Chamber and committees

Regardless of the technology used to produce food, the food business operator must abide by the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 on general food law and the hygiene requirements, Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs of animal origin. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) provides guidance on the general food safety and hygiene requirements, which includes the need for a food safety management system based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles, guidance on the specific rules covering products of animal origin, if they apply depending on the nature of the food. Also, if the food falls within one of the Regulated Products categories, then there is free online guidance to support businesses in applying for the appropriate type of authorisation.

The Parliament seeks to engage with other legislatures, inter-parliamentary bodies and international organisations in line with the SPCB’s International Strategy. This engagement is kept under regular review, with the Parliament’s International Relations Office providing six-monthly updates to the SPCB. Invitations to any event are a matter for the organisers. The International Relations Office constantly reviews opportunities for the Parliament to develop its engagement and maintains contact with event organisers, including of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, and will seek involvement for the Parliament where appropriate.

The Scottish Government is committed to ongoing engagement and dialogue with representatives of the hospitality sector including through the New Deal for Business consultative sub-group on Non-Domestic Rates and regular roundtable meetings with Ministers.

The valuation of all non-domestic property is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of local and Scottish Government.

We recognise that financial certainty into the medium term would help the Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and other public bodies to develop plans and make better-informed decisions across a longer time-frame, rather than being limited by the single-year budget settlements we have delivered in recent years. However, the majority of our funding is controlled by UK Government decisions, and this continues to impact on the certainty we can provide to public bodies in relation to future year funding.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has initiated planning for the next Scottish Spending Review, which will consider a multi-year funding position for public bodies. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government will update the Finance and Public Administration Committee on this work in due course.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The management of the Police Scotland Estate is an operational matter, and is the responsibility of the Chief Constable under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority.

In line with its Estates Masterplan which will continue to have a community focus, Police Scotland will undertake public consultation on its plans for public facing properties, including for disposal, in advance of any decisions being made.

Scottish Government officials wrote to all CLLD delivery stakeholders on 18 December 2024 to extend the deadline to submit final claims to 14th April 2025.

The deadline is aligned with Scottish Government end of year financial procedures. This allows for payment of claims to be attributed to the financial year in which they were budgeted, which is a financial standard required by audit.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The management of the Police Scotland Estate is an operational matter, and is the responsibility of the Chief Constable under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority.

It is for Police Scotland to determine its estate requirements on a local and divisional basis. This will be a key consideration in relation to the delivery of their Estates Masterplan.

In relation to the Coronavirus specific emergency early release process in May 2020, there were 348 individuals released early. This represented around 5% of the overall prison population at that time, which was 7,128 on 1 May 2020.

In relation to the emergency early release process in June and July 2024, there were 477 individuals released early, this amounted to around 6% of the overall prison population at that time, which was 8,232 on 21 June 2024.

In May 2020, it was necessary and proportionate to quickly reduce the prison population to a level that would enable the SPS and health services to maintain the public health measures within Scottish prisons to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.

In June and July 2024, it was deemed necessary and proportionate to quickly reduce the prison population, in response to a sharp and sudden rise in the prison population in the preceding months, in order to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of those working and living in Scottish Prisons, as well as ensuring that Scottish Prisons could continue to function safely.

Emergency release regulations have been utilised twice within the last five years (May 2020 & June/July 2024), and on both occasions the same conditions of release were applied for individuals granted emergency early release, as would have been applied at their original scheduled liberation date.

The individuals released in both emergency early release processes were serving short-term prison sentences, and were approaching the end of those short-term sentences. Individuals serving short-term sentences are not routinely subject to additional monitoring of any kind following their release from custody at their earliest date of liberation, and therefore were not subject to such monitoring as part of the two early release processes.

Individuals whose sentence included orders requiring post-release supervision and monitoring requirements were automatically excluded from early release on both occasions.

The Scottish Government currently provides over £3.4 million total in annual funding for the provision of voluntary throughcare to Shine and New Routes Public Social Partnerships (PSPs).