Chamber and committees

A breakdown of the funding support provided by the Scottish Government to the Energy Transition Zone project over the past three financial years is provided in the following table.

There have been two instances where groups of prisoners have been granted early release from their sentence at the order of Scottish Ministers in the last five years – firstly in May 2020, and secondly in June and July 2024.

Data was made available on the number of individuals who returned to prison custody (either held on remand or sentenced) amongst the individuals released in those processes. For the May 2020 Coronavirus specific emergency early release process, as of November 2020, 142 of the original 348 individuals who were released early had returned to custody.

For the June and July 2024 emergency early release process, as of December 2024, 61 of the 477 individuals who were released early had returned to custody before their original date of liberation.

The information requested on reoffending is not held centrally by the Scottish Government and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

In March 2024 Processed_and_Ultra-Processed_Foods_-_Board_Meeting_-_2024_March_20_-_240307.pdf the FSS Board agreed the organisational position on processed and ultra-processed foods, based on the SACN review published in July 2023 SACN statement on processed foods and health - GOV.UK. Subsequently, they published a position paper FSS_Advice_-_Processed_and_Ultra-Processed_Food_UPF_-_Position_Paper_-_FINAL_-_August_2024.pdf outlining the evidence in relation to processed and ultra-processed foods and reiterating the advice for healthy and sustainable diets. This was accompanied by consumer advice on the FSS website, summarising ‘five key facts’ Processed and ultra-processed foods | Food Standards Scotland on the topic, alongside social media posts to further raise awareness.

FSS collects and monitors Local Authority sampling data and commissions its own national food sampling programmes, which provide assurance on the safety and standards of food sold in Scotland. These include targeted sampling programmes informed by FSS horizon scanning activities, Horizon Scanning | Food Standards Scotland and commodity specific surveys to generate data on the prevalence and levels of contaminants in different foods for the safety assessments that are used to underpin the FSS Risk analysis | Food Standards Scotland. The sampling programmes data is published in FSS’ Our Food Our Food 2023: An annual review of food standards across the UK | Food Standards Scotland; the annual report on food standards in the UK, which is produced jointly with the Food Standards Agency, and DEFRA’s biennial UK Food Security Report 2024 published - GOV.UK. Further information on FSS’s Food Surveillance System can be found on the FSS website: Food surveillance system | Food Standards Scotland.

Cases of alleged food fraud reported to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) by FSS:

2019: 1

2020: 1

2021: 1

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) performs a national lead role in the investigation of counterfeit alcohol products. This is particularly the case when there are concerns over food safety and the contents present a danger to public health. FSS work in partnership with local authorities, other law enforcement agencies, public health, industry and stakeholders, with representation at various strategic and tactical fora to raise public awareness on known risks, coordinate efforts to remove the product from the market and report those found responsible. FSS is a member of the Scottish Multi-agency Tasking and Delivery Board (MATDB), which is a tactical collaboration between Police Scotland and law enforcement partners to address serious and organised crime. FSS has received full support from the MATDB in leading the investigation into the production, distribution and supply of counterfeit vodka nationally.

FSS have a primary responsibility to monitor the performance of, and promote best practice by, enforcement authorities enforcing food legislation in Scotland.

The overarching aim is to provide assurance that the delivery of official controls for food and feed is compliant with Scottish and UK legal requirements and official guidance.

The audit programme is risk-based, and all reports are published: https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/business-and-industry/safety-and-regulation/audit-and-monitoring.

Food Standards Scotland have undertaken three types of inspections as detailed in the following table and only hold information from 2021 onwards.

The following table represents the total budget allocated to FSS for each financial year since 2015.

FSS routinely develops guidance to help support businesses and enforcement authorities with implementation and compliance. An extensive suite of guidance is provided on the FSS website in relation to new food business requirements as well as more technical aspects of food law. A recent example is guidance for food businesses on new legislative requirements on labelling of food sold prepacked for direct sale: Prepacked for direct sale allergen labelling | Food Standards Scotland | Food Standards Scotland.