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There were no convictions under section 40(1) of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (where main crime) in 2021-22.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘An independent Scotland in the EU’, are set out in the following table:

Developing a net zero or decarbonisation plan can help businesses to understand how they can change their practices to reduce their carbon emissions and the benefits they can gain from doing so. The Enterprise Agencies provide a range of support to help businesses develop net zero plans and to transition to net zero. Since 1 November 2022, Scottish Enterprise grant funding has been provided on the condition that the recipient business either has a net zero action plan in place, or commits to developing one within twelve months of accepting the grant. Scottish Enterprise retains a record of those organisations which have a net zero plan in place.

During 2019 and 2021 the Scottish Crime Recording Board consulted users on Recorded Crime National Statistics. This included gathering their views on suggested changes to how crimes and offences were grouped within the statistics, and in the way findings are presented within the bulletin. The Recorded crime and police activity statistics consultation: summary of responses was published in March 2022.

As a result of this consultation, the previously named Miscellaneous offences group was split into two groups – Antisocial offences and Miscellaneous offences. The splitting of this group allowed for more detail at the crime category level, including the introduction of an Environmental offences crime category. Since June 2022, recorded crime statistics have been published at both crime group and crime category level, on a quarterly basis.

The Scottish Government do not have any current plans to consult further on the way we present this data, however we would be happy to provide more detailed data on specific crime or offence categories on request.

Environmental Waste Crime is a priority for the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT), which has established an Environmental Waste Crime Working Group to take forward appropriate activity to disrupt the impact of organised crime groups in this sector and reduce the harm they cause to communities. Membership of the Working Group includes SEPA, COPFS, HMRC, NCA, Office of the Traffic Commissioner, Police Scotland and Resource Management Association Scotland.

The SOCT has recently published its Progress Report. The report offers case studies on some of the activity including environmental waste crime, undertaken by the SOCT and partners since March 2020.

Serious Organised Crime Taskforce Progress Report 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

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

As of 24 November 2023, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has 15 trained dogs and 9 trained dog handlers.

All our dogs are trained to detect drugs, whilst some of our dogs are trained to detect arms and explosives and/or various prohibited items including mobile phones.

All our dog handlers form part of the National Tactical Search Unit and are highly trained in the searching of people, property, communal spaces and living areas i.e., cells.

Bus and coach operators are required to hold Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licenses. The PSV licensing is a reserved power to the UK Government and is managed by the Traffic Commissioner, the main purpose of the regime is to ensure safe and proper use of vehicles. The Scottish Government has no oversight of investigations carried out by operators in relation to maintenance and safety of vehicles.

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

SPS published its Annual Procurement Report on the SPS Website on 2 October 2023. (Link: http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Publications/Publication-9204.aspx ).

The Parole Board for Scotland is required to provide a report on the performance of its functions to the Scottish Ministers as soon as practicable after the end of each year, after which this report is laid before Parliament. Previously, this has usually been done at the end of each financial year.

There is no specific date for publication at this stage.

Dundee City Council published its audited 2021-22 annual accounts on Monday, 7 November 2022. The accounts are available for inspection on its website:

Dundee City Council Audited Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 | Dundee City Council