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We are currently working with all NHS Health Boards to identify investment priorities across Scotland, that includes NHS Fife.

Historic real terms cuts to our block grant from the UK Government have put pressure on our capital budget and we have only recently received clarity from the UK Treasury for our capital and FT funding up to 2029-30.

As part of our own Scottish Spending Review, we are undertaking a full review of our capital spending to prioritise available funding towards projects that drive progress against our priorities. We will provide clarity over which projects will receive funding in the medium term when we publish this review, alongside our new Infrastructure Pipeline.

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

HMP Glasgow’s design is built on lessons learned from previous builds and other jurisdictions. The design utilises a formation of smaller household units. This structure support safety and provides flexibility to contract or expand in line with operational and regime requirements.

The 5 residential houseblocks will have 20 cells within each of the 3 spurs. Each spur will have 18 single cells of 9.44 m² and 2 double cells of 13.60 m².

The intention of National Marine Plan 2 (NMP2), as set out our Planning Position Statement (PPS), is to support the development of spatial management measures through dedicated policies, some specific to fisheries, as well as working to build a stronger evidence base to inform future spatial planning and management where possible.

It is essential that we consider the outcomes from current consultations, the literature review referenced, and issues raised via our PPS consultation. We have therefore made the decision to postpone our consultation on a draft NMP2 to allow for further consideration of the feedback received.

The Scottish Government’s position on the introduction of a potential traffic congestion charge by the City of Edinburgh Council remains the same as the one referenced in my response to S6W-38195. Local authorities have existing discretionary powers to introduce local road user charging schemes under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, which was brought into statute by a previous Parliament. Once the necessary regulations and guidance are in place, it will be a decision for local authorities, including City of Edinburgh council whether and how to implement schemes.

Sections 13 and 19 of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 set out requirements for local authorities to consult prior to introducing a visitor levy scheme, and to use the net proceeds of any scheme to support facilities and services substantially for or used by visitors. Local authorities are required to publish details of their schemes and report annually on their operation, including how funds have been used.

Section 49 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 provides for a custodial sentence of up to 5 years for the offence of having an article with a blade or point in a public place. In any given case, sentencing is a matter for the independent court. They take into account all the facts and circumstances of a case before imposing a sentence within the legal framework. It is not possible to disaggregate these figures by the specific type of weapon involved (e.g. knife).

Over the last four financial years, for which data is available, there was only one custodial sentence of 5 years or more under this section of the Act, in 2019-20.

This sentence exceeds the statutory maximum and may reflect either additional charges being dealt with concurrently or an aggravation, rather than a sentence based solely on the possession offence alone. This represented approximately 0.09% of all (1,141) convictions under this section of the Act in that financial year. Please note that the latest criminal proceedings data is for 2022-23.

The Supreme Court judgment in the References on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill and the European Charter of Local Self-Government (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill on section 28(7) of the Scotland Act 1998 resulted in adjustments to the compatibility duty in the UNCRC Act so that it does not apply to statutory provisions in an Act of the Westminster Parliament, even in devolved areas.

Scottish Government teams working on legislation have guidelines which ensure that, when they are developing new legislation, consideration is given to whether to draft new provisions in a way that means they fall within the scope of the compatibility duty in the UNCRC Act. Ensuring provisions are in scope for the compatibility duty would mean avoiding making amendments to UK Acts and instead making provisions in standalone Acts of the Scottish Parliament.

However, it is important to point out that application of the compatibility duty is only one of a number of factors to be considered in developing legislation which is effective, workable and clear. Given that existing statutory frameworks in some key policy areas are contained within pre-devolution UK Acts, in some instances avoiding amendment to existing UK Acts would prove complex, as it would be challenging to provide for a coherent change to the law in light of the existing provision. Each new legislative proposal therefore needs to be considered on its own merits.

In 2016, Scottish Government legislation came into force that increased the maximum sentence for weapons possession from four years to five years. The average length of custodial sentence for weapons possession in 2022-23 was 332 days; this compares with 218 days in 2007-08 and represents an increase of 52%.

The prosecution of knife crime is an independent operational matter for COPFS.

The Scottish Government has established the sunbed safety group to review the existing sunbed regulations and procedures for enforcing those regulations.

As part of the group's work, the Scottish Government has worked with Young Scot, NHS Inform and education colleagues to produce information in an accessible format for younger adults. This includes a sunbed safety toolkit for pupil support teachers to discuss sun-safety with their students and published a new NHS inform page to promote awareness of sunbed and tanning safety which includes information about seeking medical advice for changes to your skin.

Thrombectomy services are run on a regional basis with a North, East and West of Scotland ‘hub’ providing thrombectomies in NHS Boards.

NHS Lothian (East of Scotland): Monday to Sunday 8am to 8pm for patients arriving directly at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm for patients arriving at East of Scotland spoke hospitals.

NHS Tayside (North of Scotland): Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (West of Scotland): Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm for patients arriving directly at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm for patients arriving at West of Scotland spoke hospitals.