Seòmar agus comataidhean

The safety and wellbeing of everyone in the prison estate is a priority for this government and the Scottish Prison Service and we continue to aspire to comply with all relevant standards and international obligations.

The further refurbishment, including the cells, within HMP Barlinnie has been fully assessed but continued refurbishment is not a long-term solution.

The Scottish Government agrees with the Inspectorate that the need for a replacement prison through the planned new HMP Glasgow is “overwhelming and urgent”. That is why it is welcome that the construction contract for HMP Glasgow was signed in January this year.

HMP Glasgow, with a design capacity of 1,344, will add 357 places to the prison estate, featuring larger cells than previous builds and meeting international standards set by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

A sustainable reduction in the prison population, also highlighted in the report, remains a focus for this Government as we work with justice partners to develop measures which prioritises prison for high-risk offenders whilst working on solutions to reduce reoffending and aid reintegration into the community.

Since the publication of the Scottish Government’s response to the final report by the Independent Expert Group for the Unlocking the Value of Data programme, in January 2025, an Industry Data Access Steering Group has been established to oversee the development of an operational framework, as outlined in the Scottish Government response.

This project supports the aim of the Unlocking the Value of Data programme to realise greater value from public sector personal data when used with, or by, the private sector, for public benefit. The framework will facilitate private sector access to public sector data, in collaboration with the Scottish Safe Havens Network and through citizen and stakeholder engagement. This project aims to promote transparency, efficiency, and alignment with public expectations, ensuring the safe, secure and ethical use of public sector data by private organisations.

Scottish Government Marine Directorate has two main fora for fishing industry engagement on inshore fisheries such as lobster. The first is the Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) network which has existed in its current form since 2016. This network gives inshore fishers a strong voice in matters which affect them, while providing an environment for co-management of fisheries improvement projects. The second is our Fisheries Management and Conservation (FMAC) Group, this group and associated sub-groups provide a national platform for marine stakeholders to feed into strategic fisheries management discussions.

There is regular engagement with fishing industry stakeholders to discuss a variety of fisheries management issues, including technical measures such as the minimum landing size of lobster. For example, engagement through these two fora helped inform the introduction of interim measures for improvement of crab and lobster fisheries from May 2024 in response to stock assessment advice indicating that these fisheries were under pressure in the majority of areas. We expect this close engagement to continue as we develop our Inshore Fisheries Management Improvement (IFMI) Programme during 2025 and 2026.

Details of meetings conducted by the RIFG network as well as the FMAC Inshore Subgroup are hosted on the RIFG website at www.rifg.scot.

Public inquiries are independent of Government, and each inquiry is responsible for publishing its own financial information. This can be found on the website of each respective Inquiry. For inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005 there is a statutory duty on the Chair to “act with regard to the need to avoid any unnecessary cost” (s.17(3))

The Edinburgh Trams Inquiry reported in September 2023. The costs for the Tram Inquiry from 2015 until it reported are £13,007,617.02. The salary paid to Lord Hardie as Chair of the Inquiry from 2015 until conclusion was £1,128,468. Information relating to the total costs of the Inquiry and the Chair’s fees were previously made publicly available in the media in articles published in June 2023 and September 2023, albeit the information previously published covered a different time frame.

In respect of the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, overall costs are published on the Inquiry website Inquiry costs | Sheku Bayoh Inquiry From the date that this Inquiry was established to the date your question was lodged, the Scottish Government has provided the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry with £711,680 to pay Lord Bracadale for his role as Chair to the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry.

In respect of the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, overall costs are published on the Inquiry website Inquiry Costs | Hospitals Inquiry. From the point when the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry was established in 2020 to the date on which your question was lodged the Scottish Government has provided the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry with £727,040 to pay Lord Brodie for his role as Chair to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry.

