas is challenging. That is why the Scottish Government has asked the National Thrombectomy Planning Board (NTPB) to plan a phased approach to service expansion, to ensure that all plans and decisions consider the access requirements of patients, and reflect the appropriate workforce, infrastructure and resourcing required across Scotland.

The cycle time is around 20 minutes although this can vary depending on how busy it is or if there are breakdowns or the like.

Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 sets out a vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and a long-term goal where no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050.

In response to interim figures in 2023 showing an increase in road casualties in Scotland, the Scottish Government has allocated a record £36m for road safety investment in the 2024/25 financial year. Latest figures in 2024 show that fatal casualties are tracking 26% above the same period last year.

In response to this, a range of interventions totalling £5.5m will be delivered. These include driver behaviour campaigns targeting speeding and seat belt use, as well as advancing the use of distracted driver technology. Additionally, local projects will focus on reducing pedestrian and cyclist casualties.

Further initiatives include launching a consultation on the National Speed Management Review, overseeing the £10m Road Safety Improvement Fund to support local authorities reduce casualties and risk, and the rolling out of a pioneering training and education programme which includes the development of the world’s first Safe System Manual for road safety practitioners.

This comprehensive approach underscores the Scottish Government’s unwavering commitment to achieving its goal of making Scotland’s roads among the safest in the world by 2030.

Every life lost to alcohol is a tragedy and the recent alcohol specific deaths statistics, published by the National Records of Scotland, is a stark reminder of the challenge we face in tackling alcohol harm across Scotland.

The Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to deliver independent evaluation of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP). That evaluation estimated that MUP had reduced alcohol specific deaths by 13.4%, compared to what would have been the case if MUP wasn’t in place. A letter published in the Lancet authored by a number of internationally renowned public health experts stated that, “policy makers can be confident that there are several hundred people with low income in Scotland who would have died as a result of alcohol, who are alive today as a result of minimum unit pricing.”

The Scottish Government is continuing to develop work on the range of options to consider the uprating of minimum unit pricing in future. As part of that activity the Scottish Government will consider the appropriate way to continue to review the effects and impacts of MUP. Appropriate stakeholder engagement will be undertaken with industry, business and public health stakeholders in advance of any decisions on uprating being taken.