Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has committed to undertake further work to quantify Scotland’s offshore wind potential. We will update Parliament once this work is concluded, and at that point also consider which legacy documents, including the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, may need to be updated.

There have been no recent discussions between the Scottish Government and Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service regarding apprenticeships in the SPS. The Scottish Prison Service are responsible for the recruitment and development of their workforce including apprenticeships.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12380 on‎ 2 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

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

The Scottish Prison Service does not record this information.

We are making good progress on our commitment to increase the headcount of GPs by 800, with Scotland’s GP headcount increasing by 277 from 4,918 to 5,195 from 2017 to 2021.

The most recent estimate for whole time equivalent of GPs can be found in the General Practice Workforce Survey 2019 , published by Public Health Scotland in October 2021. This estimated that there were 3,613 GP whole time equivalents (WTE) in Scotland in 2019. This is an increase of 93 WTE from an estimated 3,520 WTE in 2017, with 8 sessions per week equating to one WTE.

The latest data on GP WTE is scheduled to be published shortly by Public Health Scotland (PHS), and they have pre-announced publication of this analysis report for Tuesday 29 November 2022. PHS has also pre-announced publication of its latest annual data on GP headcount for Monday 12 December 2022.

(a) It has been Scottish Government Policy that prisons should be owned and managed by the public sector since 2007. The cost of private sector prison contracts depend on the market conditions at that particular point in time and in order to establish the cost of a new private sector contract for HMP Kilmarnock from 2024 this would have to be put out to tender. In line with Government’s long-running policy on private prisons the decision was made not to put it out to tender.

(b) The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE) apply when a service is transferred from one employer to another, in this case ‘insourcing’. It provides those who are carrying out work which will be provided by a new employer with protection by transferring them to the employment of the new provider. Staff transferring to SPS employment will be consulted on the changes that will be made when SPS are managing the prison. Exact costs will become clear at the conclusion of the consultation exercise and the running costs are likely to be aligned to an existing public prison of a similar size.

(c) The Scottish Government consults on issues that interest and impact on members of the public, experts and civil society. It does not consult on every decision implementing long running policies on service delivery. 

The average cost per available prisoner place at HMP Kilmarnock in the current contractual year is £31,879, excluding the public sector costs to monitor the operation and manage the contract. The average cost per prisoner once HMP Kilmarnock is brought into SPS management is likely to align with an existing prison of a similar size.

The Scottish Government is in regular communication with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) about the effective maintenance and operation of the prison estate, including at HMP Barlinnie.

SPS have contingency plans in place to respond to issues arising in parts of the Scottish prison estate, including, if necessary, the placement of prisoners in other Scottish prison sites.

The exact locations and the extent of the impact for each individual prison would be reflected in the outcome of a detailed and dynamic risk assessment and resource consideration completed at that time.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12369 on‎ 2 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

As committed to in Programme for Government 2021-22, work is underway to develop a new earlier cancer diagnosis vision for Scotland which will form part of the new cancer strategy, due to publish Spring 2023. This will outline the future direction of our Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme which we continue to invest in.

The Scottish Cancer Coalition, and its Early Diagnosis & Screening Sub-Group, which is Chaired by Pancreatic Cancer UK, have been consulted on the new vision and DCE awareness campaign that’s under development.

DCE’s website and social media channels continue to raise awareness of possible signs and symptoms and empower people to present early – this includes the development of an interactive symptom-checker tool.

An interim report published by the University of Strathclyde on 21 November 2022 shows that one of the most common types of cancer being diagnosed in our first Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDS) are hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) cancer. We are committed to rolling out RCDS's across NHS Scotland.

A clinical refresh of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer was completed in 2018 with revised clinical guidance published January 2019. The guidelines support primary care clinicians in ensuring those with symptoms suspicious of cancer are put on the right pathway at the right time.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with primary care clinicians across NHS Scotland, including the Scottish Primary Care Cancer Group, to raise awareness of symptoms and best referral practice for all cancer types, including pancreatic.