Chamber and committees

For the development of a national specification for alcohol and drug services, initial engagement has begun with representative groups covering service commissioners, service providers and people who use, have used or could use the services.

We plan full public consultation on a draft specification with an aim to be publishing the final version in 2025.

The national service specification will play a role in addressing the public health emergency of alcohol harm by providing clarity on the choices and services which must be available in every local area in Scotland. The specification will help ensure services can meet the needs of people impacted by alcohol and drugs to help reduce harms and improve lives.

Public Health Scotland is currently in the process of investigating the reasons behind the apparent 40% reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol treatment services.

The Scottish Government fully supports the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on diagnosing and managing ME/CFS. We wrote to all Scottish health boards following its publication to raise awareness of the guidance and encourage its implementation.

We are committed to improving care for people with ME/CFS and want to facilitate constructive communication between patients and clinicians so that all parties are engaged in finding a way forward.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26094 on 26 March 2024. 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/questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government has not had discussions with COSLA or local authorities regarding apprenticeship provision for traditional trades. Skills Development Scotland have operational responsibility for apprenticeship provision and regularly engage with local authorities, for both Modern and Foundation Apprenticeship provision.

Scottish Development International has over 100 staff in 30 international offices in 23 countries. SDI regularly reviews its overseas footprint to ensure it aligns with Scotland’s trade and investment priorities. There are currently no plans to reopen SDI’s office in Taiwan. The Taiwanese market continues to be serviced by SDI colleagues based in SDI’s Asia and Pacific offices.

Full budget allocations for 2024-25 are still to be confirmed.

In 2023-24, Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) received funding exceeding £112 million. We anticipate that this funding will be maintained in 2024-25.

Annual ADP funding is published and available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/alcohol-and-drug-partnerships-funding-allocations/

The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing smart integrated ticketing and has set out its intention to develop a new national integrated ticketing system for public transport in Scotland, across all modes of transport, to enable a system that can used for all elements of a journey.

To support delivery of this, the recently established National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board (NSTAB) which comprises operators, transport authorities, user groups and technical experts, is set to advise Ministers on the future of smart ticketing in Scotland, including on technological standards to enable smart integration between modes. The NSTAB is currently developing their work programme for the next 3 years.

FAIRTIQ has engaged with NSTAB and will present on their smart integrated ticketing solution at an upcoming board meeting. FAIRTIQ is one example of a ticketing platform provider, and it is expected that NSTAB will consider the full range of options available for Scotland and their respective implications on cost and infrastructure. Any resulting public procurement of a new ticketing system will be required to follow public sector procurement processes to ensure best value for money.

The Scottish Government, NSTAB and stakeholders will continue to work closely together on developing these options, in order to best determine the method of delivering a new national integrated ticketing system.

The Chief Constable has been clear that the Proportionate Response to Crime pilot has been about ensuring an appropriate approach to policing. It is not the case that certain specific crimes will no longer be investigated.

Both Police Scotland and the Scottish Government have been consistently clear that all incidents reported are assessed using the THRIVE model which covers Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigative opportunities, Vulnerability and Engagement. The circumstance of each incident is fully assessed before a decision is made to either file the report and issue a crime reference number or have the incident passed to local officers for further investigation.

An evaluation of the pilot was provided to the Scottish Police Authority’s Policing Performance Committee on 12 March 2024 by Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond. ACC Bond stated that the plan for the rollout would be to initially cover the North region before moving east then west, acknowledging that training and preparatory work would be required.

It is worth noting that the pilot’s evaluation shows that only 5% of crime reports were recorded and filed for no further enquiry. The evaluation states that this freed up 2,657 police officer hours which were therefore used to investigate crimes where there are lines of inquiry.

ACC Bond stated at the meeting on 12 March that she would be able to provide a further update to the committee with more information on the rollout of the pilot in May.