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The Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 fully commenced on 17 December 2021. Section 78 of the Act requires the Scottish Ministers to review the operation of the Act.

The Scottish Ministers must review the operation of the Act in general, and with a view to considering the future age of criminal responsibility. The review period (of 3 years) began on the day on which section 1 came into force (ie on 17 December 2021). The Scottish Ministers are required to prepare a report on the review, publish and lay it before the Scottish Parliament no later than 12 months after the end of the review period.

An Advisory Group comprising a range of different stakeholders has been established to support Ministers with the review.

The Scottish Government remains focused on strengthening our screen sector and creating the conditions for continued growth through our support for increased studio infrastructure.

Working with Screen Scotland, the Scottish Government has facilitated the delivery of studio facilities across Scotland, including the large-scale film and high-end TV FirstStage Studio in Leith and a multi-camera studio at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. This is creating the conditions for continued growth across production, development, talent and skills.

Kelvin Hall in Glasgow’s West End, which was part-funded with £7.9m of Scottish Government funding through Screen Scotland, contains a flexible production space, as well as being developed to house a dedicated “entertainment” production facility for comedy, quiz, factual entertainment and “shiny floor” shows.

The Scottish Government also welcomes private and public sector projects to develop film studio infrastructure in Scotland. The enterprise and development agencies are continuing to offer support, with various aspects of business planning, including to secure financing, land and specialist advice, while respecting commercial confidentiality.

We will be publishing updated costs of the reference, including a breakdown of them, in December.

The spending on the Lord Advocate’s reference to the Supreme Court as published on 22 September 2022 was on external legal fees. An additional £350 has been spent on Supreme Court filing fees.

The Scottish Government remains committed to reaching its target of eliminating Hepatitis C (HCV) in Scotland by 2024, whilst recognising the impact that the covid-19 pandemic has had across all our health services.

In 2019, the Scottish Health Protection Network established the Hepatitis C Elimination Implementation Group to oversee and monitor the implementation of the Scottish Government’s Hepatitis C Elimination Strategy. Including hard to reach populations in efforts to eliminate Hepatitis C is fundamental to the Elimination Strategy, and this issue is therefore regularly considered by the Group, which meets four times per year. Along with representatives from Scottish Government, the Group is made up of clinicians, representatives from NHS health boards, and primary care and prevention leads.

In addition, in 2021 the Scottish Government provided funding to NHS Tayside to deliver the Cocoon project, which provided point of care BBV testing and treatment to people who inject drugs, whilst integrating wound care, naloxone provision and other harm reducing measures.

Students in further or higher education currently experiencing financial hardship should apply to their college or university for support from Discretionary Funds. We have provided £16.8m in hardship funding for the current academic year to support higher education students experiencing financial hardship, in addition to free tuition in Scotland and a range of bursary support.

I have urged college and university principals to continue to prioritise hardship funds to students most in need, taking account the impact of rising energy bills.

Scottish Government is working in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) and Modernising Patient Pathways Programme to explore the feasibility of further national action to improve early detection and treatment of liver diseases.

Health Boards across Scotland currently have different pathways in place to promote the early detection and management of patients with liver disease.

A consistent approach to technology used across laboratories in Scotland is needed to support national roll out. A National Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) which will be able to deliver iLFTs is currently being rolled out across Scotland.

Since 2019/20, the Scottish Government have invested more than £11.5 million to support our Programme for Government commitment to introduce more than 80 additional mental health counsellors in colleges and universities. We have now achieved that target, as the latest figures from the Scottish Funding Council show that an additional 89 FTE mental health counsellors have been appointed by colleges and universities through the programme.

We will shortly inform institutions, through the Scottish Funding Council, of their funding allocations for Academic Year 2022-23.

These are matters for Police Scotland rather than Scottish Government or the Scottish Prison Service, which has no has no legal authority to question individuals in relation to crimes committed in the community.

I have asked the Chief Constable to write directly to the member with further detail on Police Scotland’s activity in this regard.

While I understand there are no current lines of enquiry following the death of Peter Tobin, any information that is received by Police Scotland will continue to be reviewed as has been the established procedure since his conviction and imprisonment.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government. We are committed to improving support for children and young people’s mental health in order to ensure early intervention and prevention of suicide.

Health and wellbeing is a core part of Curriculum for Excellence, and schools play a vital role in supporting pupils’ mental health. The Mental Health in Schools Working Group, on behalf of Ministers, produced a framework to support local authorities and schools embed support for children and young people's mental health and wellbeing across all aspects of the school environment. The group has also developed professional learning for school staff, which includes suicide awareness.

We continue to support local authorities with £16 million in funding to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services.

The Scottish Government and COSLA published a new Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan in September 2022. These include plans to further develop existing and new resources for schools which build understanding on mental health, self-harm and suicide prevention.