Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) did not refer itself to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The SPA considered the Scottish Police Federation Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions put in place by Police Scotland. Since then, the SPA has approved Police Scotland’s Housing Strategy (2022) which aims to bring all of Police Scotland’s housing stock up to Scottish Government’s EESSH2 2032 standards over the next 3-5 years.

The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(a) The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions which were planned and put in place by Police Scotland. The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(b) Prior to the publication of the SPF report, Police Scotland had already commenced improvement works to these two properties in Dunoon. The properties were closed and residing officers were decanted to suitable temporary accommodation whilst the improvement works were underway.

Since then, the SPA has approved Police Scotland’s Housing Strategy (2022) which aims to bring all of Police Scotland’s housing stock up to Scottish Government’s EESSH2 2032 standards over the next 3-5 years.

Police Scotland is currently undertaking further work around its Dunoon housing requirements as part of delivering its Housing Strategy.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to consult with parents and carers every two years to ensure that their models of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) meet local needs and demands. The Scottish Government has committed to working with its partners to developing an outcomes and measurement framework for funded ELC before 2025. As part of the development of this framework the Scottish Government will work with partners, including local authorities, to consider the feasibility of gathering national-level data on parental demand for funded ELC or paid-for childcare.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to consult with parents and carers every two years to ensure that their models of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) meet local needs and demands. The Scottish Government has committed to working with its partners to developing an outcomes and measurement framework for funded ELC ahead of 2025. As part of the development of this framework the Scottish Government will work with partners, including local authorities, to consider the feasibility of gathering national-level data on parental demand for funded ELC or paid-for childcare.

Enforcement of legislation around the sale and purchase of nicotine vapour products (NVPs) is carried out by Local Authorities as part of the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP). This is overseen by the Society for Trading Standards Officers in Scotland (SCOTSS) and funded by the Scottish Government.

SCOTSS membership includes representation from every Scottish local authority trading standards service. We regularly meet with SCOTSS, our last meeting took place on 21 June 2023, and our standing agenda includes enforcement in relation to NVPs and tobacco.

Through this engagement, we continue to support strong national and local alliances to tackle the availability and sale of tobacco and NVPs to under 18s.

The Scottish Government received two reports in 2022, one jointly from NHS Fife and NHS Lothian and one jointly from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Ayrshire and Arran. The reports contain data on the number of women in threatened extreme preterm labour (labour at less than 27 weeks gestation) who were transferred from NHS Fife to NHS Lothian or from NHS Ayrshire and Arran to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in anticipation of the requirement for specialist neonatal care for their baby.

The Scottish Government continues to deliver on its commitment to give people the information they need to make an informed choice about their future, and I’m pleased to confirm that today we are publishing Citizenship in an independent Scotland.

This is the fifth paper in the Building a New Scotland series which sets out the Scottish Government’s proposals for an inclusive and welcoming approach to citizenship in an independent Scotland. It sets out our vision of citizenship after independence for people, whether or not they were born in Scotland or define themselves as primarily or exclusively Scottish, and describes who would become a Scottish citizen at the point of independence, and who could become a Scottish citizen from then on.

The publication also gives detailed proposals on passports, the Common Travel Area and the European Union, and citizenship and the constitution, with analysis of the evidence that informs these proposals.

The Scottish Government is continuing to prepare further papers in the Building a New Scotland series and these will be published in the coming months.

Building a New Scotland: Citizenship in an independent Scotland is available to view on the Scottish Government website from today at www.gov.scot/newscotland .

We have committed to building a system of school age childcare, providing year-round childcare for families on low incomes by the end of this Parliament. This involves working with Local Authorities to design and deliver a system that works for those who use and deliver it.

This year, we are investing £4 million to support Local Authorities with costs related to the delivery of planned summer programmes for children from low-income families during the 2023 school summer holidays. This is in addition to the £21.75 million investment for delivery of holiday free school meal alternative payments for eligible families. We are also investing around £3 million to expand and deliver services in our four Early Adopting Communities (Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, Dundee and Inverclyde).

I refer the member to answer to question S6W-19519 on 27 July 2023.

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 .

(a) The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions which were planned and put in place by Police Scotland. The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(b) Police Scotland closed its Oban custody suite between 3rd and 7th May 2019 to allow for urgent upgrade works to be carried out, during which time custody suite operations were moved to Fort William.

Following this initial work, the custody suite was re-opened and a continuous and extensive programme of upgrade works was implemented at Oban, both to the police station and the custody suite. As a result of this work Police Scotland is confident that the works identified in the SPF report were completed and the standard across both the police station and the custody suite were significantly improved.

Following the publication of the SPF report, additional inspections have been introduced and further works have been carried out which involved close collaboration with Police Scotland’s Health & Safety Team, SPF and Union representatives. Police Scotland’s Health & Safety Team has confirmed that the improvement works meet health and safety requirements.

Given the age of Oban Police Station, Police Scotland has embarked on a programme of work which seeks to replace Oban Police Station, including a new custody suite.

Building on the success of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme, which connected over 15,000 premises in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency to fibre broadband, the Reaching 100% (R100) programme is ensuring that all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband.

R100 contract build is being deployed in line with plans submitted by BT plc as the successful bidder for the R100 North contract, that covers the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency. Contract build is being delivered in phases that have been designed to maximise efficiency, aligning contractual build with commercial build plans in an area when possible. We will continue to work closely with Openreach, as BT’s delivery partner for the R100 North contract, to accelerate contract build where opportunities allow.

The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) offers eligible properties up to £5,000 to secure a superfast connection. The R100 programme team continues to engage with commercial operators with a view to them becoming registered suppliers for R100 SBVS in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency.