Chamber and committees

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 response provided for S6W-27206 on 13 May 2024.

Annual cell certification checks are also undertaken by Estates personnel regarding the physical maintenance of prison cells.

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 .

All Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) projects are required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) to Crown Estate Scotland (CES) outlining the nature and location of supply chain activity across four different project stages.

SCDSs will be updated throughout development as project specifics become clearer and as the development of the supply chain progresses.

Final SCDSs are submitted to CES just before projects secure a seabed lease. Where actual supply chain achievements, evidenced through the contracted position statement, are not in line with the final SCDS commitments, there are contractual remedies available to CES, ranging from financial penalties to revoking the ability to secure a lease.

Between October 2023 and January 2024, the following beavers were translocated to the following locations on Scotland's National Forests and Land by Forestry and Land Scotland:

Knapdale – Two beavers into Loch Laraiche;

Knapdale – One beaver into Loch Linne;

Knapdale – Two beavers into Creige Moire;

Knapdale – Two beavers into Lochan Buic.

Loch Kinardochy – Two beavers.

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 response provided for S6W-27206 on 13 May 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 .

The offence types covered by Recorded Police Warnings (RPWs) are a matter for the Lord Advocate as part of her independent role as head of Scotland’s system of prosecution.

The Lord Advocate issues guidelines to Police Scotland on their operation of the scheme and decisions about when to issue RPWs are an independent operational matter for Police Scotland.

Publication of the guidelines would be a matter for the Lord Advocate.

Sustainable and thriving island communities are vital to Scotland. The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 emphasises the importance of ‘island-proofing’ policies to consider and address specific island characteristics when policy is being developed and delivered.

Island Communities Impact Assessments (ICIAs) help to ensure equitable and fair outcomes by finding the best ways to deliver policies for islanders. The duty to carry out ICIAs has been a legal requirement since December 2020. This means that Relevant Authorities must consider any impact on islands when developing or reviewing policies, strategies or services which are likely to have an effect on an island community which is significantly different from its impact on other communities (including other island communities).

ICIA guidance is available at the following link: Island communities impact assessments: guidance and toolkit - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Additional support tools have also been created to guide policymakers through the process. These are available here: Empowering our island communities - Community empowerment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

On the morning of Monday 6th May 2024 there were 192 people under the age of 21 held in the prison estate. This population is broken down by index offence group in the following table.

Where individuals in custody are accused or convicted of multiple offences, these are summarised by index offence. This is the offence for which they have received the longest sentence or, where they are on remand, which would on average receive the longest sentence. Some offences cannot be classified in this way because the charges originate in other jurisdictions or because the data required was not available at the time the snapshot was taken.

Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has confirmed that each prison cell must be of an adequate size, fitted with a means of communication with an officer and have a standard of cleanliness.

Further, each cell used to accommodate an individual must be adequately:

(a) lit by natural or artificial light;

(b) heated and ventilated; and

(c) furnished as is necessary and appropriate for the type of accommodation or area of the prison.

The management of the police custody suites is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. The Scottish Government supports His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland ( HMICS ) and Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) to undertake joint inspections across Police Scotland’s network of custody suites to ensure the safety of these facilities.

Where recommendations have been made, Police Scotland, working with health partners as appropriate, work to address these quickly and effectively.

Instances where miscarriage or forced termination has taken place because of domestic violence reflects the most tragic of circumstances based on the cruel realities of domestic abuse.

Just two weeks ago, this Parliament debated a Petition on the creation of an unborn victims of violence offence, where we heard about the harrowing realities of domestic abuse that were suffered by the Petitioner, Nicola Murray.

Following the debate, my officials have been in contact with the Sentencing Council to ascertain the next steps in their development of guidelines on domestic abuse. As this Parliament recognised, the outcome of this work is fundamental in determining next steps. I look forward to how this progresses as we look to root out and tackle the toxic masculinity and gender inequality that leads to violence, harassment, misogyny and abuse against women.

The Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) will set clear ambitions for increasing Scotland’s renewable energy capacity. It will outline a route map of actions for the Scottish Government, the UK Government and others to take to deliver these ambitions whilst supporting a just transition.

In 2023, Scotland generated over 33 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity from renewable sources. The most recent consumption statistics (from 2021) show that Scotland generated the equivalent of 23.7% of its energy consumption from renewable sources.

Energy Statistics for Scotland - Q2 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Energy Trends: UK renewables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)