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

SPS continually monitor both the prison population and the number of available spaces for all those in our care. The current women’s estate, excluding HMP & YOI Cornton Vale provides 349 single room spaces as follows:

• HMP Edinburgh     92
• HMP & YOI Polmont   117
• HMP & YOI Grampian   48
• HMP Greenock     52
• The Lilias Centre     24
• The Bella Centre     16

The current average number of Women in SPS care is 282.

Delivery of this Government’s climate change initiatives, including our updated Climate Change Plan, Climate Change Adaptation Programme and emerging Just Transition Plans, is integrated into the work of teams right across the Scottish Government, our agencies and public bodies.

Workforce planning for the year is ongoing and we are not in a position to provide a definitive forecast for 2023.

The Digital Front Door is currently in the programme startup phase of its development and is not currently a live service. The commitment is to introduce an interactive ‘Front Door’ by the end of this Parliament in 2026, following public consultation and engagement.

We do not set national targets for its implementation nor intend to do so. We are actively encouraging a public centred care approach which allows people to access services in a way which is comfortable and convenient for them. Where appropriate clinically and for the individual, everyone should have the choice of attending appointments via an easy and convenient Near Me video call and having this as an option has expanded public choice. Feedback can be provided at the end of each Near Me call through a survey and satisfaction rates from those who complete the survey remain high at 97%.

There are currently 54 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) inpatient beds across Scotland for children and adolescents.

Forty eight of these beds are commissioned on a regional basis. These are split across:

• NHS Tayside at Dudhope Young People’s Inpatient Unit - 12 beds;
• NHS Lothian at Melville Young People’s Mental Health Unit - 12 beds;
• NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde at Skye House Adolescent Inpatient Unit - 24 beds.

These units admit children and young people from Health Boards in that region, with the flexibility to admit from other regions if the unit closest to a child or young person is full.

Additionally, the National Child Psychiatry Inpatient Unit in the Glasgow Royal Hospital for Children has 6 beds for children under 12 years and admits children from across Scotland, based on clinical need.

The Scottish Government remains committed to transparency and officials are working hard to restore this regular reporting. The reports for January, February and March 2022 are being published now, with subsequent months to follow.

We are currently developing a variety of asynchronous communication pathways across health and care in Scotland. Digital health and care developments provide a form of asynchronous communication including the Remote Health Pathways Programme (including the use of Connect Me), My Diabetes My Way, Renal Patient View, Dynamic Scot and vCreate Neuro. Email can also be used in a range of different ways to facilitate asynchronous communication with patients and, depending on local priorities and circumstances, individual Health Boards and local providers of health services continue to implement asynchronous appointments.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information as responsibility for ensuring the safety of Police Officers and for Police Scotland vehicles sits with the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable. I have asked Police Scotland to write to the member with this information.

The report from Glasgow University covers a range of distinct topics which can be considered individually.

The safe treatment, health, and wellbeing of all those in custody is a priority for this Government and it is vital that people who live in our prisons are supported. It is imperative that when problems do occur, individuals receive the necessary treatment, care and respect, in a timely manner.

Preventing suicide and supporting people who self-harm are key areas for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), including in developing its Health and Wellbeing Strategy. We continue to work closely with NHS Boards, SPS and the National Prison Care Network to implement the healthcare recommendations from the Independent Review of Deaths in Custody. We are also engaging closely with SPS as we implement the new Suicide Prevention Strategy Creating Hope Together and the first 3-year action plan, which includes a focus on key settings where suicide risk is higher, such as prisons.

‘Talk to Me’ (TTM), the SPS Suicide Prevention in Prison Strategy, was developed in partnership with experts in suicide prevention and aims to care for those ‘at risk’ of suicide by providing support based on individual needs and promoting an environment where people in custody can ask for help. The strategy is currently subject to a planned review and the Scottish Government and SPS are committed to making improvements to care and help prevent suicide in custody and the community.

Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAIs) are an independent, judicial process. The Crown Office has significantly reformed its processes to reduce the time taken to investigate deaths and to bring FAIs to court more quickly.

Workforce planning for the next phase of the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan is ongoing and therefore we are at present unable to provide a comprehensive overview of recruitment for 2023.