Chamber and committees

Recent population projections from National Records of Scotland indicate that high levels of positive net migration are projected to offset negative natural change, leading to Scotland’s population being projected to increase each year to mid-2047.

This demonstrates the importance of migration in driving population growth and is why we are using the full extent of our devolved powers to ensure Scotland is as attractive as possible, with a population profile which can support our economy, communities and public services. This includes delivering Scotland’s Migration Service and our Addressing Depopulation Action Plan, reflecting the strategic aims set out in our Population Strategy.

We will also continue to make the case for tailored migration schemes such as our Rural Visa Pilot and recently announced Scottish Graduate Visa. These are strongly supported by stakeholders, deliverable within the existing UK immigration system, and we urge the UK Government to engage substantively with the proposals to ensure that the UK immigration system can meet Scotland’s distinct demographic needs.

The new national throughcare service will ensure equitable support provisions across all communities in Scotland.

The partnership delivering the new national throughcare service (consisting of Sacro, Access to Industry, Action for Children, Apex Scotland, Barnardo’s, Circle, Families Outside and Turning Point Scotland) has experience of delivering throughcare in rural and island communities and understands the additional considerations needed to achieve a robust and responsive delivery model.

A proportion of the budget has been set aside to ensure a tailored ‘spot purchase’ approach to support individuals returning to rural and island communities. This model will ensure that wrap-around support is available to individuals as required across island communities, whilst ensuring a level of parity with mainland provision.

The partnership will also work closely with existing services and agencies operating locally to ensure that the right support is in place for every individual returning to a rural or island community.

The following table provides the number of people departing prison one or more times in each financial year from remand, with index sentences of one year or less, and with index sentences from greater than one year to four years or less.

The Scottish Government supports third sector delivery of voluntary throughcare support. We recognise that these organisations are uniquely positioned to offer flexible, community-based and person-centred support to individuals transitioning from prison back into their communities.

A review of throughcare provision by Community Justice Scotland in 2023 found that using a partnership approach to delivering voluntary throughcare was an effective way of supporting people leaving prison, as it enables different partners to apply their specific expertise to address a wide range of needs.

This approach aligns with the National Strategy for Community Justice, which emphasises continuity of care and the importance of reducing reoffending by ensuring that people receive consistent, holistic support during this critical period of transition.

The Scottish Prison Service established, operated and suspended their throughcare support service independently. Any decision regarding reinstating this service would be for the Scottish Prison Service.

Individual decisions on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) release are a matter for the Scottish Prison Service. GPS monitoring will initially be available for eligible individuals who have been deemed suitable for release on HDC after the completion of an individualised risk assessment. GPS will only be used within HDC, where the HDC risk assessment suggests that GPS use will be necessary and proportionate.

It is not possible to predict with certainty how many of those released on HDC will have a GPS condition of licence. For planning purposes we have assumed there may be around 20 people on GPS monitored HDC during the initial phase.

The Scottish Government will evaluate GPS to determine the next steps for the development of the monitoring service and any future areas where GPS may be used.

The launch of the new national throughcare service does not affect the duty on local authorities to provide voluntary throughcare support and will not replace any locally commissioned services or local processes.

The new service will be structured to work collectively with local partners, including justice social work services, to meet the needs of people who request voluntary throughcare support for prisoners released from both short-term sentences and those on remand.

The service will employ dedicated prison-based workers in each establishment who will have a role in supporting effective multi-agency pre-release planning to avoid duplication of service provision.

FSS’ people strategy 2022 - 2026, defines their priorities around four key pillars including the Employee Experience. FSS has been committed to employee health and wellbeing and was a Healthy Working Lives Gold award holder. FSS’ Healthy Working lives group aims to maximise the benefits for staff by providing high quality advice. resources and signposting a range of health and wellbeing topics that focus on helping people to feel good and function well. FSS has invested in training and has a bank of trained mental health first aiders who are available to support staff. FSS also offers access to an Employee Assistance Service (EAS) which offers 24-hour helpline and counselling support including, emotional, financial and relationship support. FSS employees can be referred to Occupational Health service for advice and support if they are at work or returning from a period of long-term sickness absence.

We recognise that financial certainty into the medium term would help the Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and other public bodies to develop plans and make better-informed decisions across a longer time-frame, rather than being limited by the single-year budget settlements we have delivered in recent years. However, the majority of our funding is controlled by UK Government decisions, and this continues to impact on the certainty we can provide to public bodies in relation to future year funding.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has initiated planning for the next Scottish Spending Review, which will consider a multi-year funding position for public bodies. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government will update the Finance and Public Administration Committee on this work in due course.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The management of the Police Scotland Estate is an operational matter, and is the responsibility of the Chief Constable under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority.

In line with its Estates Masterplan which will continue to have a community focus, Police Scotland will undertake public consultation on its plans for public facing properties, including for disposal, in advance of any decisions being made.

Scottish Government officials wrote to all CLLD delivery stakeholders on 18 December 2024 to extend the deadline to submit final claims to 14th April 2025.

The deadline is aligned with Scottish Government end of year financial procedures. This allows for payment of claims to be attributed to the financial year in which they were budgeted, which is a financial standard required by audit.