The introduction of Body Worn Video is a priority for Police Scotland, and it is working to introduce it as soon as possible. The decision on how and when to roll out body-worn video is a matter for the Chief Constable with oversight provided by the Scottish Police Authority.

The Chief Constable and senior colleagues provided an update to the SPA Board on 22 August, assuring the Authority that progress is being driven at pace given the complexities of the programme. They highlighted their expectation that the devices will begin to be deployed on roll-out from Spring 2025 for the first tranche of over 10,000 officers and staff. This will be followed by a coordinated, sequenced roll-out thereafter for all other relevant officers and staff. The Chief Constable informed the Criminal Justice Committee on 11 September that she would update the Committee on specific timings when she is able to do so.

As a result of significant increases in construction costs due to inflation, and a lower than expected capital grant from the UK Government, a capital review is currently underway.

Alongside this, we are working with all health boards to develop a whole-system infrastructure plan which reflects on the needs for the whole of Scotland and will support continued safe operation of existing facilities and well as determination of longer-term investment priorities.

As of April 2024 - 12,689 hectares were closed to creeling within the 6 nautical miles limit adjacent to Scotland.

Scottish Ministers prioritise consequential funding in the financial year in which it is received to support public services in Scotland and a balanced budget.

Scottish Ministers have said they will spend the equivalent value of the £97.1 m received in consequentials on cladding remediation at the time it is appropriate to spend it.

Creating Hope Together: suicide prevention action plan 2022 to 2025 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) our joint suicide prevention strategy with CoSLA, has a concerted focus on understanding and meeting the needs of those who face a higher risk of suicide. This includes the care experienced community. Our Creating Hope Together – Year 2 Delivery plan (2024-26) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) includes specific commitments to support the care experienced community ensuring, where appropriate, connection is made at local level with the relevant Promise leads. As part of our work with high risk settings, we are also working with secure care providers to develop a suicide prevention action plan framework for use in the care experience sector.

Any death of a young person due to drugs is a real concern to this government and we are currently developing a set of Standards for local areas, co-designed with young people, to ensure there is sufficient support in place for young people who take drugs. As part of our cross-government response to the final Drug Deaths Taskforce Report, Changing-Lives-updated-1.pdf (knowthescore.info) we are investing £1.5 million in Planet Youth Home | Planet Youth Scotland, sometimes referred to as the Icelandic Model, which is an evidence based model for substance use prevention.

Since October 2021 we have commissioned and funded a National Hub to review and learn from the deaths of all children and young people in Scotland and ultimately help reduce future preventable child deaths. The first Data Overview report: National hub for reviewing and learning from the deaths of children and young people – Data overview report: March 2024 – Healthcare Improvement Scotland from the National Hub was published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland in March 2024.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government’s statement to Parliament on 3 September outlined the challenging financial situation faced by the Scottish Government following the UK Chancellor's July statement. She confirmed that spending controls are in place to make sure the entire SG budget is being managed prudently. These additional controls set out that any activity undertaken, or commitment made, that generates expenditure in 2024-25 must only proceed if it is truly essential and unavoidable. “Unavoidable” means if the Scottish Government would otherwise breach its legal obligations, or fail to provide essential support to emergency situations, or cause significant economic damage across Scotland. The scale of the savings required means that these exceptional measures are being applied across the whole Government, with all policy areas having to think about what this means for them.

Whilst I had originally set out the intention to make Changing Place Toilets funding available across financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26, reductions in the mental health budget mean we are no longer able to launch the fund in the current financial year. Instead, funding will be reprofiled into future years. I remain committed to increasing the numbers of Changing Places Toilets across Scotland and we are continuing preparatory work to enable the launch of the Fund.

The number of thrombectomy patients treated at each thrombectomy hub is shown in the following table.

ScotRail Trains Ltd routinely monitors patronage on its services to identify trends, opportunities and to best match its resources with the passenger demand. Following the Ministerial decision to end the 12 month trial removing peak fares, the Scottish Government intends to repeat the analysis undertaken to assess the pilot, as detailed in the published report, after an appropriate period has elapsed.

The Scottish Government publishes detailed flag flying guidance annually on the Scottish Government website Guidance - Flag flying on government buildings: 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and a link to the guidance is also available on the Scottish Government’s intranet pages, available to Directorates and other government departments. In addition, this flag flying guidance is issued to local authorities and government agencies.

The guidance sets out the relevant flag to be flown in recognition of national anniversaries and Royal events. It also provides advice on the half/masting of flags following national/international tragedies and events.

This guidance applies to Scottish Government buildings only and is provided to non-Scottish Government organisations for information purposes. It remains the prerogative of each organisation to set their own flag flying programme.

Separate communication was issued by email to Scottish Government external flag flying contacts in June 2024 in relation to the 80th anniversary of D-Day and for the Coronation of Their Majesties in May 2023.

The enforcement of traffic offences is an operational matter for Police Scotland, with oversight provided by the Scottish Police Authority, who act independently of Scottish ministers.