Chamber and committees

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was approved by the Scottish Parliament in February 2023, before the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act commenced. Its implementation reflects children’s rights principles, including participation and wellbeing considerations.

For individual development proposals, including national developments and cases under sections 36 or 37 of the Electricity Act 1989, applicants are not legally required to prepare a CRWIA. However, Ministers must act compatibly with UNCRC requirements.

Scottish Ministers must prepare and publish a CRWIA for strategic decisions affecting children’s rights and wellbeing—high-level decisions that may impact the Government’s ability to respect, protect, and fulfil these rights. These typically include setting policy priorities, allocating resources, and policy delivery, but not routine operational decisions (e.g. many planning or licensing cases).

Strategic decisions are usually made by Ministers but can also be made on their behalf. They generally influence how the Scottish Government implements laws and policies over the long term, though urgent short- or mid-term decisions may also qualify. Strategic decisions may form part of an overarching plan. Ministers also intend to carry out CRWIAs for any changes or reviews of such decisions.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with Commonwealth Games Scotland, considered multiple venues across Glasgow for Team Scotland House. The Corinthian was assessed as the best venue based on several factors, including proximity to travel routes, security and space requirements.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise, I have asked its Chief Executive, Adrian Gillespie to respond to you directly.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of actions to strengthen value-based standards in health and social care procurement, with a particular emphasis on whole-life costs across integration authorities, local authorities and NHS Scotland.

Central to this work is the NHS Scotland Value Based Health and Care Action Plan, which sets out the national approach to embedding value-based principles, including the use of realistic medicine to ensure treatments and services deliver the best outcomes relative to cost. The plan outlines the strategic aims, governance structures and improvement processes required to support the transition to value-based care as part of Scotland’s 2030 vision.

In parallel, the Delivering Value Based Health Care: A Vision for Scotland document highlights the contribution procurement can make in achieving these aims. It includes a case study on National Procurement’s role in the Care Home Continence Improvement Project, demonstrating how whole-life cost analysis and value-based decision-making can improve outcomes while delivering better long-term value.

To underpin this, the NHS Scotland Procurement Strategy requires all regulated procurements to consider total cost of ownership - covering acquisition, use, maintenance and end-of-life disposal - while aligning with national priorities such as net-zero, circular economy principles, ethical sourcing and community benefit requirements. The strategy promotes collaborative frameworks, digital tools for transparency, and strengthened governance to support consistent, value-driven procurement practice across the system.

Through these policies, guidance frameworks and practical programmes, the Scottish Government is ensuring that procurement decisions across health and social care increasingly focus on whole-life value, improved outcomes and long-term sustainability.

No, people who do not install or use the planned digital public services app will still be able to access all relevant public services through alternative channels.

Impact assessments for the digital public services app are currently in progress.

Following its introduction, use of the app by citizens will be optional.

Further functionality will be determined by user need coming from both the citizens and the services that use it.

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

SPS hold our serving staff and prospective staff to the highest of standards.

In accordance with relevant legislation, including UK GDPR and UK Employment Law, SPS already undertakes a broad range of suitability and vetting checks on those who apply to work for SPS. These include right to work in the UK, criminal conviction checks and a range of vetting procedures which are undertaken against SPS systems and information sources to assess suitability for employment.

SPS’s pre-employment checks exceed the minimum requirements under the UK Government Baseline Personnel Security Standards, which set the standards for employment within the UK Civil Service.

SPS continually assesses the suitability of its recruitment practices to identify and respond to emerging risks. Where necessary, steps are taken to mitigate these as part of our commitment to maintaining the safety and security of our prisons.