Chamber and committees

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

Any death of an individual whilst in the care of the SPS is a tragedy, irrespective of the cause. Unfortunately, there have been 34 deaths in custody between month 2019 and month 2023 confirmed as drug related, either by postmortem or by a Medical Certificate Cause of Death. This is approximately 16% of deaths in custody. SPS do not record drug category or categories implicated in deaths.

All deaths in custody are subject to a Fatal Accident Enquiry, the findings of which are published on the Scottish Courts website.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as the sole public sector operator of prisons in Scotland has a strong track record in keeping prisons safe and secure with a focus on care and rehabilitation. They are well placed to deliver quality services at HMP Kilmarnock while benefitting from the skills and experience of the existing staff group there.

As of 9 February 2024, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Services have confirmed to Scottish Government that no charges have been reported to them under Section 56 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 and there are subsequently no convictions.

The anticipated spend on the HMP Kilmarnock transition project for 2023-24 is £1.5m.

In 2024-25, the total running costs of HMP Kilmarnock are anticipated around £18.6m, to accommodate around 600 people. This figure excludes the uplift for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 pay rise which is currently being processed. Final costs will depend on the date of any harmonisation of the existing staff group to SPS terms and conditions, and the actual spending within the financial year.

The price of the HMP Kilmarnock contract in the final year of the contract (year 25) is £19.5m for 596 prisoner places. This figure does not include the direct public sector costs of managing, monitoring and supporting the contract. There is no comparable price for private operation of HMP Kilmarnock in 2024-25 as the contract would have been retendered in this scenario using different pricing models. Hypothetically, if the existing terms of the contract went into a notional 26 th year, indexation of around 5.1% would have been applied.

CalMac currently expects that there will be two tankers a week per vessel to operate the service. CalMac will review the fuel requirements once the new vessels are in operation and make any necessary changes to supply requirements.

To date, four out of six key measures provided for within the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 have been implemented, these are:

• A prohibition on providing or making available fireworks or pyrotechnic articles to children;
• A new statutory aggravation for courts sentencing offenders where fireworks were used to attack emergency workers;
• New discretionary powers for local authorities to designate firework control zones; and
• New offences of possession of pyrotechnics in public places and at designated venues and events.

After careful consideration and assessment of the significant financial pressures the Scottish Government is facing following the UK Government’s budget settlement, the Government has decided to extend the timeframe for delivery and implementation of the firework licensing requirement (Part 2 of the Act) to 2026. A pause to the implementation of restrictions to the days of supply and use of fireworks (within Part 3 of the Act), was outlined to the Criminal Justice Committee in March 2023. I am writing to the Convener of the Criminal Justice Committee to provide further details about this decision.

Simple procedure is a court process designed to provide a speedy, inexpensive and informal way to resolve disputes. A claim is made in the sheriff court with the final decision in a claim made by a sheriff or a summary sheriff. Claimants do not need to use a solicitor to use the simple procedure, but they can do so if they wish.

The following table provides the number of simple procedure claims, and breaks the disposals between those which were successful and unsuccessful. It then gives the average monetary value of the successful claims for each financial year where data is available.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) continue to undertake operational intelligence gathering on such premises and work alongside key partners to ensure that an effective operational response is provided. While clearly this is an operational matter, SFRS will respond to all reports of fire which are received and have the ability to deploy a range of standard and specialist resources as determined by the needs of the incident.

Fire safety measures should be built into such sites during the development that include detection and suppression systems to inhibit the growth and spread of any fire should an incident occur. This is in line with the NFCC Guidance Document .

To ask the Scottish Government what the current fire safety regulations are for the development of battery energy storage system (BESS) sites. A range of legislation makes up the regulatory framework for the safety of grid scale battery energy storage systems (BESS). Health and safety is a reserved matter with applicable UK legislation including: the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002; the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989; and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s regulator in this regard, and their remit includes health and safety in the workplace as well as public assurance on safety matters.

The Scottish Government received 11 recommendations formulated by the Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) Review Group. These are listed below and have been fully accepted by Ministers.

Work is now underway on taking forward the three recommendations that fall specifically to the Scottish Government. We will continue to engage with the sectors regarding delivery of those recommendations that are to be progressed jointly or elsewhere, reconvening the Review Group as part of that recommendation.

Recommendations

1. That the Scottish Government works with partners to develop a Model Terms and Conditions to apply across all PBSA, both institutionally and privately operated.

2. That the Scottish Government consults widely on the scope to legislate on PBSA regulation, specifically in respect of notice periods and cooling off period for PBSA tenants, including identifying what circumstances should apply in such cases and potential impact on investment and rent levels.

3. That Higher Education Institutions work with partners to develop and distribute information packs for student tenants in both institutional and private PBSA properties, outlining the existing routes for progressing complaints and redress, including through the SPSO and the First-Tier Tribunals system. These information packs should contain clear links to regularly updated relevant online content.

4. That the Scottish Government works with partners to scope the development of a Model Complaints Procedure to be adopted across all types of PBSA.

5. That the Scottish Government convenes a national round table discussion with HEIs, private PBSA providers, investors/developers, students, and local authorities, to explore improvements in relation to ensuring the housing needs of students are met.

6. That strategic partnerships be established at local level, involving all those involved in provision / use of student accommodation to consider / address supply issues at local level in the short, medium, and long-term.

7. That the Scottish Government works with partners to identify and address barriers to expanding the supply of affordable accommodation for students through e.g. the repurposing of existing buildings and the utilisation of alternative housing models e.g. housing co-operatives.

8. That the Scottish Government and Higher Education Institutions actively engage with property investors/developers in the private sector to encourage the development of a more diverse range of student accommodation properties, which could meet the needs of families and those on lower incomes.

9. That Higher Education Institutions and providers of private PBSA work more closely together to ensure students get the information they need, including consideration of data sharing agreements.

10. That Higher Education Institutions provide to all tenants residing in University or privately-run PBSA information on student support available through institutions, and how to access this. This should be available in formats other than online, and frontline staff working within all types of PBSA should have ready access to this information in order to provide advice when needed.

11. That the Scottish Government engages with Home Office on the provision of student dependents’ data for international students taking up places at Scottish universities.