Chamber and committees

Public Health Scotland (PHS) records all tumours using the ICD-O3 classification and is therefore able to routinely report on blood cancers in many different ways. This includes a variety of benchmarks such as incidence rates, quality performance indicators and survival.

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).

International training and deployments undertaken by UK officers are a matter for their individual services and no comparable data is available.

Further information and detail on all Police Scotland’s international activity can be obtained from the service’s International Business Development Manager who can be contacted at [email protected].

While the work of Police Scotland’s International Academy is a matter for the service, Police Scotland has a proven track record in working with other countries. In terms of training partnerships, these are in place for the work undertaken in Malawi and Zambia which predominately address gender-based violence and contribute towards achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in promoting peace, justice, and strong institutions.

In addition to this, Police Scotland host a number of international events where there is mutual collaboration and sharing of good practice with law enforcement colleagues around the world. In recent years this has involved programmes with colleagues from a variety of countries which includes USA, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Germany, New Zealand covering a range of themes including probationer training, de-escalation, recruitment and retention, equality diversity and inclusion, senior leadership and criminal justice.

Further information and detail on all International activity can be obtained from Police Scotland’s International Business Development Manager who can be contacted at [email protected].

The building work on the safer drug consumption facility is now complete and the Building Control completion certificate has been processed by Glasgow City Council.

We are currently working with our colleagues in the NHS to demonstrate full compliance with the Scottish Healthcare Technical Memoranda (SHTM)’s NHS Assure to conclude their oversight that the project, as delivered, meets the brief and relevant design parameters. This includes the bespoke ventilation system to the injection booths, for which no SHTM currently exists and the water supply which includes us connecting into an existing facility.

Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority put their joint response into the public domain in June 2023 item-2-3-1-police-scotland-spa-joint-response-to-the-iag-on-new-and-emerging-te-_.pdf. The Scottish Government published its response to the report in February 2023 Recommendations for the Scottish Government - Policing emerging technologies report: Scottish Government response - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

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.

The information requested on (a) how many blood cancer clinical nurse specialists are currently employed within NHS Scotland and (b) specialist vacancies there currently are, is not centrally collected.

The information requested on what the Scottish Governments position is on the development of a new blood cancer support role is that it is for Boards to determine roles and job descriptions to deliver services they feel required to meet their local population needs.

The Scottish Police Authority budget for 2024-25 provides record funding of £1.55bn for policing, an increase of £92.7m despite difficult financial circumstances due to UKG austerity.

The allocation of this budget to policing priorities, is for the Chief Constable and Scottish Police Authority, including the allocation of resources to tackle cybercrime and fraud.

NHS Scotland health care workers supporting those with blood cancer are from a wide range of professions, often supporting patients with other conditions too. There are no plans to model a blood cancer care workforce specifically.

National standards for staffing and facilities providing services are set by guidance such as the Staff Governance Standard. This applies to all staff employed by NHS Scotland Boards. It provides a system of accountability for the fair and effective management of all staff and requires all NHS Boards to demonstrate that staff are: well informed; appropriately trained and developed; involved in decisions; treated fairly and consistently, with dignity and respect, in an environment where diversity is valued; and, provided with a continuously improving and safe working environment, promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, patients and the wider community.