Chamber and committees

In order for businesses to utilise Green Freeport customs sites they must first be designated by HMRC. Both Green Freeports are currently at full business case stage and working towards customs site designation.

The Scottish Government is aware of the concerns raised by the Coroner in respect of this unfortunate case. We will await the responses of the recipients named in the report to help inform any future actions that may be applicable to Scotland, and will continue to work with stakeholders across the UK on matters of national scale.

The Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024 was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 31 January 2024. It will bring the roles into statutory regulation for the first time when it comes into force on 13 December of this year, addressing one of the key concerns of the Coroner.

In the meantime, extant Scottish Government guidance to NHS Scotland Boards makes clear that all Physician Associates must be registered on the appropriate managed voluntary register. That guidance also recognises the importance of ensuring that patients are properly advised that they are being treated by a Physician Associate and not a doctor.

Building on the above, the Scottish Government will continue to work with partners through its Medical Associate Professionals (MAPs) Programme Board to consider appropriate utilisation of the role within NHS Scotland, taking into account developments over the coming months.

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

Scottish Prison Service do not hold this information in the format requested.

Whilst we recognise the profound impact that experience of care can have on a person, SPS aims to support those in our care with care, compassion and in a consistent manner that recognises avenues for potential trauma.

SPS rely on those individuals coming into our care to either self-report that they are a care leaver, which will be annotated on Prisoner Records (PR2)) or anonymously report via the bi-annual Prisoner Survey.

The Civil Aviation Authority has made a series of safety recommendations regarding hospital helicopter landing sites following a tragic accident in Plymouth, in 2022. The safety recommendations apply across the UK and those that are applicable to Scottish sites are being acted on by NHS Boards, with support from NHS Assure.

While this work is ongoing, Search and Rescue helicopters will land at alternative sites where this is required for safety reasons. Scottish Air Ambulance and charity air ambulances can continue to land at NHS Scotland helipads.

The Scottish Government has been working with NHS boards to carefully scale up the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) programme across Scotland, ensuring implementation models are sustainable and delivered with quality.

Under this phased rollout of the programme (a) FNP is not yet offered in Island Boards and (b) we are still in the process of scaling up across NHS Highland areas, noting we began delivering the programme in Argyll and Bute earlier this year.

We want to ensure every eligible mother can access this support, that is why we are testing a number of options to support delivery in remote and rural contexts. The learning will be used to build a sustainable model that could expand the FNP programme to these areas in the future.

We know that people affected by substance use and their families face ongoing issues relating to out of hours support. The Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) operate a services directory which has details of drug and alcohol support services across Scotland.

As well as local contacts, we support national phone lines that are available for anyone to call. Know the Score operate a phoneline which is open until 9pm during the week and then open 10am until 4pm on weekends. This provides free, confidential support for people experiencing issues with drugs, alcohol or mental health.

Scottish Recovery Consortium publish information on recovery communities and local groups which operate during the Christmas period and this is available on their website ahead of Christmas.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-30423 on 22 October 2024, the Civil Aviation Authority has made a series of safety recommendations regarding hospital helicopter landing sites following a tragic accident in Plymouth, in 2022. The safety recommendations apply across the UK and those that are applicable to Scottish sites are being acted on by NHS Boards, with support from NHS Assure.

While this work is ongoing, Search and Rescue helicopters will land at alternative sites where this is required for safety reasons. Scottish Air Ambulance and charity air ambulances can continue to land at NHS Scotland helipads.

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

By 18 September 2024, 57 people of the 477 who left custody as part of the emergency release (ER) programme in June and July 2024 had returned to custody before their original Earliest Date of Liberation (EDL), i.e. the date when they would originally have been liberated.

SPS have proactively published a range of data relating to ER and we recently published a summary report of ER return to custody data. We are unable to publish return to custody data for HMP Barlinnie and for other establishments because some of the data could relate to a small group of individuals, which could lead to inadvertent identification.

The adoption of any new technology for policing purposes must be done in a way that secures public confidence. It is important to have clear governance frameworks which take account of ethical and human rights obligations in this area, which is why the Scottish Government commissioned the report into emerging technologies. The report confirmed that Scotland is in a strong position to become world-leading in adopting a rights-based, ethical approach to the adoption of emerging technologies in policing.

The Scottish Government last wrote to the Chief Constable in February 2023 enclosing a copy of the Review of emerging technologies in policing report.

It should be noted that the monitoring of progress to address the report’s recommendations is being taken forward through the Scottish Police Authority. Progress was to be reported and tracked through the Police Scotland Change Board and a short life working group was to task sub-forums across the organisation with activities for specific workstreams where appropriate. The short life working group was to provide an update to the SPA Audit & Risk Committee on a quarterly basis. This is referred to in the note of the Policing Performance Committee - 15 June 2023 | Scottish Police Authority (spa.police.uk).

The Scottish Government is keen to ensure that local areas provide support at all times and that they assess the needs of people in their areas and work with them to design and deliver services in a way that meets the needs of people impacted by drugs and alcohol.

Through our National Mission we are providing around £250 million of investment to support local areas to assess and meet their local needs.