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

The table below details the average number of purposeful activity hours per week for convicted prisoners across the prison estate, in each financial year that incorporates 2021, 2022 and 2023:

The new Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy sets out our vision to improve mental health and wellbeing – including the role of other key areas such as poverty, housing, employment and our communities. The Strategy recognises that in order to address the wide-ranging factors that impact people’s mental health and wellbeing, a cross-government, cross-sector approach is required.

A range of work is already taking place throughout the Scottish Government to promote positive mental wellbeing, prevent poor mental health, and provide support, care and treatment where needed. In addition we are working closely with our stakeholders, including Public Health Scotland, to develop and embed a collaborative health-in-all-policies (or HiAP) approach, which takes consideration of key health issues into decision-making at national and local level. As part of this approach, we will promote a more robust, efficient and effective use of impacts assessments across government.

There are five recommendations for the Scottish Government in the report. These include improved data gathering, setting standards and funding for out of area placements. We will consider these recommendations in detail and provide a full response to the Mental Welfare Commission in due course.

The recommendations of the ongoing Active Travel Transformation Project will be made publicly available. It is intended that these will be shared in the coming months.

A report which summarises the work undertaken and lessons learned from the first stage of the Project will be also published. This report will include learning from Project workshops, and summarises issues surfaced through wider Project engagement.

The Scottish Government has provided funding for 215 properties through the Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan Scheme since the Scheme was established in April 2020. 

The information requested on the number of bike pump tracks is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

We understand the significance of sports and leisure facilities in helping to achieve our vision of a more active Scotland.

The Cycling Facilities Fund was launched in October 2020 with £8million of funding made available to drive a legacy from the UCI Cycling World Championships 2023 held in Scotland. Over half of the fund has now been invested by sport scotland in 36 cycling projects across Scotland to meet the real demand for community facilities of this kind; 25 of the 36 projects awarded funding are for bike pump tracks.

Local groups can apply for capital funding via sport scotland’s application-based funding programme, the Sport Facilities Fund. The Sport Facilities Fund provides investment in capital projects that create new or improved places for clubs and communities to participate in sport and physical activity, including cycling facilities such as pump tracks.

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

Permanent In Cell Telephony means individuals in prison can maintain purposeful family contact, including with children, which we know is important for good mental health and wellbeing, and for reducing the risk of reoffending upon return to communities.

The hard-wired in-cell telephones are subject to the same robust security, which governed the use of mobile phones and hard-wired telephones in all residential areas. Those in our care can only call numbers from a pre-approved list, and SPS maintain the ability to monitor and record calls.

Where it is suggested that a criminal act has been committed, this will be reported to Police Scotland.

Proposals for creating new woodland in Scotland are assessed under the Forestry (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017. These regulations require those developing forestry projects to identify and consider potentially significant effects on the environment, including cumulative effects.

Scottish Forestry’s Woodland Creation Application Guidance advises those developing forestry proposals that identifying potential impacts and protecting the environment should be factored into the woodland design before any application is submitted. As a result, forestry proposals are often extensively modified, including where cumulative effects have been identified, during the development process to take account of potential environmental impacts, and applications must be supported by analysis of key environmental information.

Since 2019, no forestry applications have been refused consent as a result of significant cumulative environmental impacts.

The Scottish Government and COSLA are co-owners of Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to eradicate Violence Against Women and Girls. We will continue this joint approach when considering the wide-ranging recommendations of the Independent Strategic Review of Violence Against Women and Girls Services.

The Verity House Agreement provides a framework for both parties to work within when considering the joint response. A detailed analysis, including costing and cost benefit analysis, will be necessary before making definitive statements on individual recommendations.

The Agricultural Reform Route Map sets out the proposed timescales for information and interaction with the agricultural industry. As we continue to make progress with the Agriculture Reform Programme, there will be further opportunities to share key information with farmers, crofters and landowners to help them plan and prepare for change.