Seòmar agus comataidhean

As I said in my answer to Donald Lumsden (S6O-01659), policing is and will continue to be a priority for the Scottish Government. Scotland has a higher number of officers than at any time during the last administration – and more per head of population than England and Wales (30 officers per 10,000 population in Scotland, compared to 24 officers per 10,000 population in England and Wales (at 31 March).

Officer numbers fluctuate due to the cycle of recruitment and retirement, and this was further impacted by last year’s police pension changes. However, I was pleased to see that Police Scotland welcomed around 900 new recruits in 2022.

Our officers are the best paid in the UK, which recognises the hard work and dedication of the police workforce across Scotland. Basic starting salary for a constable in Scotland is around £5,000 more than in England and Wales and the maximum salary is also higher.

The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a thorough review of its options in relation to collecting data on secondary breast cancer in Scotland, taking consideration of clinical time required and how it can be used to improve services. We are currently in dialogue with Public Health Scotland, NHS England and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership alongside breast cancer specialists and the Third Sector.

Local authorities have reported that in 2021-22 103 play park renewals were completed with a further 82 renewals in progress. The following table shows how many play parks were renewed in each local authority in 2021-22. Local authorities will report at the end of the financial year on the number of play parks renewed in 2022-23.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17054 on 16 January 2015 for costs between 2010 and 2013. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

All Ministerial engagements for this time period, including Bute House costs for 2007-8, are available here Ministerial Events (webarchive.org.uk) and Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Please see the following table showing the number of events and total costs for 2015 to 2022. Complete financial records are only held by Scottish Government for 7 years therefore total costs are only available from 2015.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) will release the 2022 census outputs in phases. NRS are currently consulting with data users on the outputs from Scotland's Census 2022, including plans for publishing census data. NRS are asking users to give their views on the order and sequencing of topics published.

The current working plan for the first release of Census 2022 data is to deliver rounded population estimates approximately one year from the end of the Census data collection period. Further phases of census data publications will then follow with the current intention being to release data on languages in the second phase.

The Scottish Government is committed to keeping The Promise by 2030. It is recognised that the experience of growing up in care can impact you for all of your life. Providing the right support to people with care experience through our Whole Family Wellbeing approach and the range of work identified in the Promise Implementation Plan including trauma informed training, corporate parenting, education and employment.

The Implementation Plan sets out our commitment to ensure the voice of people with care experience is at the heart of the work we do to keep The Promise.

Where an offence has been committed the enforcement options remain the same for retailers based outside Scotland as they are for those in Scotland. These include:

• provision of advice and guidance;
• fixed monetary penalties (FMP);
• variable monetary penalties (VMP);
• report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) recommending prosecution.

SEPA’s enforcement response would reflect the nature of the offence and be designed to be the most effective way of restoring compliance. SEPA holds a number of investigatory powers which will support evidence gathering across the UK.

The Promise Bill will be introduced to Parliament before the end of this Parliamentary session to make any further legislative changes required to Keep The Promise.

The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Regulations require all retailers who sell in-scope products into Scotland, regardless of where they are based, to apply the 20p deposit. Therefore, retailers based in Scotland will not be disadvantaged by those based elsewhere.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13244 on 17 January 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers