Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government and relevant agencies have issued a response to the Committee and this is available on their website: https://rm.coe.int/48802c60f5.

We have already taken a number of decisive steps to help alleviate populational pressures and optimise the capacity of the existing prison estate. On 25 June, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice announced: Achieving a Sustainable Prison Population: Justice Secretary's speech - gov.scot the launch of a consultation: Prison population and penal reform - working towards a sustainable prison population: consultation - gov.scot that seeks views on a set of proposed reforms to the criminal justice system in Scotland, building on the recommendations of the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission, Scottish Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission report: Justice That Works - gov.scot that will help to deliver a lasting and sustainable approach.

The Scottish Government has had no specific discussions with the UK Government regarding extending eligibility for the Youth Guarantee or the Jobs Guarantee to unemployed people aged over 24.

Employment support is a shared area of interest across reserved and devolved responsibilities, and Scottish Government officials engage regularly with UK Government counterparts on labour market issues and employability policy.

The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering a joined-up, person-centred employability system that supports people of all ages to progress towards and into fair, sustainable work. Through No One Left Behind, local authorities and delivery partners are empowered to provide tailored support that responds to individual circumstances, strengths and ambitions, including for people aged 25 and over who face barriers to entering, re-entering or progressing in the labour market.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The data held by Scottish Government (SG) on individuals held on remand is taken from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) Prisoner Records System. SG do publish information on the number of departures from the remand population and the number of transitions from the remand population into the sentenced population in each financial year here: Supporting documents - Scottish Prison Population Statistics 2024-25 - gov.scot. However, this indicates prisoner movement rather than the outcome of the case/s individuals are involved in. Prisoner records do not contain information on the outcomes of court cases.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01503 on 17 July 2026. 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.

We are engaging constructively with all relevant stakeholders to support considered and informed discussion on this policy, and to ensure effective implementation that delivers on our core aim of making the weekly shop more affordable.

The Scottish Government has not provided any funding for the provision of a landing slot from Dundee Airport to any London airport.

Any changes in slot provision at slot constrained airports are a matter for the airlines involved. The Scottish Government was not consulted about any changes and has no information on whether any revenue was generated as a result of any changes.

The spend to date forms part of the development of the Monklands Replacement Project and includes the purchase of the Wester Moffat site. This funding has supported essential preparatory activity, including site preparation, ground investigations, surveys, planning and design work, and the approvals required to progress an infrastructure project of this scale and complexity.

Development costs are a normal part of major infrastructure planning and have brought us to an informed decision point. The spend to date, will be used to support the revised proposal on the Wester Moffat site.

In terms of spend to date, NHS Lanarkshire have published a Q&A which includes this detail available here: Reset Phase Q & A | New University Hospital Monklands.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01371 on 17 July 2026. 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.

Table 1 shows the average combined police custody waiting and processing times from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Waiting time is the time spent from the point the person arrested and the arresting officers arrive at a custody centre, to the point police custody officers and staff began to process and in effect book the person into custody. Police Scotland always try to ensure that this time is as minimal as possible, however waiting times can be impacted by a range of operational matters, which include more than one person needing to be processed or booked in at similar times, custody staff responding to a medical emergency etc.

Processing time is the time taken to book the person into custody. This involves the arrested person being searched and asked questions to allow for an assessment of vulnerability, including medical conditions, which is critical to ensure a safe environment for people in police custody.

Table 1: Average Combined Waiting and Processing time in minutes, 2021-22 to 2025-26