Seòmar agus comataidhean

(a) The number of civil servants in Scottish Government core directorates who retired in recent years are as follows:

The Scottish Government has provided £1.19m to Neighbourhood Watch Scotland since 2014.

A breakdown of funding per financial year is provided in the following table.

The A90 is a trunk road with considerable history having been periodically improved over the last 60 years to its current alignment and arrangement. The various improvements will have been designed in accordance with design standards that were in force at that time. As standards evolve they are not retrospectively applied to existing sections of road, unless changes or improvements at a given location are considered necessary.

The clearing of unexploded ordnance is an operational matter for Police Scotland.

Scottish Government are, however, concerned with the environmental impact from such activities, via the consideration of licensing applications for ordnance removal and contribution to wider UK government policy on the matter.

Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) is the regulator responsible for determining marine licence applications on behalf of the Scottish Ministers in the Scottish inshore and offshore regions. Marine licences are required for licensable marine activities which include removal of any substance or object from the Scottish Marine Area and deposit and use of explosives, typically used in the clearance of unexploded ordnance.

In determining applications for marine licences, MD-LOT on behalf of the Scottish Ministers must have regard to protecting the environment, human health and legitimate uses of the sea. MD-LOT consult with a range of stakeholders including NatureScot, as the Statutory Nature Conservation Body, and seek views to inform determinations.

The Marine Directorate (formally Marine Scotland) was also involved in the development of the UK government’s 2022 policy paper “Marine environment: unexploded ordnance clearance joint interim position statement”. This sets out a coordinated position between marine regulators and key stakeholders across the UK regarding the use of lower noise alternatives to high order detonation of unexploded ordnance within the marine environment.

MD-LOT involvement in the clearance of unexploded ordnance is limited to the assessment of licence applications as set out above. There is no involvement from MD-LOT on the clearance of unexploded wartime military ordnance in Scotland's waters.

The number of discharges from Scottish acute inpatient hospitals is presented in the following table. These figures do not include mental health facilities. These discharge figures have been produced using the Public Health Scotland SMR01 dataset which does not hold details on discharges delayed due to concerns regarding welfare.

Table 1: Discharges from Scottish acute hospitals where the patient was recorded as having no fixed abode at hospital admission.

The Scottish Government does not provide legal advice on any matter.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the bravery shown by the young people and their families who shared their experiences at the summit. It was extremely important to hear directly from those with lived experience on their views about possible solutions to address violence amongst young people.

We will publish a report of the summit that will highlight the key areas the participants raised.

A commitment has been made to hold a further meeting involving cross-party MSPs to discuss youth violence and the issues raised at the summit.

Over the last two years, we have invested more than £4 million to implement the actions set out in the Violence Prevention Framework, including tackling youth violence. This has included work to extend the support of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, to reach more individuals and communities across Scotland, extending the Medics Against Violence Hospital Navigator Programme in two Children’s Hospitals in Aberdeen and Glasgow and training teachers in schools to provide young people with key messages on violence.

The Scottish Government is also investing up to £20 million through our CashBack for Communities programme phase 6, which is funding 29 partners over 3 years to deliver early intervention and prevention projects targeted at working with and supporting young people at risk of being drawn into antisocial behaviour, offending or reoffending. This programme aims to reach a minimum of 33,976 children and young people between April 2023 and March 2026.

The Thistle facility in Glasgow acknowledges the challenges posed by external factors, such as the potential for organised crime groups to exploit vulnerable individuals. To address this Glasgow HSCP are working closely with Police Scotland who are dedicated to disrupting organized crime groups and ensuring a hostile environment for their operations.

Police Scotland maintain operational independence to police the facility and surrounding areas, safeguarding the wider community, facility operators and users.

In addition, local policing teams will act on reports of drug use or supply by deploying community police and response officers to patrol identified areas, deterring criminality and enhancing public safety. Police Scotland will also continue patrols to address illegal acts around the facility. Public support around this facility is vital and Police Scotland would encourage the reporting of any concerns to them or Crimestoppers to help address any issues.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with the offshore oil and gas industry on a range of topics, including workforce planning. For example, the First Minister last met with Offshore Energies UK along with the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy in September 2024 and this included discussion of jobs in the context of the energy transition.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work in partnership with business and industry to plan for a multi-skilled energy workforce, one that can benefit from opportunities across sectors as the transition to net zero progresses. This includes exploring opportunities for mutual recognition of qualifications between different energy sectors including funding support from the Just Transition Fund to support the industry-led Energy Skills Passport which is now being piloted.