Chamber and committees

It is the responsibility of individual public bodies to ensure they have procedures in place for the recording of violent incidents and policies for staff welfare. The Scottish Government would strongly encourage staff to report all instances of violent and aggressive behaviour through their local reporting systems. If it is a serious incident, we expect employers to fully support staff in escalating issues to Police Scotland as quickly as possible.

It is important for public bodies to capture data on protected characteristics when staff report instances of violence. This kind of data will help inform targeted interventions on a national and local level.

The Scottish Government has made no assessment. The charter of the vessel is a commercial agreement between CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL) and Pentland Ferries. Any reduction in capacity on the route would be for the operator of that route to consider when leasing the vessel.

As pre-announced in the forthcoming publications document, Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) statistics for domestic abuse incidents recorded by Police Scotland for the reporting year of 2023-24 will be published on Tuesday 19 November.

This Scottish Government has made no assessment. As per the terms of the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services contract CalMac are required to consider and address capacity issues. As part of this they record and publish carrying statistics.

Information on university students is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Using this data between academic years 2018-19 and 2022-23, the last year of available data, there has been an increase of over 30% in enrolments into Computer Science courses at Scottish Universities.

It should be noted that prior to 2018-19 academic year, data was collected using a different subject classification. As such, figures prior to 2018-19 are not directly comparable.

The number of enrolments (covering all years of study and at all levels) and the number of full-time first degree entrants (all domiciles) from either Computing or Computer Science courses at Scottish universities, over the last 10 Academic Years, can be found in the following tables. These are taken from published data.

ICT courses are not controlled subjects and unlike controlled subjects the Scottish Government does not direct individual universities on the number of funded places made available.

With regard to the number of unfilled places HESA does not collect this data.

Student enrolment on ‘Computer Science’ courses at Scottish Universities - Subject classification based on JACS code = computer science

Our evidence paper, Offshore Wind Focus - gov.scot (www.gov.scot), sets out our strategic approach to investing up to £500m over five years to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland, supporting the delivery of our Green Industrial Strategy.

Vessels have been identified in that paper as a priority for strategic investment, alongside ports and harbours infrastructure and the wider offshore wind supply chain, including blades and turbine manufacturing, foundations, offshore services, and cables.

We are committed to working collaboratively with the UK Government to ensure alignment on investment priorities to support the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland, including vessels.

COPFS has 16 contracts and service level agreements in place for pathology mortuary and toxicology services across Scotland.

All pathology agreements require pathologists to discuss post mortem findings with bereaved relatives if requested. Their assistance is invaluable to relatives seeking to understand the circumstances of their loved one’s death and is greatly appreciated by COPFS.

All doctors receive undergraduate medical school education in patient communication. This continues into forensic pathology training and consultancy when meeting with families to discuss post mortem findings. All doctors are expected to work within the standards set out by the General Medical Council for good medical practice.

The Royal College of Pathologists and NHS Education for Scotland oversee training standards in pathology and their uniformity across Scotland.

The purpose of the Death Investigation Improvement Board is to take forward three key areas for improvement in the death investigation system – (i) raising public awareness of the death investigation service, sharing lessons learned to reduce the incidence of avoidable deaths, (ii) providing bereaved relatives with the timeous provision of information they need to ensure they can effectively participate in the process and (iii) reducing the journey time for concluding death investigations, including FAIs.

The Board is chaired by the Deputy Crown Agent, Specialist Casework and its membership has representatives from each of the specialist death investigation units, Communications and Business Management.

The Board has a number of ongoing workstreams, including the creation of a Lived Experience Advisory Panel to enable participants with experience of the death investigation process to help inform improvements to the process by providing independent advice to the Board on issues such as the provision of information to relatives.

COPFS regularly meets and engages with pathology providers on a range of issues, including communication with bereaved relatives. These also allow discussion on any feedback received. Consideration is being given to the terms of the review and any further appropriate measures to be put in place.

Information on university student qualifiers is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

It should be noted that prior to 2018-19 academic year, data was collected using a different subject classification. As such, figures prior to 2018-19 are not directly comparable.

The number of qualifiers (covering all levels of study) and the number of full-time first degree qualifiers (all domiciles) from either Computing or Computer Science courses at Scottish universities, over the last 10 Academic Years, can be found in the following tables. These are taken from published data.

Student qualifiers on ‘Computer Science’ courses at Scottish Universities

Subject classification based on JACS code = computer science

The decision was made to choose four longer trains per hour rather than six shorter trains per hour between Edinburgh and Glasgow because this was the better value for money option to deliver the necessary peak capacity for passengers.

ScotRail adjusts its services to reflect changing travel patterns over time. The emission free electric train peak capacity delivered by the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvements Project is being used today to the benefit of passengers.

The most recent workforce publication shows that in June 2014 the workforce comprised of 5,101 FTE directly employed staff, and 1,249 contingent workers.

For June 2024 showed the core Scottish Government workforce comprised of 8,911 FTE directly employed staff and 1,214 contingent workers.

This represents an increase of 75% in the directly employed workforce and a reduction of -3% in the contingent workforce.

The growth in the directly employed workforce in the last ten years has supported the devolution of new powers to the Scottish Government, for example Social Security and Exchequer functions. The growth in the core Scottish Government has also supported the response to exiting the European Union and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since March 2022 the Scottish Government has increased its permanent workforce while prioritising the reduction of the more expensive contingent workforce such as contractors and consultants. The number of contingent workers is now 40% lower than in March 2022.

The number of core Scottish Government staff is available at Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).