Chamber and committees

The data received from Police Scotland for producing the National Statistics on Recorded Crime, is a simple count of the number of crimes and offences, for each local authority, which the police have recorded and cleared up. As such we are unable to separately identify any offences that included the seizure of a 3D printer or 3D printed guns. We also produce Official Statistics on crimes and offences involving the use of firearms in Scotland, but this doesn’t include information on seizures of weapons.

Whilst user needs are kept under review, there are no current plans to collect data on this specific type of activity as Police Scotland can be contacted for further information. In terms of the current position, they have confirmed that as of January 2023, there have been no seizures of 3D printed guns or 3D printers being used for illicit purposes.

The Scottish Government set an intake target of 4,837 fully funded places on nursing and midwifery programmes for the academic year 2022-23. For academic year 2022-23 4,368 students have enrolled on pre-registration programmes.

We have also increased the intake target for Scotland’s medical school programmes to 1,317 in academic year (AY) 2022-23, an increase of 279 places since AY 2020-21. Management data provided by universities show that 1296 of the 1317 places were filled. The difference between the actual intake and the target intake is a result of minor under recruitment by Universities, however this is within expected tolerances.

The rise in places continues the expansion funded by the Scottish Government that has taken place since 2016. In total, the medical intake has increased from 848 in 2015-16 to 1,296 in 2022-23, representing a 53% increase. A further 100 places will be added in the academic year 2023-24, progressing our Programme for Government (PfG) commitment to increase medical undergraduate places by 500 places,

As students can apply for up to five different programmes through UCAS, data on the number of individual applicants to nursing, midwifery or medical programmes is unavailable.

The Scottish Government discussed with Creative Scotland about the effect of the Public and Commercial Services Union industrial action on 1 February 2023. There was no significant impact on its business.

The current average daily demand for electricity in Scotland (a 12-month rolling average figure, for the 12 months ending November 2022) is 70.4 GWh. This data is from National Grid Electricity System Operator’s data explorer and is published on Scottish Energy Statistics hub here: Scottish Energy Statistics Hub (shinyapps.io) . This is an average figure, within a minimum-maximum range (for the same period) of between 45-100 GWh.

There are no projections available on the daily demand for electricity in 2030.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the above bodies to ensure Scotland is maximising the potential of Digital Health and Care. We have developed Scotland's first data strategy for health and social care input from these bodies and are in the process of enhancing our role in innovation through work with the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption pathway.

Job Clubs are a model of support which were delivered by Jobcentre Plus or through local organisations supporting local communities. Jobcentre Plus, along with delivery of Job Clubs, remain reserved to the UK Government.

Since the devolution of employability services to the Scottish Government, support is being delivered through a combination of locally designed services, No One Left Behind, and our national employment support service, Fair Start Scotland.

No One Left Behind, which commenced in 2019, is The Scottish Governments approach to transforming employment support in Scotland. It aims to deliver a system that is more tailored and responsive to the needs of people of all ages who want help and support on their journey towards and into work, particularly people with health conditions, disabled people and others who are disadvantaged in the labour market.

Fair Start Scotland, our devolved employability support service, launched in April 2018 and offers 12 to 18 months of tailored, flexible and person-centred pre-employment support to people who want help to find and remain in work. Up to 12 months in-work support is also available for the participant as well as the employer, helping to ensure fair and sustainable employment.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring everyone has access to person centred employability support that meets the needs of individuals, helping them towards, and into sustainable employment.

The Scottish Government does not intervene in or comment on the investigation, prosecution or sentencing of individual cases which are independent operational matters for Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the courts.

Police Scotland have advised they take all reports of spiking seriously and thoroughly investigates all reports.

A comprehensive Investigative Strategy has been developed and circulated to provide guidance and direction to staff responding to and investigating incidents of spiking. A Detective Superintendent has national investigative oversight and Senior Investigating Officers have been appointed within each policing division to lead on all spiking related investigations locally. Police Scotland’s focus is on identifying people who carry out an assault in this way, investigating fully, gathering evidence, and working with Crown Office to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Where evidence is provided to Crown Office as regards an offence, it is for independent prosecutors to decide what action to take. If a case is prosecuted, it is for the independent court to determine whether an accused person is guilty and if so, what an appropriate sentence should be.

I have asked Jim Kerr, Interim Deputy Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

From a learning and education perspective, all individuals admitted to custody are invited to participate in a screening process conducted by SPS education provider (Fife College), who deliver contracted learning services across all SPS sites. If during this process the assessor identifies any behaviours, presentation or capacities that are indicative of a neurodivergent condition, a further referral can be made to utilise a profiling tool called Do-IT with the consent of the individual concerned. In these circumstances specifically trained Fife colleagues apply the profiling tool. The referral process is open to all staff, not just SPS uniformed staff, if they believe an offender in SPS care needs additional support.

In addition SPS may also fulfil its role in the identification and treatment of offenders in its care by referral of individuals who present with potential learning difficulties to the NHS. NHS are then responsible for assessment, diagnosis and the development, in partnership (with SPS), of a support plan. Formal clinical assessment and diagnosis falls within the remit of NHS colleagues who would refer to specialist services where indicated. A shared support plan would be developed and implemented as required. Where an offender is admitted into custody with an existing diagnosis, NHS colleagues would support transition from those community services with which individuals have been engaged.

In its 2022-2023 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to publishing a consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill during 2023. This consultation will seek views on proposals for a regulatory framework for reducing emissions across Scotland’s existing non-domestic building stock.

Details of the projects funded through the Neurological Framework can be found on the following page: Neurological Framework Funding: list of organisations funded - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . As projects reach completion, they are asked to submit a final report which details the outcomes achieved. These reports will be made available on this page in due course.

The Scottish Government, alongside the Neurological Alliance of Scotland, are hosting a series of practice-sharing sessions to help to showcase and promote innovative work undertaken by the funded projects. The first of these sessions were held in December 2022 and recordings of these initial three sessions can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/@neurologicalallianceofscotland . Further sessions are currently being planned, to be held on 01 and 08 March 2023.