Chamber and committees

This question relates to a recommendation in the report on HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (HMIPS)’s inspection of the prosecution of summary domestic abuse cases which was instructed by the Lord Advocate and was published on 17 April 2024.

The relevant recommendation is:

Recommendation 3

COPFS should ensure that statutory aggravations are applied where appropriate. This could be done via additional training and guidance, as well as quality assurance and feedback to staff.

The Lord Advocate has accepted this recommendation.

COPFS is commencing work in relation to the areas identified in the HMIPS report and will provide updates on the work undertaken in implementing the recommendations contained within the report in due course.

The majority of NHS dental services are provided by independent contractors, including corporate entities, who not employed by the NHS but instead make ‘arrangements’ with NHS Boards to provide dental services in their area. As the Scottish Government has no direct control on recruitment within these private businesses, policy focus to date has been placed on improving the NHS offer by introducing a new fee scale and increasing the incentives available to the independent sector to provide NHS dental services. The initial impression from the sector has been encouraging in welcoming the changes to NHS fees.

In addition, we continue to make available targeted ‘golden-hello’ workforce incentives in areas where access has proved more challenging; this pays out up to £37,500 for dental trainees who join the dental list in a qualifying area.

In recognising that we have no direct levers to improve recruitment, at the national level we are focused on actions to improve the workforce supply, including leading discussions with UK and other devolved governments on our shared challenges. We therefore welcome the consultation brought forward by UK Government to vary the General Dental Council’s powers, allowing for a new provisional registration status to allow overseas dentists to enter the workforce much more quickly, and we are having preparatory discussions with stakeholders to understand how this could work in practice. Alongside work to improve international pipelines, we are also working to consider our domestic routes into dentistry and other dental care professions by ensuring that our educational offering reflects workforce need in all areas of the country.

By increasing the fees payable to NHS dentistry and improving workforce supply, the intention is to provide an improved landscape for independent contractors and dental bodies corporate to sustain NHS dental services into the medium- to longer-term.

£11.3 million of non-recurring Cancer Waiting Times funding has been made available in 2023-24 across NHS Scotland. The majority of funding is being directed to urology, colorectal and breast – the three most challenged tumour types.

A further £11.3 million will be provided in 2024-25 to support cancer waiting times improvements across NHS Scotland, with Boards being encouraged to direct funding to the most challenged cancer pathways.

The Expert Group established to lead on scoping work to consider and to provide recommendations on how Scotland will work towards reaching the targets set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to eliminate Cervical Cancer met for the first time on 25 April 2024. This group will consider what actions are required to achieve elimination of Cervical Cancer in Scotland, and the timelines required for this .

As a public body CHS are required by law to operate in line with the SPSO requirements, and all complainants must have recourse to the SPSO as the final stage for complaints. The SPSO has statutory powers to investigate complaints, the National Convener is independent of Government in the exercise of his children’s panel appointment and tenure functions. The Scottish Government has no locus.

These questions are within the statutory domain of the National Convener. The detailed arrangements are operated by Children’s Hearings Scotland in terms of their published complaints policy. Scottish Ministers have no locus, and it is open to the Member to raise these matters with the body directly.

The location of critical policing facilities is an operational decision for the Chief Constable. Police Scotland is currently in discussions with a number of partners around possible co-location options, to ensure it can continue to provide a policing service that continues to meet the needs of communities across Edinburgh, in the event that functions move away from Fettes. Police Scotland will undertake a public consultation in advance of any decisions being reached.

We welcome the UK Government’s plans to introduce a Sustainable Industry Reward into the Contracts for Difference scheme.

The Scottish Government responded to the initial consultation in January 2024, welcoming the UK Government’s work to introduce these reforms and raising key issues on the definition of deprived areas in Scotland as well as implementation timescales and flexibility.

Throughout our engagement with UK Government on this, we have been clear that any reward mechanism should encourage early investment in manufacturing and infrastructure rather delaying it, creating certainty and allowing the supply chain to ready itself to support the delivery of our tremendous offshore wind ambitions.

We will continue to work with the UK Government to ensure Scottish interests are represented.

The location and deployment of police officers is an operational decision for the Chief Constable. However, under its estate plans for Edinburgh and the Lothians, Police Scotland intends that front-line operational officers will be relocated within the same geographical policing area, meaning there will be no loss to community-based policing.

Police Scotland is currently considering options, and is in discussion with a number of partners around possible locations, to ensure it continues to provide a local policing service that meets the needs of communities across Edinburgh and the Lothians, and has committed to undertake a public consultation in advance of any decisions being reached.

This is an operational matter for Police Scotland.