Chamber and committees

It is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland to agree and deliver any overseas training programme, with oversight by the Scottish Police Authority.

The Chief Constable of Police Scotland announced, at the Scottish Police Authority Board meeting on 24 November 2021, that Police Scotland has made the decision not to undertake any further work in Sri Lanka before their current contract expires in March 2022. Police Scotland has also advised the UK Government that they will not seek to renew their contract in support of the Sri Lanka Police Service.

The vast majority of the school estate is the responsibility of, and managed by, local authorities. The Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Strategy and its guiding principles provide a platform for investment in the learning estate across Scotland and set out our strategic approach for managing the learning estate. One of these guiding principles is that learning environments should serve the wider community and where appropriate be integrated with the delivery of other public services.

The Programme for Government aims to address the inequalities in our society, and create a fair, equal society for all. The commitment to doubling investment in sport and active living is aligned to this wider aim and will be used to ensure we support participation across all groups and address inequalities in access to physical activity and sport.

As part of its ongoing commitment to develop the sporting system, sport scotland continues to work with local authorities to encourage and support them in widening access to school sport facilities. This has involved working in partnership with local authorities to support various aspects of their planning, including facilitating the development of local sport and sport facilities strategies, and supporting operational planning at individual school level, including developing Community Sport Hubs within schools.

Community Sport Hubs are delivered in partnership with the local authority, ensuring that there is full commitment to delivering community access to the school estate from the outset. Community Sport Hubs provide a home for sport. They bring together sport clubs and community organisations who want to develop and grow the sporting offering in the community. They focus on sustainable, community-led approaches that get clubs working together to develop a welcoming, safe, and fun environments for sport.

Spending plans will be contained in the Scottish Budget due to be published on 9 December 2021. The Scottish Government has a robust sponsorship relationship with sport scotland to ensure oversight and accountability of their funding and will require reporting against investment from any other organisations that are funded directly.

The information requested is not available. As with any other setting, it is not possible to infer whether a specific setting or an event indicates where the Covid19 transmission took place. This is because cases may have attended multiple settings or events within a short space of time.

The Scottish Government has set out the range of technologies that it considers to be low or zero emissions heating systems – and which includes a range of renewable heating systems – at page 16 of the Heat in Buildings Strategy.

The Strategy can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/heat-buildings-strategy-achieving-net-zero-emissions-scotlands-buildings/

As set out in the Heat in Buildings Strategy, the Scottish Government will consult in detail on our approach to regulating heat in buildings during 2022, which may include further discussion of those technologies which will, or will not, be compliant with future standards.

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

Since 1991 the SPS Prison Survey has provided a unique insight into life in Scottish prisons from the perspective of those who are in custodial care; it furnishes a meaningful channel for the “user’s voice” to be heard. It offers a rich data source which complements official statistics and provides the Service, partner agencies, researchers and academics with valuable time-series trends. The Survey focuses on the core elements of prison life: living conditions, family contact, healthcare, relationships, atmosphere and perceived safety. Over the years, the questionnaire has introduced new topics on mental health, substance misuse, housing status, military service, knife carrying, gang membership, violence against women, equality and diversity, looked after as a child and adverse childhood experiences. The most recent Prison Survey in 2019 [1] found that one quarter of those held in custody reported that they had been in care at some point during their up-bringing.

Work undertaken in 2017-18 by SPS and the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) [2] on children and young people in custody also showed that they came from a range of communities across Scotland, but most came predominantly from the central belt. The highest numbers of young people in both age ranges were from the most deprived 10% of communities, with almost two-thirds of the 16 and 17 year olds and over half of 16 to 21 year olds living in the 20% most deprived communities in Scotland.

[1] Prison Survey 2019, J. Carnie & R. Broderick, Scottish Prison Service, 2019, page 19

Publications (sps.gov.uk)

[2] Children and Young People in Custody in Scotland: Looking Behind the Data, G. Robinson, J. Leishman & C. Lightowler, Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice, 2018, page 8

Children and Young People in Custody in Scotland: Looking Behind the Data (Revised June 2018) - Children's and Young People's Centre for Justice (cycj.org.uk)

During the COVID-19 pandemic we have worked closely with Health Boards to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on demand and capacity. Services are now working hard to return to previous activity levels and to deal with any backlogs that have developed, as well as to address long-standing issues around access to services. That is why we have set out in our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, published on 8 October, our plans to provide a tailored programme of enhanced improvement support for individual NHS Boards to improve their waiting times performance. We are also working on a national programme of support to Boards based on key themes emerging from their Covid remobilisation plans. Our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan is supported by a £120 million Recovery and Renewal fund, announced in February 2021. The Fund will transform services, with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention.

This year, £89m has already been allocated from the Fund. This includes an additional £9m to address Psychological Therapies waiting times. We remain committed to meeting the standard that 90% of patients begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

We are also taking steps to grow the mental health workforce to meet increasing demand, including increasing the Clinical Psychology Doctorate Training Programme intake by 10 trainees per year for the next three years; supporting 10 Masters level training places per year for the next three years; and funding a new Enhanced Psychology Practitioner training programme to create a new workforce of psychological practitioners capable of delivering high-quality, evidence-based interventions for mild to moderate difficulties in a way that can be deployed in Primary Care, Community, Early Years, and Schools. We have also developed a new Psychology Wellbeing Practitioner role within NHS24 to provide a compassionate response and support to callers who are experiencing mental health difficulties and distress.

Transport Scotland is responsible for improving and maintaining Scotland’s trunk road and motorway network. Local roads are the responsibility of the Local Authorities.

Contracts are written to minimise road closures. Planning minimises disruption to businesses, communities and the travelling public. Peak times are avoided where possible, with works often planned overnight. Safety of road workers, the environment/ecology and local stakeholder feedback is of key importance.

Advance notice is conveyed through press release, local/national radio, social media and road signage. Traffic delays are monitored and variable message signs notify delays to enable alternative routes and minimise congestion.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04128 on 30 November 2021. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04373 on 30 November 2021. 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