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As I said in the recent debate on violence against women and girls, when women do need recourse to the Justice system, it is equally important that we respond effectively, competently and with compassion and understanding.

We are clear that the justice system must do more to ensure that women and girls who have experienced any form of gender-based violence have the confidence to come forward, and are supported to report these terrible crimes.

Our Equally Safe Strategy sets out a vision to prevent violence from occurring in the first place, build the capability and capacity of support services, and strengthen the justice response to victims and perpetrators.

Our Justice Vision, prioritises the experience women and girls have of the justice system. We know the justice journey can be deeply traumatising, and it is extremely important for this to minimised, in order to support recovery.

That’s why we are proposing the Criminal Justice Reform Bill. The Bill will be informed by responses to a recent public consultation on improving victims’ experiences of the justice system that takes forward the work of the Victims Taskforce and recommendations from Lady Dorrian’s Review on Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases.

Through the Women’s Justice Leadership Panel, we are also discussing all aspects of the justice system to consider the experience and unique needs of women, and what changes may need to be embedded within our criminal justice processes.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role Active Play has in providing children with the opportunity to develop physical skills in their early years and to encourage a long-term relationship with physical activity.

Current funding of the Active Play Development Project is for 2022-23 for delivery of Active Play programmes across two local authority areas, Glasgow and Highland. The evaluation of the current Active Play Development Programme will help inform future funding decisions, which will be subject to the Scottish Government’s budget for 2023-2024.

The valuation of non-domestic premises is a matter for the Scottish assessors who are independent of central and local government. The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many assessments have taken place in relation to the requirements for self-catering holiday accommodation set out in the Council Tax (Dwellings and Part Residential Subjects) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021.

In 2021-22, £1,200,863 was made available to Access to Music Making and Strengthening Youth Music Funds. Of this, £1,116,575 funded Access to Music Making and £84,288 funded Strengthening Youth Music.

In 2022-23, £574,466 has been available to both funds to date, of which £544,467 has been allocated to Access to Youth Music and £29,999 has been allocated to Strengthening Youth Music. A second application round for 2022-23 is currently open. Decisions will be communicated in March 2023.

During the financial year 2020-2021 there were 20 trials open for patients with brain tumours in Scotland. 66 patients were recruited to these studies during the same period.

The Scottish Government has extended the contract for the MS Victoria in Leith by 5 months. The estimated cost of extending the contract is around £9.4 million.

This will ensure those on board do not have to relocate during the festive period and will allow local authority partners to support more people into longer-term accommodation.

The Scottish Government has no plans to develop a strategic housing land availability assessment (SHLAA) for Scotland. SHLAA is part of the English planning system for housing, as expected by the English National Planning Policy Framework.

Scotland has its own planning policy and processes relating to housing. The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) set out new processes for Local Development Plans (LDPs) and policy for new homes in Scotland.

Our Revised Draft NPF4, if approved by the Scottish Parliament, will expect deliverable land to be allocated to meet the 10 year Local Housing Land Requirement in locations that create quality places for people to live. In addition, areas that may be suitable for new homes beyond 10 years are also to be identified. LDP delivery programmes will be expected to establish a housing land pipeline for the Local Housing Land Requirement. The annual housing land audit will sit alongside the delivery programme and will monitor the delivery of housing land.

Draft LDP Guidance has been consulted on, and is in the process of being finalised. This will include further information on how NPF4 housing policy is implemented in LDPs. We will provide updated guidance on housing land audits to support NPF4 housing policy.

Between 14 January 2022 and 17 February 2022 the role of Chair of the Board Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) was publicly advertised. Two candidates applied but were not successful.

Following the unsuccessful public recruitment exercise, a recruitment agency was engaged via the framework agreement with the Crown Commercial Service. Three potential candidates were invited for formal interview. The formal interviews tested strong leadership, change management, knowledge of the Public Sector, governance, analysis and decision making as well as communication, networking, influencing, mediation and conflict resolution skills. A recommendation was made to Ministers based on the ranking at formal interview and a formal offer of appointment was made to the highest ranking candidate assessed against the stated criteria.

The issue of body-worn cameras is a policy and operational decision for Police Scotland, acting under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland have advised they have developed an initial business case for Body Worn Video which has been considered and approved by the SPA Resources Committee. Police Scotland will undertake a full procurement exercise in 2023 which will provide more clarity on costs – both upfront purchase costs and ongoing costs.

The Scottish Government would expect Police Scotland to achieve best value through all its procurement activity.

The Scottish Government welcomes initiatives being undertaken by Police Scotland to support its workforce through the “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme which covers psychological, physical, social and financial wellbeing.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on staff absences due to mental health reasons. Delivery of call handling services and associated staffing issues are a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA.