Chamber and committees

My predecessor, Keith Brown MSP, the then Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, made an appearance at the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee on 23 May 2018 to provide an update on the AWPR/B-T project.

Furthermore, Keith Brown also met with Bill Hocking, Chief Executive of Construction & Investments of Galliford Try, one of the construction partners of Aberdeen Roads Limited (ARL) to discuss the progress of this project on 29 May 2018. This was the start of a series of meetings with ARL which continued when I assumed office in June 2018.

Officials worked closely with ARL to ensure everything that could reasonably be done was being done to ensure a timely opening.

The NHS Tayside Assurance and Advisory Group’s Third Progress Report was published on the Scottish Government’s website on 13 December .

All NHS boards submit financial plans to the Scottish Government each year and report throughout the year on performance against plan. The latest position for each Board is available on the Scottish Government’s website at the following location: https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhsscotland-and-integration-authorities-consolidated-financial-reporting-2018-2019/

NHS Tayside expects to submit a draft three-year plan to be formally considered for approval by the Board in February 2019. The plan will be discussed with the Scottish Government ahead of this.

The Scottish Government continues to provide tailored support to NHS Tayside to help the Board work towards a balanced and sustainable financial position, whilst ensuring that there is no impact on patient care.

Scottish Government welcome the work underway to increase the operational capacity of Police Scotland, including through the introduction of more efficient ways of working and the recruitment of additional civilian experts to meet the changing demands faced by the service. It is for the Scottish Police Authority to prioritise its resources, in line with guidance contained within the Scottish Public Finance Manual, to ensure that police officers are provided with the appropriate equipment and tools to do their jobs efficiently and effectively.

Additional investment has been made available in the 2019-20 budget to fund further improvements to ICT infrastructure and to support Police Scotland’s efforts to introduce mobile working to police officers across the country – building on early progress to deliver the service’s Digital, Data and ICT Strategy.

This year almost £5m of the £31m reform budget is being invested in modernising the core systems used by frontline officers every day.

Police Scotland have established Multi-Agency Tasking and Coordination processes across Scotland to identify and focus on the perpetrators who pose the greatest risk of harm to victims. This works alongside Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences which seek to protect victims perceived to be at heightened risk of harm. On 30 November, the Scottish Government published a consultation on improving multi-agency risk assessment centres for victims of domestic abuse in Scotland. The consultation closes on 2 March 2019.

The Scottish Government will also consult shortly on further protections for those at risk of domestic abuse which would provide the police and courts with new powers to impose protective orders which would ban suspected perpetrators from returning to a home they share with the person at risk while steps are taken to secure their longer-term safety.

The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2019 will, when it comes into force next year, provide the police with greater powers to take action in domestic abuse cases involving psychological abuse which may be difficult to prosecute under the existing law. The Scottish Government has provided funding to Police Scotland to ensure that over 14,000 officers and staff receive face to face training on how the new legislation can support effective intervention in domestic abuse cases. In addition, the Equally Safe Delivery Plan includes an action to develop, with partners, multi-agency domestic homicide reviews.

The Scottish Government strongly condemns violence against women and girls, and is committed to preventing and eradicating it.

The Equally Safe Delivery Plan, published last year within the 16 days of activism, includes a commitment to develop multi-agency domestic homicide reviews with Police Scotland and partners including learning from practice from other jurisdictions. In addition, the delivery plan supports the recent roll out of the innovative Caledonian System domestic abuse programme to a further 6 local authorities so that more male perpetrators of domestic abuse can receive specific rehabilitation services, and further tragedies can be prevented.

The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act passed in February creates a specific offence of domestic abuse. The new offence which comes into force next year will cover not just physical abuse but also other forms of psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour. A national campaign to raise awareness of the domestic abuse offence will follow with the unequivocal message that domestic abuse is completely unacceptable and that victims who come forward will be supported. Police Scotland are training over 14,000 officers in to support the implementation of the Act.

The management of resources, including staffing levels, is a matter for the Chief Constable. The Scottish Government is supporting Police Scotland by protecting the police resource budget in real terms in every year of this Parliament – a boost of £100 million by 2021. We have also ensured that policing will fully benefit from being able to reclaim VAT of around £25 million a year, previously paid to the UK Government.

As of 30 September 2018 Police Scotland had 17,147 police officers, 913 more than the figure inherited in 2007 (+5.6 per cent). This contrasts with a decrease of 19,588 (-13.8 per cent) from March 2007 to March 2018 in England and Wales.

As is the case in contracts of this nature, Aberdeen Roads Limited will only receive payments for sections of the road that have opened to traffic. That is the contractual incentive to deliver the project timeously.

It is imperative that the tender process for any public contract is robust, non-discriminatory, fair and transparent and complies with European Union procurement legislation.

All contractors interested in bidding for future projects, including Aberdeen Roads Limited and associated contractors, must be dealt with in a non-discriminatory manner and will be subject to a strict pre-qualification process. The purpose of this is to ascertain if they are able to satisfy the required levels of economic and financial standing, and possess the necessary technical and professional ability required to participate in the tender process. Where possible, past performance will be considered as part of the pre-qualification process.

Both the pre-qualification and the final tender submissions from all contractors will be rigorously assessed, and will also be subject to stringent governance procedures.

Transport Scotland records lessons learned at the end of each phase of all its projects and procurements. Recommendations made are assessed and addressed where necessary, with the lessons learned subsequently disseminated to staff during regular project reviews. Learning the lessons from previous projects will help improve both future outcomes and processes on all projects, including the A96 Dualling Programme.