Chamber and committees

The fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) sets out the Scottish Ministers’ policies and proposals for the development and use of land. If an application for planning permission is necessary for any development associated with the use of live facial recognition technology, it is for the relevant planning authority to consider that application. When making decisions on planning applications, planning authorities must consider the development plan as a whole, comprising NPF and local development plans, alongside all other material considerations.

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

A Cell Sharing Risk Assessment (CSRA) must be completed before any individual is allocated to share a cell. SPS has no recorded instances of individuals sharing a cell that conflicts with a CSRA.

The CSRA will be used to make an informed decision on the individual's suitability to share a cell and if required alternative options are explored with the safety, security, health and wellbeing at the forefront of any decision made.

The CSRA process is used as the assessment process in accordance with Rule 28 (Accommodation of Prisoners) of the Prison Rules (Scotland) 2011.

A refresh of the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan, informed by current progress with rolling stock procurement, is currently expected to conclude in early 2025.

The refresh of the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan will examine how and when the traction elements of rail transport can best be achieved. The order and programme in which decarbonisation can be achieved is and remains dependent on business cases and available budgets.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) uses the national waiting times datamart to collect electronic patient records covering the waits that patients experience waiting for treatment as an inpatient or day case under the Treatment Time Guarantee. This data source can be used routinely to identify the specialty of treatment. However, these records are unable to accurately capture procedural level data.

More detailed information on the procedure(s) that is planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS Boards.

Although we are unable to provide procedural level data, the latest data for inpatient or day-case admission for ophthalmology is provided for reference.

Inpatient or Day case Admission: Waiting Times for Admissions

NHS Scotland, Ophthalmology, up to Month ending 30 June 2024

In November 2023 Scottish Government statisticians identified technical issues with the automatic data processing and updating of some of the data sources on the Energy Statistics Hub. This affected the formatted display of some of the figures and charts on the hub. Work is continuing to resolve the issue and updates are being processed as quickly as possible.

Updates to the underlying data sources and publication of Scotland's quarterly energy statistics are unaffected and there has been no delay in the quarterly publication of any of the Scottish Government’s energy statistics. The next Energy Statistics Quarterly publication is on Thursday 26 September 2024.

Key energy statistics are published on the Scottish Government website.

The introduction of Body Worn Video is a priority for Police Scotland, and it is working to introduce it as soon as possible. The decision on how and when to roll out body-worn video is a matter for the Chief Constable with oversight provided by the Scottish Police Authority.

The Chief Constable and senior colleagues provided an update to the SPA Board on 22 August, assuring the Authority that progress is being driven at pace given the complexities of the programme. They highlighted their expectation that the devices will begin to be deployed on roll-out from Spring 2025 for the first tranche of over 10,000 officers and staff. This will be followed by a coordinated, sequenced roll-out thereafter for all other relevant officers and staff. The Chief Constable informed the Criminal Justice Committee on 11 September that she would update the Committee on specific timings when she is able to do so.

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

A Cell Sharing Risk Assessment (CSRA) is conducted on every occasion where two (or more) individuals are required to share one cell.

A CSRA provides a generic assessment of the suitability for individuals to share cells with an option for additional detail and context regarding identified risks to be recorded. Once complete, the CSRA assessment will be used to make an informed decision on the individual’s suitability to share cells, based on known risk and operational necessity.

Individuals will never knowingly be asked to share a cell when it is in direct conflict with what has been recorded in the CSRA.

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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29797 on 19 September 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27663 on 3 June 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.