Chamber and committees

Whilst the management of the prison estate – including privately operated HMP Addiewell - is an operational matter for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), I take very seriously the significant issues highlighted in the Inspectorate’s report.

It is clearly unacceptable that anyone in custody in Scotland should feel unsafe.

I have a meeting later this month with both the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Sodexo Justice Services to discuss His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland’s (HMIPS) inspection findings for HMP Addiewell.

SPS and Sodexo Justice Services are engaging at the highest possible levels to ensure HMP Addiewell is a safe and secure prison and are committed to addressing the concerns raised in the HMIPS report.

Safety is an absolute priority and plans and actions are being scrutinised to ensure necessary improvements and changes are delivered. Abuse, threating behaviour, bullying and violence by prison staff will not be tolerated and any complaint of criminality is automatically referred to Police Scotland.

NatureScot previously requested that carcasses from licensed control should be submitted for independent post mortem on a voluntary basis in order that aspects of beaver health and welfare could be monitored.

As set out in my previous answer to you in Parliamentary Question S6W-17320 on 2 May 2023, NatureScot now require that all carcasses from licensed control must be submitted for independent post mortem, as part of the licensing conditions, except in exceptional circumstances where a carcass cannot safely be retrieved. Compliance with these licence conditions is a legal requirement. Non-compliance may also lead to further licence applications being refused.

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

This is an operational matter for NatureScot. I have asked their Chief Executive to write with the relevant information.

This is an operational matter for NatureScot. I have asked their Chief Executive to write with the relevant information.

We welcome NatureScot’s, Scottish Wildcat Action (SWA) – Final Summary Report 2023 and agree that the ultimate goal for wildcat conservation in Scotland must be to establish a long-term, viable population of wildcats that does not require further intervention to secure its viability.

The Scottish wildcat is one of our rarest mammals and the Scottish Government will continue working with SWA through its partnership with NatureScot to achieve the goal set out above. NatureScot has recently approved a licence application from the Saving Wildcats partnership project to release wildcats in the Cairngorms National Park later this year.

The role of the Scottish Government is to monitor each of the three deposit schemes for compliance with the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011. This includes being satisfied that the tenancy deposit schemes have clear and substantial processes in place that meet the requirements laid out in the regulations.

The three approved tenancy deposit schemes are private businesses and the Scottish Government is not involved in their business operations. While we encourage employers to be Accredited Living Wage Employers we do not require it.

It is clear that Fair Work, including fair pay, is more important than ever in the context of the cost of living crisis, and we will use all the levers we can to support those most affected.

Our Fair Work First Guidance explains our Fair Work First approach, provides good practice examples to guide employers’ approaches and, importantly, explains the benefits of fair work for workers and organisations.

The following table provides how many unclaimed deposits are currently in each of Scotland’s rental deposit schemes, and what their financial value is at end February 2023.

SafeDeposits Scotland annually check the scheme rules and some wording changes were made for clarity. There have been no significant changes to the revised scheme or original proposal referred to the Scottish Government for approval. Any considered changes would be discussed as part of routine monitoring discussions.

SafeDeposits Scotland have confirmed that there is only one version of the Scheme Rules available on the website.

Currently, there are charges in place for the use of toilet facilities at Inverness, Fort William, Aberdeen, and Glasgow Queen Street stations.

ScotRail advises that the revenue from each requested station toilet facilities since 2019 is as follows:

The following table shows the number of entries to the Rural Skills National Progression Award at SCQF Level 5 for the 2022-23 academic year broken down by centre.

Entries to Rural Skills NPA at SCQF 5, 2022-23