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Post School Education and Skills Reform is a 10-year transformation programme which will help us to achieve the ambitions set out in the Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills.

Early priorities include:

• leading a new, national approach to skills planning and working with partners to strengthen regional approaches;
• reforming the education and skills funding system so it is easier to navigate and is responsive to learners and to skills priorities, initially by introducing a Bill to simplify the post-school funding body landscape;
• continuing to work closely with partners to improve careers support;
• apprenticeships reform to reduce the complexity, make the system more transparent and maximise the value of investment to learners and the economy; and
• building up an understanding of the post-school qualifications landscape alongside defining the oversight role for the new qualifications body.

The Programme Board provides the necessary governance and assurance to support successful delivery of the aims of the Post School Education and Skills Reform Programme.

The indicative programme for Gasay (Lochboisdale) anticipates the next Scottish Government Gateway Review for the project within Q1 2025, however this is dependent on the options development and other key elements of work being satisfactorily concluded.

Additional technical and economic studies, including ground investigation scoping, are now underway by CMAL and these will lead to an update of the draft Outline Business Case report.

The Outline Business Case is expected to be completed by CMAL by early 2025. It would then be subject to consideration by Transport Scotland and Scottish Ministers. Work continues on the project to develop the business case and once this work is complete, availability of funding and value for money will need to be considered

The cost to purchase Hassockrigg Ecopark in Shotts was £4,920,000.

Hassockrigg Ecopark is currently not operating as a waste processing plant. NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) are carrying out essential works on the site to allow the site to operate as an NHS Scotland waste resilience plant. The site has a license and NSS are currently in a process of application for the license to be transferred under the control of NSS.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is the competent authority in Scotland and has a statutory objective to protect the public from risks to health which may arise in connection with the consumption of food. Partnership arrangements for operations will depend on the nature of the investigation.

FSS shares information with a range of partner agencies, both nationally and internationally. As advised previously, FSS is a member of the Multi Agency Tasking and Delivery Board (MATDB), chaired by Police Scotland, and comprises a number of law enforcement agencies. The MATDB seeks to maximise the benefit of partnership working by sharing information and pooling resource wherever necessary.

The safer drug consumption facility is targeted at reducing drug-related harms. In countries where drug consumption rooms already operate, they have seen a drop in drug-related issues within the vicinity of the site. International literature suggests there is no increase in drug-related crime around these facilities but we are not aware of the measurement of non-drug related crime.

Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership plan to assess the impact of the opening of the safer drug consumption facility on the local community, including experiences of crime and perceptions of local safety as part of the formal evaluation, led by Public Health Scotland academics. This work is being informed by consultation with the local community.

Work on the establishment of a safer drug consumption facility in Glasgow by the Scottish Government has been undertaken through the Harm Reduction team in the Drugs Policy Division. The work has been led by a C1 (£57,141–£71,243) supported by a B3 (£45,449–£54,419).

This is a matter for NHS National Services Scotland. The information requested is not held centrally.

Substances used within the service are procured by the individuals using the service and not by the service itself. The Lord Advocate indicated in September 2023 that she would be prepared to publish a statement of prosecution policy to the effect that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute users of the facility in terms of section 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 for simple possession offences committed within the confines of the safer drug consumption facility. This does not apply to the staff. No substances have been or will be purchased, and therefore there are no associated costs.

The SDCF website contains information on the service and highlights that those attending the service ‘can only use the drug they bring onto the site’.