Chamber and committees

(a) The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions which were planned and put in place by Police Scotland. The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(b) Due to its rural location, and the distance to the nearest police stations, Police Scotland did not close Oban Police Station. Police Scotland did however implement an extensive programme of work to upgrade facilities. As a result of this work Police Scotland is confident that the works identified in the SPF report were completed and the standard across both the police station and the custody suite were significantly improved.

Following the publication of the SPF report, additional inspections have been introduced and further works have been carried out which involve close collaboration with Police Scotland’s Health & Safety Team, SPF and Union representatives. Police Scotland’s Health & Safety Team has confirmed that the improvement works meet health and safety requirements.

Given the age of Oban Police Station, Police Scotland has embarked on a programme of work which seeks to replace Oban Police Station, including a new custody suite.

We have committed to building a system of school age childcare, providing year-round childcare for families on low incomes by the end of this Parliament. This involves working with Local Authorities to design and deliver a system that works for those who use and deliver it.

This year, we are investing £4 million to support Local Authorities with costs related to the delivery of planned summer programmes for children from low-income families during the 2023 school summer holidays. This is in addition to the £21.75 million investment for delivery of holiday free school meal alternative payments for eligible families. We are also investing around £3 million to expand and deliver services in our four Early Adopting Communities (Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, Dundee and Inverclyde).

As at 29th June 2023, the number of premises in Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency scheduled for connection through the Reaching 100% (R100) North contract is 2,206. A further 1,975 premises are eligible for a connection through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS). This is, of course, in addition to the 15,099 premises already connected to fibre broadband through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme.

Our online checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com remains the best way for anyone to track the most up-to-date connectivity status of premises, including the most recent plans and indicative timescales for R100 contract build and eligibility for the R100 SBVS.

Building on the success of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme, which connected over 15,000 premises in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency to fibre broadband, the Reaching 100% (R100) programme is ensuring that all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband.

R100 contract build is being deployed in line with plans submitted by BT plc as the successful bidder for the R100 North contract, that covers the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency. Contract build is being delivered in phases that have been designed to maximise efficiency, aligning contractual build with commercial build plans in an area when possible. We will continue to work closely with Openreach, as BT’s delivery partner for the R100 North contract, to accelerate contract build where opportunities allow.

The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) offers eligible properties up to £5,000 to secure a superfast connection. The R100 programme team continues to engage with commercial operators with a view to them becoming registered suppliers for R100 SBVS in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency.

(a) The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions which were planned and put in place by Police Scotland. The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(b) Prior to the publication of the SPF report, Police Scotland had already commenced improvement works to these two properties in Dunoon. The properties were closed and residing officers were decanted to suitable temporary accommodation whilst the improvement works were underway.

Since then, the SPA has approved Police Scotland’s Housing Strategy (2022) which aims to bring all of Police Scotland’s housing stock up to Scottish Government’s EESSH2 2032 standards over the next 3-5 years.

Police Scotland is currently undertaking further work around its Dunoon housing requirements as part of delivering its Housing Strategy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12786 given previously.

I have accordingly asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a reply to his question in writing.

The Scottish Government do not routinely hold data on ChargePlace Scotland charge points per square kilometre.

The latest figures from the Department For Transport show that Scottish electric vehicle drivers benefit from over 70 public charge points per one hundred thousand people, compared to 60 in England (excluding London), over 50 in Wales and 20 in Northern Ireland. Scotland has the highest rate of rapid charging provision anywhere in the UK, with 18.4 per one hundred thousand people while the UK average is 11.4.

The Scottish Government has not had any meetings with Scotia Arts since May 2021.

Further measures to tackle waste crime in Scotland include those being developed through the Circular Economy Bill, the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy and the Integrated Authorisation Framework (IAF).

The Circular Economy Bill includes specific provisions in respect of litter and flytipping including a new penalty regime to address littering from vehicles, providing powers to SEPA and local authorities enabling them to stop and seize vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime, and strengthened householder duty of care responsibilities in relation to household waste to prevent flytipping.

The new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, which was published on 28 June 2023, includes a focus on ensuring a more effective enforcement model to deter and robustly tackle littering and flytipping behaviour. The Strategy sets out a range of initial commitments, including raising fixed penalty notices for flytipping to £500 and exploring the possibility of raising these to £1000.

Through the IAF, which will update the waste management licensing regime in Scotland, we propose to introduce measures and provide more effective enforcement tools to tackle waste crime. Measures being considered include a broader Fit and Proper Person test, and a strengthened approach to licensing waste carriers to uphold high standards across the industry. A consultation on proposed measures will be published in due course.

The National Youth Arts Advisory Group has met 37 times and it is next due to meet in August or September 2023. The exact date is yet to be set.