Chamber and committees

A total of 13 applications were received for the post of Chair to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. The appointment process for that post remains on-going. At the same time, the SCCRC advertised a vacancy for a Legal Member, which also attracted 13 applications.

The Scottish Government posted the adverts on the Scottish Government hosted public appointments webpages.

The adverts were circulated to over 1500 individuals and groups who have registered on the public appointments notes of interest contact list. This information is circulated to bodies such as Citizens Advice Scotland, the Equality Network, Women on Boards, and Changing the Chemistry.

Scottish Government officials also reached out to a number of other relevant organisations to draw their attention to the vacancies. These were:

• The Faculty of Advocates;
• Scottish Legal Aid Board;
• The Society of Solicitor Advocates;
• Scottish Legal Complaints;
• The Equalities and Human Rights Commission;
• The Scottish Human Rights Commission;
• The Legal Services Agency;
• Law Centres Network;
• Fair Justice System for Scotland Group;
• Govan Law Centre; and
• The Scottish Ethnic Minorities Lawyers Association.

The vacancies were also posted on the Scottish Legal News website, the Scottish Legal News X page, and advertised via Scottish Legal News’ daily newsletter.

In November 2021 we committed to increasing residential rehabilitation capacity from 425 to 650 beds and to increasing the number of statutory-funded placements by 300%, so that by 2026 1,000 people are publicly funded for their placement.

From a baseline of an estimated 425 beds in 2021, we provided funding for 140 additional residential rehabilitation beds through our Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Fund. Of this amount, 36 are now operational, with a further 34 due to open across Aberdeenshire and the Highlands and Islands in the coming months. The remainder will become operational over 2025-2026.

The increased investment has also led to a number of privately-funded developments within the sector, which contribute towards our overall bed target. Scottish Government analysts are collecting updated data about current capacity in Scotland, including these wider developments, which when published will provide a public record for progress against our commitments by March 2026.

Public Health Scotland's June report found ‘the available evidence suggests that the Scottish Government is on track to hit its target of 1,000 individuals per year publicly funded to go to rehab by 2026.’ The statistics show that in the full financial year 2023-24, 938 placements were approved.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

As of 2 April 2024 (the date on which SPS’ year end people data was collated), SPS’ full time equivalent figure across prison officer positions was 3440.5.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) work with operators, crew and unions to ensure that all replacement ferries are safely crewed and operated from the ports and harbours they are set to serve before their introduction. The four vessels being built at Cemre are sister vessels, of a standardised design and layout and as such the crew will be interoperable. This will be the case also for the seven vessels as part of the Small Vessel Replacement Programme. Port works are also being undertaken to ensure that they are suitable for the new vessels.

Inter-island ferry services and operations must also comply with strict training and safety regulations for crew.

The Scottish Government publish full-time police officer numbers on a quarterly basis. The statistics published provide a snapshot of police strength at the end of each quarter. Police officer quarterly strength statistics Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent police officers at the end of each quarter during 2023-24.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) as procuring authority foresee the invitation to tender issuing late September/early October 2024. A contract range will be given but it will be for bidders to confirm the cost of the design and build contract and for CMAL to evaluate bids against the set criteria of the procurement process.

Engagement and consultation have been undertaken on both aspects ahead of the live procurement. Passenger accessibility and crew training and familiarisation has also been included in the scope of the Small Vessel Replacement Programme ahead of successful delivery.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information as the cost of tendering for the Small Vessel Replacement Programme is a cost borne by the bidders in the procurement process.

The UK Government’s decision to introduce means-testing of Winter Fuel Payments in England and Wales in 2024-25 significantly reduces the annual funding available to the Scottish Government, by an estimated £140 million to £160 million. It is with deep regret and only following careful consideration that the Scottish Government has decided it must replicate that decision in Scotland and Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will therefore be payable to people over state pension age in receipt of certain benefits. Those benefits are Pension Credit, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit, Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits (where the award is not less than £26 in respect of the tax year 2024-2025).

Payments of Pension Age Winter Heating Payment in 2024-25 will be made by the Department of Work and Pensions on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The requested information is provided in the following table.