Chamber and committees

Historic Environment Scotland is currently undertaking a prioritised inspection programme on each Property in Care affected by High Level Masonry issues. Access restrictions, while regrettable, remain necessary to prioritise the health and safety of staff, contractors and visitors. Each assessment will study the condition and impact of climate change on the site and will inform a subsequent programme of repairs and conservation work at affected properties.

I understand from Historic Environment Scotland that there are no further sites due to be closed due to High Level Masonry issues in the next 12 months.

The amount of resource allocated to each property in care is determined by Historic Environment Scotland under its operating plans.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including information relating to grants and awards for conservation repairs, are best answered directly by Historic Environment Scotland.

Information on grants that have been awarded can be found online on the Historic Environment Scotland website at https://www.historicenvironment.scot/grants-and-funding/grants-awarded-by-us/

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

Following the last meeting with Hourglass Scotland, officials have explored relevant funding across the Scottish Government. Currently there are no suitable Scottish Government funding options that are open for bids. There may be alternative funding opportunities available via the live database Scotland - News - Grants Online. This database includes a range of funding opportunities from charitable trusts/foundations, churches, councils etc. as well as large grants for family support organisations. One of these is the Robertson Trust which offers large grants for charities including those dealing with trauma. Another grant that Hourglass may want to apply for, is the Hugh Fraser Foundation, which will open for bids in February 2023 for the current round and is open to any charity.

All individuals have a healthcare consultation with an NHS healthcare professional within 24 hours of arrival.

Whilst in prison individuals can self-refer to see the NHS Healthcare team and where needed, SPS staff can also refer prisoners to the healthcare team.

The SPS Drug & Alcohol Strategy, currently under revision, aims to reduce re-offending and drug-related deaths by adopting the principles of recovery to reduce the supply and demand of illegal substances and the harm caused by problematic substance use. The revised Strategy will reflect the national approach to embed Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards across SPS.

The regulation of consumer protection is reserved to the UK Government which includes the work of Trading Standards Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold the requested information.

The previous Scottish Veterans Commissioner highlighted the importance of improving the transition process for Early Service Leavers in his Positive Futures reports on transition in Scotland.

Much of the transition process is reserved; however, we have taken action to support this where we can. Our refreshed Veterans Strategy Action Plan refocussed the extensive services and support that the Scottish Government and our partners provide to all veterans, including Early Service Leavers.

We have also more than doubled the amount of funding provided through the Scottish Veterans Fund from £200,000 per annum to £500,000 and have included projects which offer support to Early Service Leavers as a priority category that the fund supports. Last year, nearly £100,000 was awarded to projects specifically offering support to these veterans.

Our Delivering Equally Safe fund is providing £19m per year to support third sector organisations and public bodies to contribute to the objectives, priorities and outcomes of our Equally Safe Strategy. We recently published the first six-month report which outlines the impact that DES funded organisations are making. The report noted that almost 20,000 survivors were provided with emotional and practical support by DES funded projects and 22,500 people engaged in education and awareness raising sessions in its first six months. We have undertaken a range of activities to increase awareness of the work under Equally Safe highlighting through social media, mainstream news, radio and TV channels.

Further information on our 6-month reports and further reports which demonstrate specific themes that link to the Equally Safe strategy can be found at @DESFund and @ScotFairer Twitter handles.

Throughout 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, we have been utilising social and mainstream media outlets to add our voices to public messaging of key partners and stakeholders. Additionally, through parliamentary debates and our National Summit on violence against women and girls we are making our message clear: violence against women and girls has a devastating impact on individuals and society, and this is an issue for every day of the year not just these 16 days. We will continue to build on the momentum of 16 days and raise awareness of our Equally Safe strategy into 2023.

We also know the power of public awareness campaigns and have previously delivered successful public campaigns on specific issues, such as our campaign for coercive and controlling behaviour, and we will continue to consider opportunities to develop any necessary further campaigns.

The Single Judge Rape Trial Pilot Working Group has concluded its consideration of the recommendation of Lady Dorrian’s Review to give further consideration to a time-limited pilot of single judge rape trials. The Working Group’s findings have now been considered and endorsed by the Lady Dorrian Review Governance Group and will be published in December 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09498 on 28 June 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working closely with Police Scotland to support delivery of the Joint Policing Strategy. The findings of the HMICS review of Strategic Workforce Planning, published this year showed that the focus needs to rightly be on capacity and capability.

The data requested are not held centrally by the Scottish Government as the recruitment and deployment of police officers and staff in Scotland is a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA. It is important that he has the flexibility to develop his workforce in a way that responds to the challenges he faces by ensuring the right workforce mix.