Chamber and committees

The most recent instance of Scottish Ministers declining to consent to a first grant of temporary release of a life sentence prisoner was in January 2018, where the Minister indicated that on the basis of the information presented in regard to the individual, they were not willing to give consent.

It would not be appropriate to publish information regarding the circumstances of an individual prisoner.

Scottish Government Officials will attend the Sustainable Aquaculture Summit on 16 and 17 May 2023, including participating in a scheduled panel discussion at the event: ‘ Delivering the Scottish Governments Vision for the blue economy ’.

The role of the Scottish Government is to monitor each of the three deposit schemes for compliance with the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011. This includes being satisfied that the tenancy deposit schemes have clear and substantial processes in place that meet the requirements laid out in the regulations.

The three approved tenancy deposit schemes are private businesses and the Scottish Government is not involved in their business operations. We do not hold information on how many full-time equivalent staff currently work at SafeDeposits Scotland.

The following table provides how many deposits have been held with SafeDeposits Scotland in each year for which data is available.

The Scottish Government alongside the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service fully supports Firefighters Memorial Day and the opportunity it gives us all to reflect and remember firefighters across the world who have lost their lives in keeping communities. Bill Kidd MSP also raised a members debate on 4 May in the Scottish Parliament at which many members made moving contributions to recognise Firefighters Memorial Day. Scotland’s communities are lucky to have such dedicated and professional firefighters, who stand ready to put their personal safety at risk to save others.

As the operation, maintenance and security of Historic Environment Scotland sites are matters for Historic Environment Scotland, I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to write directly to the member with the answer to his question.

(a) There were 149 admissions of under 18s to secure accommodation during 2021-22. Details of those placements can be found in the Children’s Social Work Statistics Scotland: 2021 to 2022 .

(b) The Scottish Prison Population Statistics 2021-22 show the establishments where under 18s were held. This is detailed in the following table:

CalMac Ferries Limited have provided details that the repair to the Isle of Arran exhaust leak in April 2023 incurred a cost of £1,212.54.

This cost was included within their vessel maintenance budget.

The Scottish Government does not currently have guidance for people who may be trapped in a cult, or for those who believe their loved ones are trapped in a cult.

We are aware of the recently published UK Government Faith review “Does Government do God” which recommends that Government should fund a programme that supports vulnerable people to leave high demand groups or high-control movements (often referred to as Cults) or religious groups. We will continue to build our understanding on how the Scottish Government can best support vulnerable people and communities.

However, if any criminal activity is suspected in relation to a cult this should be reported to Police Scotland immediately. Any form of exploitation or criminal coercion is completely unacceptable, and we condemn it in the strongest terms.

The Scottish Government have been working with Scottish Swimming, Education Scotland, sport scotland and Scottish Water to develop interventions and approaches to provide opportunities for children to become confident, safer and competent swimmers.

sport scotland’s investment into Scottish Swimming includes support to enable delivery of 4 school swimming pilot projects for evaluation and to develop a School Swimming Framework that can be used by partners.

The Delivery Model Pilots will take place across 2022-23 to support schools to understand and consider different approaches and models of delivery to help educate and provide opportunities for children across Scotland to experience the water in a fun, safe and inclusive approach. This reflects the many different scenarios faced by schools when deciding how best to support young people to access school swimming.

Whilst there is no eligibility criteria for primary school children to receive swimming lessons, inclusion is central to our approach and there will be a specific focus on targeting areas within quintile 1 of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Active Schools has a key role to play in complementing PE in schools by developing opportunities for physical activity and sport. Specific activities, such as swimming, provided through Active Schools is at the discretion of each local authority/Active Schools team.

In addition Active Schools plays a role in supporting local swimming clubs to link to schools, making pupils aware of the opportunities that exist to participate in swimming in the club setting and we would encourage local authorities to provide Active Schools activity free of charge to ensure activity is accessible to all.