Chamber and committees

The introduction of body-worn cameras is an operational decision for Police Scotland, acting under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

As outlined in the answer to S6W-12605 on 12 December 2022, the SPA Resources Committee approved Police Scotland’s Initial Business Case for the Introduction of National Body Worn Video on 10 November 2022, ahead of consideration by the SPA Board. Police Scotland are expected to undertake a full procurement exercise in 2023 which will provide costs for 2023-24 and future years.

In 2023-24, the Scottish Government will invest £1.45 billion in policing. This includes a 6.3% increase to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) resource budget.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

Marine Scotland bases its decisions on the best available scientific evidence at any particular time including any relevant peer reviewed literature. Any such literature is subject to a critical review to determine its applicability. Marine Scotland’s decisions will reflect the outcome of this process as well as consideration of information provided by the applicant and any expert advice received.

The Scottish Prison Service publish information regarding all deaths in SPS custody on a quarterly basis, which includes the ‘medical certificate of cause of death’ (MCCD). However, data is not held by either the Scottish Government or the Scottish Prison Service on the number of instances of deaths in prison custody determined to be suicides involved non-prescription or illegal drugs found or suspected to be present in the deceased.

Steps are being taken through the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody to improve availability of data relating to deaths in prison custody.

A licence to disturb European protected species (“EPS”) can only be granted if three licensing tests are met, including that there is no satisfactory alternative to the proposed action.

Marine Scotland has published a document that provides guidance and advice for any aquaculture production business that wishes to apply for a licence to disturb EPS as a result of ADD use –

faq_adds_and_eps_including_annex_1_and_annex_2_-_version_5_-october_2021_-_final.pdf (marine.gov.scot) . Applicants are required to provide an analysis of alternative methods of predator control tried or considered and if they have been discounted provide reasons for this. All EPS licence applications are considered on a cases by case basis and it would not be appropriate to pre-determine the outcome of the satisfactory alternative test without consideration of any justification provided by the applicant.

All applications for EPS licences are considered on a case by cases basis and it is expected that applicants use appropriate models and calculations such as those set out in the Marine Scotland guidance document - faq_adds_and_eps_including_annex_1_and_annex_2_-_version_5_-october_2021_-_final.pdf (marine.gov.scot) . Relevant models use data that is the best current representation of the locations where cetaceans are expected to be found.

Marine Scotland is currently updating this guidance document to include finer resolution species density surfaces and this will be published early in 2023. All applications for EPS licences will be expected to follow the updated guidance.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13105 on 23 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The outcome of the technical checks is detailed in the following table:

In response to your query, my officials have provided the data below as requested.

The following table shows the number of accidents where a defective or poor road surface was a contributory factor.

For staffing and resourcing, the Scottish Government set a maximum staffing support rate of 15% of their total allocation or £57,143 for individual Local Action Group (LAG) areas. However, LAGs could use their revenue allocation to source additional freelance support from out with their Local Authority where needed.

Area spend is ongoing and until all claims have been processed at the end of the financial year, an accurate figure cannot be given for staffing and resourcing costs.

The LAG allocation breakdown is provided in the following table;