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I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland regularly exceeds the Service Level Agreement to complete 90% of applications within 14 days. During 2022-2023 we completed 98% of applications within target and in 2023-2024 have so far delivered 95% within target. Disclosure Scotland monitors service delivery performance daily, while also utilising application volume forecasts and resource planning, to ensure that our Service Level Agreement is maintained.

As an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, Disclosure Scotland presents its Annual Report and Accounts to Parliament each year. This includes information on performance.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Three recent Acts of the Scottish Parliament - the Management of Offenders (Scotland Act 2019, the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 and the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 - have changed the disclosure process in relation to the wellbeing and future life chances of children who have been involved in the children’s hearings system or criminal justice system.

Per Scottish Government policy, Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments have informed policy development and involved children and young people in evidence-gathering and decision-making.

Children and young people were spoken to directly though engagement with them at the Young Offender Institution (YOI) Polmont, the Scottish Youth Parliament, Children's Parliament, Who Cares? Scotland, Youth Advantage Outreach, Up-2-Us, Sacro, Youth Just Us, Life Changes Trust and Kibble, Good Shepherd, St Mary’s Kenmure and Rossie Young People’s Trust secure accommodation. The methods used to engage and record views ranged from scenario storytelling to quizzes, timelines, discussion groups, voting cards, games and artwork. Their views were recorded and applied to impact assessment of the policies.

New processes for review applications under the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 are due to be implemented in April 2025. Disclosure Scotland is engaging with Who Cares? Scotland, Children and Young People's Centre for Justice and Clan Childlaw about the effect on people who had justice-experience in childhood. Following engagement with children who had been brought into the PVG Scheme, the Disclosure Act raises the minimum age for accessing most disclosure types to 16 years old.

The Scottish Government remain fully committed to the Verity House Agreement. Since the signing of the Verity House Agreement in June last year good progress has been made, and there are a number of positive examples of collaborative working between central and local government.

The Scottish Government is committed to an open and regular dialogue with Local government and are willing to meet at any time when any matters of concern arise. The level of engagement between our two spheres of government has never been so high.

The Scottish Government and COSLA meet regularly through a number of different forums under the Verity House Agreement to discuss progress towards our three shared priorities.

Revenue Scotland publish monthly data for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) which sets out the number and value of transactions for residential LBTT, the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) and non-residential leases and conveyances. These publications can be found on Revenue Scotland's website at the following link: Monthly LBTT Statistics | Revenue Scotland

Revenue Scotland also publish an Annual Summary of Trends in the Devolved Taxes which sets out detailed data and commentary for LBTT and Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT). The latest publication covering 2022-23 was published in November 2023 and can be found at the following link: Annual Summary of Trends in the Devolved Taxes 2022/23 | Revenue Scotland

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland work closely with organisations regarding supporting children and young people with information on the disclosure processes. This is to ensure that children and young people have the information they need to understand the disclosure process and to inform those supporting them on their journey. This work includes publication of information on supporting learners who have offended and what education practitioners should know as part of a suite of resources available on the Education Scotland website. We also collaborate with Who Cares? Scotland on disclosure matters and have produced some short videos providing information on key areas that have caused concern to care-experienced young people such as application completion and what the consideration for listing (barring) process is. This information is available on the. "disclosure scotland" - Who Cares? Scotland (whocaresscotland.org)

During the formal consideration for listing (barring) process, if Disclosure Scotland identify a potential vulnerability, we will engage with relevant professionals such as social workers, to ensure we are communicating with the individual in the most appropriate and supportive way.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table details processed disclosure applications, by application type, from 2016 to 2023:

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland leads the Scotland Works for You group. The group includes organisations from the public, private and third sector to improve access to employment for people with convictions.

Scotland Works for You offers advice for people with convictions, help with disclosure applications required for employment, education or volunteering, and training for employers to help them assess people's convictions. This guidance sets out that most disclosure periods and, in relation to standard, enhanced and PVG scheme record disclosures, the additional period a spent conviction can be disclosed is halved where a person was convicted aged under 18. Separate guidance is not provided specific to children.

As part of our responsibilities as a Corporate Parent, Disclosure Scotland has worked with Who Cares? Scotland and have produced some short videos providing information on key areas that have caused concern such as application completion and what the consideration for listing (barring) process is. This information is available on the "disclosure scotland" - Who Cares? Scotland (whocaresscotland.org) .

Education Scotland has been working with Daydream Believers on the AIdea Project and the online Artificial Intelligence handbook is due to be published by 31 March 2024.

SEPA have been regularly monitoring the Fruin Water since 3 January 2024, following reports of a small quantity of light crude oil surfacing from an underground pipeline. They will continue to do so until the clean-up is concluded.

The exact scale of the leak, the extent of contamination and the duration of the remediation work, will not be known until the results of the ground investigation have been presented to SEPA alongside the remediation options appraisal. This is expected by May.

The Glen Fruin road (C70) was closed by Police Scotland as a precaution following the discovery of an oil leak on 2nd January 2024. However, access through Glen Fruin will remain unaffected during the remediation phase.

Minor localised environmental impacts have been recorded and a range of precautionary measures have been installed at SEPA’s request. No significant impact has been detected with respect to water quality, migratory salmonids (salmon/trout) or to other wildlife within the Fruin Water or Loch Lomond.

The results of the latest seabird census, Seabird Count, show that many of Scotland’s intentionally important seabird populations are suffering from a range of pressures, including climate change.

The Scottish Government is committed to the development of a Scottish Seabird Conservation Strategy in partnership with stakeholders, to drive forward and prioritise action aimed at improving the conservation prospects of our internationally important seabird populations. Work on the strategy is moving at pace, with targeted stakeholder engagement planned for spring/summer 2024, followed by consultation later in the year.