Chamber and committees

The Inquiries into Fatal Accident and Sudden Deaths Act 2016 places a duty on a person to whom a sheriff’s recommendation is addressed to provide a response to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service within the period of 8 weeks after the respondent receives a copy of the determination.

The respondent must give the SCTS a response in writing either :

• setting out details of what the respondent has done or proposes to do in response to the recommendation, or
• if the respondent has not done, and does not intend to do, anything in response to the recommendation, the reasons for that.

The 2016 Act also place a duty on SCTS to publish responses to the recommendations set out in the determination.

Where a response is given the SCTS must

• publish the response in full,
• publish the response in part, together with a notice explaining that part of the response has been withheld from publication, or
• publish a notice explaining that the whole of the response is being withheld from publication.

The SCTS may withhold the whole of a response from publication only if representations are made to that effect. If no response is given by the end of the 8 week period the SCTS must publish notice of that fact.

Implementation of FAI recommendations are monitored by the annual statistics. The Scottish Parliament receives a copy of the report annually. All responses to recommendations are published and are in the public domain which includes respondents saying what has been done and if the answer is nothing, then explaining why.

The Scottish Government expects all public bodies to respond appropriately to the recommendations of a Fatal Accident Inquiry.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service received a response to 17 of the 18 recommendations (determinations) made by the Sheriff, within 8 weeks of publication of the determination, as per the statutory requirement.

The implementation of any recommendations made by the Sheriff is primarily the responsibility of the respective organisation at which the recommendation was aimed.

In 1 of the 18 determinations, no response was received by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service within the 8 week statutory period. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service published a notice under Section 28(7) of the 2016 Act to this end.

The following table details how many vehicles have been in the Government Car Service (GCS) fleet since 2020/21 to date, broken down by Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV’s

Emissions data for offshore oil and gas is part of the UK Government’s Greenhouse Gas inventory and is therefore required to decarbonise by 2050. Only refinery and onshore emissions data is part of Scottish Government’s inventory.

We recognise that countries around the world cannot continue to maximise economic recovery of fossil fuels if the Paris aims are to be met. As the First Minister said last week our focus will now be on achieving the fastest possible just transition for the oil and gas sector - one that delivers jobs and economic benefit, ensures our energy security, and meets our climate obligations.

That is why we have committed to undertaking a programme of work to better understand Scotland’s energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how this aligns with our climate change targets. We recognised that our vision and roadmap for the energy sector can’t happen in isolation - a Just Transition Plan for Energy will be at the heart of our refreshed Energy Strategy, publishing as one coherent document in 2022. The principle underpinning it will be the one already encapsulated in our Co-operation Agreement - that unlimited extraction of fossil fuels, or maximum economic recovery in UK policy terms, is not consistent with our climate obligations.

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

The Throughcare Support Service was introduced in 2015 and until its suspension on 13 September 2019, comprised of 3 Regional Managers and 42.1 (FTE) TSS Officers.

Between 2015-2019 a small number of staff rotated in and out of these roles and undertook training as part of the recruitment process. However, no new staff have been trained or employed to provide SPS Throughcare Support Services since the suspension of these services in 2019.

Through the LEZ support fund, eligible households disposing of a non-LEZ compliant car can claim a cash grant, plus up to £500 per adult in ‘Travel Better’ vouchers towards the cost of a range of travel options such as rail pass, bus pass, bike, car hire, or bike hire.

As eBikes are more expensive than the £500 ‘Travel Better’ grant, applicants can use the 'Travel Better' grant to part-fund the cost of an eBike and pay the additional costs themselves.

We have received 63 applications for part-funding purchases of eBikes and 63 grants have been approved as of 21 October 2021. A further 3 ‘Travel better’ grants have been also been given towards the cost of recycled/repurposed eBikes.

Applications for part-funding of eBikes represent 17% of all ‘travel better’ grants approved.

Over the past decade the Scottish Government has invested over £50 million in ChargePlace Scotland, a publicly available network of electric vehicle charging infrastructure which now consists of over 2,000 charge points across Scotland. This has enabled us to create a comprehensive network ahead of demand. The majority of investment has been delivered through local authorities, who are responsible for planning the roll out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, taking into account local needs and considering existing and projected demand within their area.

Until recently, commercial investment in charge points has been restricted due to factors such as uncertain returns on investment as the market for electric vehicles matures. As a result, any investments will have been limited to locations with unique market characteristics.

Over the summer we published a joint report with the Scottish Futures Trust setting out the opportunities for growth of the electric vehicle public charging market. The report noted that increased levels of commercial investment can now be anticipated in many parts of Scotland, and will indeed be required as demand for electric vehicles increases. The report also explores areas where the commercial market will be slower to mature, and the role of public sector in such circumstances.

Transport Scotland are working with Scottish Futures Trust and industry to consider the most appropriate structures and approach to growing and developing charging infrastructure, lever commercial investment and engaging commercial operators to develop the public electric vehicle charge point network at scale and at speed across all of Scotland.

While the Scottish Government doesn’t hold specific information on where commercial investments are planned across Scotland, the Scottish Transport Statistics that are published annually provide information on the number of ChargePlace Scotland charge points by local authority area.

From 1 November 2021, the way in which the Scottish Government provides overseas trade support will be aligned with our energy transition, as highlighted in our policy announcement on 15 October 2021. We will also co-design our energy transition with industry stakeholders as promised in the Just Transition Commissions Report Response

Scottish Development International (SDI), will implement this policy through the assessment of potential projects and their suitability for support in line with the published guidance and exemptions. Our exemptions are deliberately aligned with the UK Government’s guidance . This decision was made following wide stakeholder engagement and responds to strong feedback from stakeholders on the importance of technical alignment in order to avoid any unintended confusion for our agencies and the industry in the practical implementation of this policy.

COPFS has noted the findings of the study. The statistics quoted in that study indicate that the average time taken to complete an FAI in 2017-19 was at its lowest figure since the period 2005-07. That figure – 603 days – was more than one third lower than the figure (990) from the previous period which predated the introduction of the 2016 Act.

COPFS is committed to reducing the timescale for commencing FAIs, including those arising from deaths in custody, whilst ensuring that the circumstances surrounding each death are thoroughly investigated. COPFS has introduced a number of measures since the implementation of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016 to reduce the average time taken to complete FAIs. Funding for the overall COPFS budget has been increased in recent years to help support the progress of these and other investigations. Dedicated teams were set up within the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit of Crown Office to specifically investigate deaths where an FAI requires to be held. A Case Management Panel ensures there is regular oversight of all deaths in custody investigations by senior managers on a regular basis. These reforms have already resulted in reductions in the duration of death investigations and it is expected that they will continue to do so.

In addition, a dedicated Crown Office team is to be established to investigate all deaths in legal custody. It is anticipated that such a team will allow for accelerated processes for particular categories of death and greater scope for conjoining FAIs and will reduce the time taken to conclude these investigations.

The proposed licensing legislation will establish a licensing scheme: to ensure short-term lets are safe and address issues faced by neighbours; and facilitate local authorities in knowing and understanding what is happening in their area, as well as to assist with handling complaints effectively. In broad terms, the licensing scheme applies to the use of dwellinghouses and unconventional accommodation, such as yurts or pods, for short-term lets.

The licensing scheme was never intended to regulate all forms of tourist or other accommodation. It is important that all forms of accommodation are safe and there are a number of regulatory mechanisms and safeguards across different accommodation types to help to ensure this is the case.