In respect of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, overall costs are published on the Inquiry website Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry | Cost of the Inquiry. From the point when the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was established in May 2015 the cost of salaries for the Chairs is £2,216,613 (initially Susan O’Brian then subsequently Lady Smith). Lady Smith’s appointment began on 1 August 2016. From her appointment until March 2022 the sum was paid to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service as Lady Smith was a sitting judge and President of the Tribunals in Scotland as well as her role as Chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

With regard to the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry, overall costs are regularly published on the Inquiry website Inquiry costs | Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry. The Chair of the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry is Lord Brailsford. As a sitting judge, Lord Brailsford is remunerated by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. The terms of the Chair’s appointment have been published on the Inquiry website. Any questions on judicial appointment terms are for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to answer but salary scales can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/judicial-salaries-and-fees-2023-to-2024

In respect of the Eljamel Inquiry, overall costs will be published on the Inquiry website Inquiry costs | The Eljamel Inquiry. In relation to the Eljamel Inquiry, the salary of Lord Weir for his role as the Chair for the year 2024-25 was £196,199.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) regularly monitors individual institution’s financial sustainability and considers appropriate forms of support. The indicative allocations published by the SFC on 10 April will enable colleges to move forward with planning for academic year 2025-26. The SFC allocations include a 2.6% increase in teaching funding compared with last year; an additional £4.5 million for lecturer's pay and £8.3 million for pensions; and an increase of almost 5% in capital maintenance funding to help colleges further invest in student’s learning experiences. The student support budget has also been maintained at the same level as last year, despite pressures on the public purse.

I recognise the financial challenges colleges are currently facing. The 2025-26 budget sees a £13.2 million uplift on 2024-25 to the college resource allocation, in recognition of the vital role colleges play in communities across Scotland. On top of this a further £3.5 million in targeted support has been announced for offshore wind and social care skills pathways. This is alongside an increase of almost 5% in capital maintenance funding which will help colleges further invest in student’s learning experiences. Following the decision by UKG to increase employer National Insurance contributions we have agreed to allocate 60% costs to colleges. While this does not fully meet the estimated cost pressures, we will continue to engage with sector representative bodies on their concerns. We called on the Chancellor to fund these costs in full and will continue to press UKG on this matter.

It is the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) role to work closely with the college sector to identify the best split of the available resources, taking into account Government priorities and the college sector’s needs.

In the approach to the recent indicative college allocations for Academic Year 2025-26, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) responded to requests from the sector to address issues regarding transparency and funding comparability between learners on similar courses and colleges. Through the Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group (comprising of Scottish Government, the SFC and Colleges Scotland) collaboration continues to work on identifying and implementing workable flexibilities to ease colleges’ financial pressures while ensuring accountability for public funds.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) regularly on a range of issues. This has included SFC’s plans to implement changes to the Council’s approach to college funding allocations in response to requests from the sector, and their discussions with the sector on these changes. In my recent letter of guidance, I made it clear that we expect the SFC to consider the financial sustainability of individual institutions, and needs of learners, as part of any decisions around funding allocations.

Through the Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group (comprising of Scottish Government, the SFC and Colleges Scotland) collaboration continues to work on identifying and implementing workable flexibilities to ease colleges’ financial pressures while ensuring accountability for public funds. For example, a revised process for the disposal of college assets has recently been implemented, where colleges can retain a higher amount of the sale proceeds.

A fresh set of priorities for the Group was agreed last year, and work is underway across those areas, namely diversification of funding into the sector, establishment of a new way to flexibly fund investment in Curriculum Transformation, and exploration of the breadth of delivery via colleges.

It is the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) responsibility to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of the funding across the college sector. SFC have confirmed no college will see a funding reduction in Academic Year 2025-26 when compared with 2024-25 and are engaging with affected colleges around mitigations that will help them adjust as changes in the funding allocation approach are implemented.

Decisions concerning the recruitment of on-call firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Changing demographics can make the recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters particularly challenging in some communities. However, this picture is not replicated across the whole of Scotland which means a national campaign may be of limited benefit and a more targeted approach might be more appropriate.