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Information on drug-related deaths in public places is not held centrally.

Accredited statistics on drug-related deaths in Scotland are published annually by National Records of Scotland (NRS). The next publication on 2 September 2025, will cover deaths registered in 2024, disaggregated by local authority. The most recent official figures, relating to deaths registered in 2023, are available via the NRS website: Drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2023 - National Records of Scotland (NRS).

At present, Police Scotland reports quarterly management information that indicates current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland that is available disaggregated by Police Division. This is operational data used for short-term monitoring and is not subject to the same level of validation or quality assurance as official statistics. This information is accessible here: Suspected drug deaths in Scotland - gov.scot

The Single Open Call (SOC) has been incredibly successful in identifying buildings at risk within the Single Building Assessment (SBA) specification, with over 600 buildings, as of 30 June 2025, being identified for review. As confirmed in the Cladding Remediation Programme: Next Phase Plan of Action published 7 August 2025, funding from Stage One of the SOC has doubled to £20 million. The additional £10m funding will ensure that all eligible EOIs received by 31 December 2025 will be able to move forward. We strongly encourage all building owners and their representatives to continue to submit their buildings to the SOC ahead of 31 December 2025.

As well as enhancing funding for Stage One, the Cladding Remediation Programme: Next Phase Plan of Action also confirms the launch of Stage 2 of the Single Open Call. This will allow owners, or their representatives, to seek Scottish Government support for any required mitigation and/or essential cladding remediation works identified through the funded Single Building Assessment at Stage One.

Ministers were not involved in this decision which was considered by ScotRail Trains Ltd as an operational matter

The Scottish Government welcomes Kidney Care UK’s recently published report and its important findings and recommendations. These will be carefully considered and reflected as appropriate in future policy planning for long term conditions like chronic kidney disease.

While there are no current plans to conduct a national audit, we expect all NHS Boards to adhere to existing guidelines and best practice in delivering psychosocial care. Our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, MentalHealth Core Standards and the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions set out clear expectations for the delivery of high-quality, person-centred support across Scotland.

More broadly, the Scottish Government recently consulted on a Long Term Conditions Framework, which will help inform future approaches to prevention, diagnosis and care, including support for mental health and wellbeing.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring people living with kidney disease can access safe, effective and person-centred care, including appropriate psychosocial support.

The Scottish Public Finance Manual requires public bodies to regularly review their assets. Any assets which are deemed to be surplus should be disposed of as soon as possible and within 3 years, whilst residential property should be disposed of within 6 months of becoming vacant. Depending on each circumstance, disposals can be carried out via:

• sale on the open market to achieve the best possible price
• sale below market value if wider community benefits can be achieved
• transferred to another Scottish Public Body via the trawl process. This process aims to optimise the use of public assets, generate value, and support community or economic development.

These standard principles also apply to historic buildings which includes buildings that are listed, a scheduled ancient monument or if the building is in a conservation area.

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

SPS remain vigilant to the threat presented by weapons within our estate. Despite tactical and security measures, there are a number of those in custody who continue to attempt to introduce illicit articles (including weapons) into our estate, or those who are found to have fashioned everyday items into a weapon.

SPS will continue to report these instances to Police Scotland and seek conviction where appropriate. In addition, SPS also utilise the Prison and Young Offender Rules (Scotland) 2011 to mitigate known risk and preserve the good order and discipline within our establishments.

The table below shows how many offensive weapons there has been found in each of the past five calendar years in HMP Greenock and HMP Kilmarnock.

Establishment 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
HMP Greenock 2 9 9 5 6
HMP Kilmarnock 39 35 29 51 53
Total 41 44 38 56 59

Scottish Government does not hold centralised figures for Microsoft 365 license spend across the entire public sector, however, information is held on spend through the Scottish Government Microsoft Enterprise Agreement and spend on all Microsoft products through the Software Value Added Reseller Services (SVARS) framework.

iTECS can confirm that the Scottish Government spent a total of £6,514,529.39 on Microsoft 365 licences in the most recent financial year, through the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement. This figure includes all licences held under the SCOTS Connect tenancy, which supports both SG Core and Non-Core customers. It is important to note that this cost includes licences for 55 SCOTS Connect customers on the network, which partially covers some of the wider public sector in Scotland. However, iTECS does not collate or hold centralised figures for Microsoft 365 licence expenditure by the NHS, local authorities, or the Scottish public sector as a whole.

Breakdown of Costs by Licence Type

The letter of 11 July sets out that the Scottish Government internal Trans and Non Binary Equality employment policy is under active review in light of the ruling in For Women Scotland V The Scottish Ministers.

This is an internal employer policy that covers Scottish Government staff. Changes to our workplace policies and procedures will be consulted on in line with normal practice, including: internal staff engagement in line with our organisational vision and values; engagement with relevant corporate and policy teams; and partnership working with the Council of Scottish Government Unions.

The timing and approach will be shaped by the emerging advice. This is a complex area of law involving the interaction between different pieces of legislation, and we want to ensure we get it right for all our staff.

Police Scotland has 10 drones currently in operation.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) does not currently operate any drones. However, there is a strategic intent to develop a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) capability, which includes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sub-surface drones, and ground-based robotic systems. This work is at a concept development stage and is being led by an internal team to explore future operational use.

We are working with Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and Public Health Scotland (PHS) to develop our Eating Out Eating Well Framework, one of the actions from our Out Of Home Action Plan https://www.gov.scot/publications/diet-and-healthy-weight-out-of-home-action-plan/. The new Framework is designed to help businesses serving food Out Of Home, such as restaurants and cafes, to provide healthier options for customers, and includes developing a Code of Practice for children’s menus.

PHS has recently completed a pilot for our new Eating Out Eating Well Framework. Papers for the pilot and more detail about the Framework have already been published and can be found at: https://eatingouteatingwell.publichealthscotland.scot/

We are also currently working with PHS and FSS to review learnings from the pilot. Once this review has been concluded and its recommendations considered, the Framework will be finalised and published.