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Work to establish the group is ongoing. Discussions around membership, appointment processes and meeting frequency are taking place and an announcement on this will be made in the coming months.

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

OLRs are subject to an annual review of their LSCMI risk assessment which is carried out by Prison Based Social Work (PBSW). In addition to this, each OLR has a Risk Management Plan (RMP), which is largely part of the risk assessment prepared for the courts and updated at significant points of change during their sentence.

In 2023 there were 40 RMPs revised for OLRs and 10 revised thus far in 2024. SPS currently do not hold data on the number of OLRs whose LSCMIs have been updated within the past year.

We are continuing to engage with Vestas around potential investment into Scotland. Most recently, the First Minister met with the CEO of Vestas on 3 April 2024. Throughout our engagement with Vestas it has continued to emphasise its commitment to Scotland.

Our fast-growing offshore wind industry provides us with significant opportunities to attract inward investment, generate green jobs and grow our regional and national economies.

We are taking a “Team Scotland” approach across the public sector when engaging with companies such as Vestas to ensure we maximise investment opportunities.

And we are investing up to £500 million over 5 years to anchor the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland and maximise the economic benefits the sector can bring.

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

Those individuals with an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) have a risk management plan (RMP) that is approved by the Risk Management Authority (RMA).

Within this RMP there are strategies identify for intervention which aims to target and reduce risk factors associated with that individual’s offending/harmful behaviour. Where an offending behaviour programme is identified as being appropriate, individuals are placed on a national waiting list which prioritises individuals based on their critical dates.

Every call received by Police Scotland is individually assessed using the THRIVE model – Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigative opportunity, Vulnerability and Engagement. Every crime report is different and it is simply not the case that certain specific crimes will no longer be investigated as part of the Proportionate Response to Crime pilot in the North East.

As part of their evaluation of the pilot that was undertaken in the North East, Police Scotland published a number of real life examples that highlighted the diversity in the range of calls received and how they were assessed and responded to. I would particularly draw the member’s attention to the examples where, while the crime appeared to be relatively minor, there were investigative opportunities, meaning that the incident was passed to local policing.

It is important to remember that the pilot’s evaluation shows that only 5% of crime reports were recorded and filed for no further enquiry. The evaluation states that this freed up 2,657 police officer hours which were therefore used to investigate crimes where there are lines of inquiry.

On the basis that Police Scotland are clearly not going to disclose details of their operational tactics, I am fully supportive of their approach.

The Scottish Government has not allocated any funding specifically to promote public awareness to improve the understanding of and or reduce the stigma associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, however the Scottish Government is working to ensure that all neurodivergent people, including those with ADHD, have access the support they need.

The Scottish Government and the National Autism Implementation Team launched a Neuro-affirming Community of Practice Community of Practice in October 2023. This Community of Practice is being developed to ensure that healthcare professionals are better equipped to understand the wants and needs of neurodivergent people, including people with ADHD. There has been positive engagement across health boards.

Education Scotland supports the implementation of inclusive practice for all children and young people, including those who may experience the characteristics of ADHD. A formal diagnosis of ADHD is not required for a child or young people to be provided with appropriate support through the staged level of intervention approach.

Additionally, last year, resources on ADHD were published on Education Scotland’s website, covering the common features, positive traits and challenges of ADHD. This was accompanied by a webinar, attended by over 300 individuals.

The Strategic Board for Education (SBTE) is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, including tackling geographical and subject-specific challenges. SBTE is also working to improve the promotion of teaching as a valued career.

The Headteacher Recruitment and Retention Working group (HTRRWG) are currently in the process of developing a new workplan. As this group is a sub-group of SBTE, members have agreed that the HTRRWG workplan should align with and complement the overarching aim and outcomes of the SBTE workplan. This work is ongoing and will be discussed further at future meetings of the HTRRWG, minutes of which will be published on the Scottish Government website in due course.

Up to 1,000 new applicants will be offered awards in 2024-25. The actual number of applications received will be monitored by ILF Scotland and Scottish Government.

As of March 2024, 1,897 people in Scotland, and 344 people in Northern Ireland were in receipt of an Independent Living Fund award. These figures do not include Transition Fund awards.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-03144 on 29 February 2024 which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament .