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The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill, which is currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament, will introduce a number of reforms which are intended to improve access to justice, one of the three pillars outlined in the Aarhus Convention. 

The Bill will introduce a modern set of regulatory objectives which promote greater access to affordable legal services for consumers. It will also introduce direct regulation of legal businesses, remove restrictions on charities to allow them to directly employ solicitors, simplify the complaints process and introduce a register of regulated legal service providers. These reforms are designed to improve access to justice in Scotland.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water has advised that investigations have been on-going into reports of sewage leaking to a nearby water channel in the area; these investigations have included camera surveys and extensive dye testing of a nearby sewer pipeline. A fault has been identified and a repair made in a buried manhole chamber. Scottish Water has advised that they are continuing to monitor this area and remain in communication with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

There is no current plan to bring forward regulations, however the Scottish Government has established a short life working group to encourage a proportionate approach to assessments required for planning applications. An initial scoping meeting, held on 25 June and hosted by the Chief Planner, has set out the group’s intention to use feedback from practitioners and authorities to identify priority areas for improvement and opportunities for increased proportionality and streamlining.

The Scottish Government is engaging with Homes for Scotland and the housebuilding industry relating to the findings of their recent work on SME housebuilders, and is also currently making arrangements for a discussion with SME housebuilders to consider how their experience of the planning system can be better supported.

The Scottish Government is analysing landings and liaising with industry in order to understand the impact of the new economic link licence conditions and keep the policy under review.

It is our intention to produce an update on the impact of the changes later this year. However, analysis of provisional landings data for 2023 indicates that the policy change has succeeded in driving up the share of landings for pelagic stocks into Scotland and Shetland in particular.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Planner and I published a letter to stakeholders on 27 June 2024 regarding planning for housing. It provides further clarification on the implementation of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and specifically policy 16 Quality Homes, and emphasises the need for positive and constructive collaboration across sectors to support delivery. The letter outlines actions to be jointly progressed, including a discussion with SME housebuilders on how their experiences of the planning system can be better supported. We are also engaging with Homes for Scotland and the housebuilding industry relating to the findings of their recent work on SME housebuilders.

The Scottish Government has established a short life working group to encourage a proportionate approach to assessments required for planning applications. The initial scoping meeting, held on 25 June and hosted by the Chief Planner, has set out the group’s intention to use feedback from practitioners and authorities to identify priority areas for improvement and opportunities for increased proportionality and streamlining.

Scottish Government guidance on preparing Local Development Plans clearly states that providing land across a range of scales of sites and locations will enable the ambitious approach for new homes outlined in NPF4, encouraging local authorities to do so.

Scottish Government guidance on planning obligations recognises the potential financial consequences for developers, including SMEs. It makes clear that in negotiating obligations, consideration should be given to the economic viability of proposals and alternative solutions should be considered alongside options of phasing or staging payments.

A public consultation on the UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy took place in 2021 and we are working on amendments to the strategy, in partnership with the other UK administrations and the working group, ahead of implementation in early 2025.

These amendments include the addition of a number of species of whale and dolphin that are regularly sighted in UK waters and updates to the evidence base and the areas identified where further action can be taken. In the meantime, the Scottish Government continues to take action to improve the conservation of UK cetaceans.

We recognise that bycatch and entanglement in fishing gear can pose a risk to our iconic marine life and remain committed to tackling this issue in our waters.

We are working in partnership with the UK Government and other administrations on implementing the bycatch mitigation initiative.

Through the Future Catching Policy, Scottish Ministers will be delivering on their obligations to minimise and, where possible, eliminate bycatch of sensitive species as part of wider efforts to ensure the sustainability of our fishing fleet.

As our first priority, we will take firm measures to increase selectivity by introducing additional technical measures to reduce unwanted catch and bycatch of sensitive marine species, working with stakeholders to explore and deliver solutions.

Putting in place the remaining fisheries management measures remains a top government priority. We want to achieve this as soon as possible, however developing the evidence based and effective fisheries management measures for over 180 sites is a complex and challenging process.

We are not actively considering the establishment of a non-departmental public body and there are no plans to consider this prior to publishing the Programme for Government. The Minister for Housing made a statement to Parliament on 20 June setting out the actions being taken to address the Housing Emergency and this can be accessed at:

https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-20-06-2024?meeting=15946&iob=136142

A Scottish Government public consultation has been published today on a proposal to change the release process for long-term prisoners. This is further to my statement to Parliament of 16 May 2024 about actions required to address the rising prison population.

The consultation seeks views on amending the point at which most long-term prisoners are released under supervision in the community ahead of the end of their sentence. The consultation includes a specific proposal for this point of release to be following two thirds of sentence.

This would mean that the affected prisoners spend less time in custody and more time in the community. In the community, they would be subject to licence conditions, supervision, and recall. Public and victim safety would remain an absolute priority, with specific support and supervision in place reflecting the outcomes of individualised risk assessment.

In addition to helping reduce the pressures on the prison estate, this proposal is also intended to better support the reintegration of long-term prisoners by providing those leaving prison with a more managed return to their communities, with access to the community supports and rehabilitation they need for a longer period of time.

This proposal forms part of a range of measures designed to respond to the rising prison population and responses will inform legislation to be introduced later in 2024.

The consultation paper can be found at https://consult.gov.scot/justice/prisoner-release-process-consultation/ .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-28205 on‎ 5 July 2024. 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