Seòmar agus comataidhean

My officials in Scottish Enterprise remain in regular contact with the Joint Administrators, Interpath Advisory, and are working with them to consider all viable options for the Stoneywood site in Aberdeen.

The administration process continues to progress, and I understand the Stoneywood site continues to be marketed by the Joint Administrators.

This is not currently being pursued. The Scottish Government is open to the adoption of standards where there is evidence of the potential to improve performance.

However, though a kitemark standard is aimed at enabling a consistent, accessible and high performing services, the 2012 Waste (Scotland) regulations along with the existing Recycling Charter and its associated Code of Practice act as the Scottish standard of good service provision for household waste collections.

The provision of allotments is the responsibility of local authorities as set out in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, Part 9.

In accordance with section 121 of Part 9 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, local authorities report annually on the provision of allotments in their areas. The legislation clearly defines the mandatory information to be included in the annual allotment reports including, but not limited to;

• the location and size of each allotment site,
• the number of allotments on each allotment site,
• the rent payable,
• the number of people on the waiting list and how many have been waiting 5 years or more,
• the number of allotments on each allotment site that are accessible by a disabled person,
• the number of allotments adjusted to meet the needs of a tenant who is a disabled person,
• the income received, and expenditure incurred, by the authority in connection with allotment sites,
• such other information as may be prescribed.

Reports are available online from each local authority. The Scottish Government does not collect this information centrally and does not hold historic data on allotment provision.

In the last year, three meetings have been held on the subject of waste zoning with the Resource Management Association Scotland (RMAS) in June, July and August 2022. One meeting on the subject of waste zoning was held with the Scottish Environmental Services Association (SESA) in February 2023. The issue has also been raised in other forums that industry attend and as part of wider engagement regarding proposals for the Circular Economy Bill and Waste Route Map.

There have been no specific meetings on the topic of zoning with local authorities, but it is a topic that has been raised in various regular forums they attend and as part of wider engagement for the Circular Economy Bill and Circular Economy and Waste Route Map.

The National Statistics on recorded crime do not include a specific code for crimes of ‘sextortion’ (i.e. extortion involving the threat of sharing sexual information about the victim). There are however two types of crime that include activity that could be considered to constitute ‘sextortion’.

Table 1 shows the estimated volume of threats and extortion committed online, from 2019-20 to 2022-23. This is based on an annual review of crime records (commenced in 2019-20) which aims to estimate how many cyber-crimes are recorded in Scotland. It should be noted the figures below are based on a sample of police records (rather than all police records), so should be seen as providing a broad estimate of the volume of this type of crime, rather than an exact count.

Whilst not all online threats and extortion will necessarily have a ‘sextortion’ based element, it is very likely a high proportion (and certainly the majority) of the cases shown below do. Where ‘sextortion’ related crimes are recorded under this heading, it will be where the perpetrator has made demands for money or other valuables.

Table 1 - Estimated volume of threats and extortion committed online: 2019-20 to 2022-23

NHS National Services Scotland provides national coordination for the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme, which is commissioned by Boards and delivered by primary care. Scottish Government does not hold the information requested centrally. However, Public Health Scotland publish programme statistics on an annual basis and the latest report can be viewed at : https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/scottish-cervical-screening-programme-statistics/scottish-cervical-screening-programme-statistics-annual-update-to-31-march-2022/

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

Following the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act), a Memorandum of Understanding was developed between Scotland’s Integration Joint Boards and Independent Hospices. Individual memorandums of understanding between hospices and NHS Boards are a matter for those Integration Joint Boards, their health boards and independent Scottish Hospices. Prior to commencement of the Act, any individual memorandums of understanding would have been matters for NHS Health Boards and independent hospices.

Ministers are required by the Community Empowerment Act (2015) to review the National Outcomes within five years of their previous publication, and the next review is currently underway. The Scottish Government intends to lay the statutory document in Parliament in early 2024. This will outline the work undertaken during the Review, including any proposed changes to the National Outcomes.

HM Treasury budgeting rules, with which the Scottish Government must comply, are very clear that it is not possible to use capital budgets to support current spending. All the capital budget will be used to support capital spending in the 2023-24 financial year.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

It is the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to plan and commission adult palliative and end of life care services for their areas using the integrated budgets under their control. As such, service level agreements between hospices and health boards are matters for Integration Authorities, their health boards, and independent hospices. Prior to commencement of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, any service level agreements would have been matters for NHS Health Boards and independent hospices.