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The early prisoner release power within the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act was used once, in May 2020. This power was used to protect the security and good order of prisons and the health, safety and welfare of prisoners and prison staff alike. Such measures were taken across the world, including elsewhere in the UK.

Steps were taken to manage the risks around those being released early to as low a level as realistically possible. That included statutory exclusions and a governor veto where there was a known risk to a specific individual. Furthermore, the scheme applied only to those sentenced to eighteen months or less, with 90 days or less left to serve in custody, at the time of the power being used.

A proportion of those prisoners were returned to custody for a number of reasons including, in some cases, due to reoffending.

No level of reoffending is acceptable. That is why this Government is focused on driving a greater shift away from short-term prison sentences, which those released under this power were serving, towards community-based interventions which we know are more effective at reducing reoffending.

The facilities in place at the 357 fire stations in Scotland are an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).

Decisions on the allocation of its capital budget, including whether to prioritise fleet, equipment or buildings is a matter for SFRS.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with SFRS to ensure it has the resources it needs to keep communities safe. SFRS is currently undertaking an assessment of the risks faced by communities and the assets which are needed to deal with those risks and this will inform future discussions on both capital and resource budgets.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information as responsibility for the maintenance of Police vehicles sits with the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable. Police Scotland has confirmed that they hold a stock of replacement dash cameras which can be fitted to their vehicles should one develop a fault; dependant on the locality of the vehicle, type of equipment fitted and the type of fault, this can be done on the same day.

I have asked Police Scotland to write to the member with this information.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Chair asked chief constables in England and Wales to take immediate action to check officers and staff against the national police database. While Police Scotland are a member of the National Police Chief’s Council, the direction in this case was provided via the Home Office. However, following discussions with the NPCC, Police Scotland have confirmed that they will align with the work being taken forward in England and Wales and check all officers and staff against national systems for criminal records and ongoing investigations.

In 2022 Police Scotland increased vetting resources by nearly 50% and introduced an additional check for new recruits, prior to being sworn into office. From April, they are also introducing dip sampling which will see around 1,200 vetting reviews of officers and staff being conducted each year.

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

The decision as to whether a member of staff discloses that they have attended hospital is one for the individual member of staff, and there is no requirement for this information to be shared. SPS has a focus on supporting staff who may have been injured, and ensuring that any reasonable preventative measures can be put in place to ensure that the likelihood of a similar incident occurring is mitigated as much as possible.

At this time, there are no plans to change the current methods of recording, however SPS will always look at ways which we can ensure we provide the right support to our staff.

People engaged in sexual abuse of children outside the United Kingdom can be prosecuted in Scotland under either Sections 54 and 55 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 or Section 16(b) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995. Section 16(b) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 and Section 55 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 cover people who engage in child sex tourism, whilst Section 54 of the 2009 Act covers incitement to commit such offences.

Within the span of the financial years 1995-1996 to 2020-21 a total of eight people have been convicted in Scotland for sexual abuse of children outside the United Kingdom related charges. Specifically:

• Two people in 2007-08 (under Section 16(b) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995);
• One person in 2009-10 (under Section 16(b) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995);
• One person in 2010-11 (under Section 16(b) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995);
• One person in 2018-19 (under Section 54 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009);
• Two people in 2019-20 (one under Section 54 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 and one under Section 55 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009); and
• One person in 2020-21 (under Section 55 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009).

The Scottish Government has had recent conversations with the UK Government in relation to the GREAT Talent Campaign. During this conversation, we requested a final evaluation to be shared with specific Scotland demographics.

The GREAT campaign is funded and monitored by the UK Government and questions relating to it are best directed to them. The Scottish Government does work alongside a range of partners in the Brand Scotland collaboration, which seeks to build our global reputation and present Scotland as a dynamic, fair and inclusive country in which to live/work, study, visit and do business. The campaigns run by Brand Scotland are designed to raise awareness of Scotland and can often be the first interaction between overseas businesses that encourages them to engage with our agencies on investment and buying opportunities.

An example of this is the Brand Scotland business focused campaign called Think Scotland which from April 2021 to March 2022 led to over 94 million global impressions of Scotland specific content and over 28 Million views of video content which was served directly to SDI target customers. This was supplemented with a further 500k social engagements on Scotland specific social channels and over 2 million visitor sessions to the Scotland.org website and over 379 visitor sessions to the SDI website. All of this campaign activity resulted in 873 calls, leads, enquiries being generated for relevant Inward investment or Trade teams to follow up on and a further 53 engagements generated from this activity with an estimated 650 further jobs in the pipeline for SDI to take forward.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 requires local authorities to establish and run licensing schemes for short-term lets in their areas. Information on staffing levels dedicated to short-term let licensing within each local authority will be held by individual local authorities, and vary based on a number of factors, including volume of activity and approach to physical property inspections.

Our 2021 consultation included draft guidance explaining the rationale for licence application determination times. Licensing authorities only have 12 months to determine applications made by existing hosts (those operational before 1 October 2022) during the transitional period. This is to support licensing authorities to manage the initial volume of applications they receive. During this transitional period, existing hosts are able to continue operating whilst their application is being determined.

For new hosts (those commencing operation on or after 1 October 2022), the usual 9 month determination time set out in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 applies. We understand many local authorities are prioritising these applications to provide new hosts with a timely outcome. We have no plans to alter either timescale, however, as we have already indicated, we will conduct a review of the scheme in early 2024.