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Local authorities are independent of the Scottish Government and responsible for their own delivery of pest control services. This information is not held centrally. General prevention advice for anyone who suspects an infestation can be found by contacting the relevant local authority.

Yes. We will update Parliament, when appropriate, in relation to the Green Industrial Strategy.

This strategic investment to help create thousands of green jobs and deliver the full economic potential of offshore renewables projects will be delivered over the next five years.

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

As at 9 October 2023, the majority of cells occupied by more than one person across the prison estate had a living space of at least 7m 2.

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

On 09 October 2023, there were 36 cells, containing two or more individuals across the prison estate, which had a living space of less than 7m²: 1 cell at HMP Dumfries and 35 cells at HMP Edinburgh.

We are already working closely with private and public sector partners, including developers and investors, through a variety of fora to ensure that together, we maximise the economic benefits that the offshore renewables sector can deliver for Scotland.

Information on the tonnage of waste Scotland has the capacity to recycle is not held centrally.

Information on the tonnage of waste that has been recycled in Scotland in the last five years is available from SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) via its household waste data reporting: www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/waste-data-for-scotland/

The following table shows tonnage of waste recycled in Scotland from 2015. Data for 2022 is still being processed and will be published in 2024. Due to the cyber attack experienced by SEPA in 2020, data for 2019 and 2020 is unavailable:

An automatic presumption in favour of pre-recording the evidence of complainers is a key feature of the Sexual Offences Court that the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill seeks to establish, which is subject to scrutiny and agreement by Parliament.

In the meantime, existing courts already have the power to direct that the evidence of vulnerable witnesses be pre-recorded, and evidence by commissioner hearings are regularly used to pre-record evidence of complainers in serious sexual offences.

These recommendations are for the judiciary to progress and the terms of recommendation four of Lady Dorrian’s Review, Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases, were clear that these were matters that should be considered by the Jury Manual Committee. The Judicial Institute for Scotland has advised that the Jury Manual Committee is comprised of a number of experienced senators and sheriffs. It is clerked by secretariat staff of the Judicial Institute. The Jury Manual is publicly available and is kept under constant review. The Committee meets quarterly to agree revisions to the content of the Manual. It was most recently updated on 15 August 2023, when an important new chapter on rape myths and misconceptions was added. Detailed perusal of the Manual will disclose how the authors have dealt with Lady Dorrian’s recommendations. Further changes will be published on a regular basis.

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing the provisions of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019 to ensure that the presumption in favour of pre-recorded evidence extends to children and adult deemed vulnerable witnesses.

While the presumption does not currently apply beyond children giving evidence in specified cases in the High Court, the Court does have the power to, upon application of either the prosecution or the defence, direct that the evidence of other children and vulnerable adult witnesses should be pre-recorded. This is provided for in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 and in 2017 the High Court issued a practice note to give guidance around the use of evidence by commissioner hearings. Evidence by commissioner hearings are therefore regularly being conducted to pre-record the evidence of a wider cohort of witnesses that are not yet covered by the statutory presumption.