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I last met with a representative of the Scottish Crofting Federation at the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board on 3 November 2022.

There has been promising progress in reducing the backlog of cases in the criminal courts, and the total number of scheduled trials outstanding has fallen by over 10,000 since January this year. In the High Court, the number of trials called where evidence is led has equalled or exceeded pre-pandemic monthly averages throughout 2022. However, progress has been greatest in the summary courts. The Criminal Justice Board, composed of leaders across the sector, is now considering proposals to ensure the allocation of resources is directed towards delivering similar progress in solemn courts.

We are supporting measures that allow victims and witnesses to give their evidence before trial, helping to mitigate the impact of trial delays. For example, we have invested over £2 million across the High Court estate to facilitate the pre-recording of evidence, and there is now capacity to conduct 1,250 of these ‘evidence by commissioner’ hearings every year.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all communities within Scotland, including NHS patients in Inverclyde, can access a NHS dentist.

We have provided over £150 million of financial support to date to maintain the capacity and capability of NHS dentistry and agreed further funding into the new year to address the cost of living crisis.

From April 2022 we have re-introduced a system of fee per item payments that incentivises NHS dental teams to see patients. Public Health Scotland statistics (link attached) show that these measures have increased patient examination appointments and are comparable to pre-pandemic levels, allowing more patients to be seen and dental practices to begin to register more patients as they work through the pandemic backlog.

NHS registration is significantly higher in Scotland than the rest of the UK, with more than 95% of the population registered with a NHS dentist.

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.

Scottish Government officials have been in contact with the UK Government to ensure that North Ayrshire Council and other stakeholders have the opportunity to discuss the decision taken to locate the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production programme at a West Burton site, in North Nottinghamshire.

We understand that the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, are conducting follow up sessions with each of the unsuccessful sites, including Ardeer.

As part of a suite of measures introduced on 1 February 2022, dentists now receive an enhanced examination fee for seeing patients, including a new additional child examination fee. These changes also included the extension of Childsmile fees for children and young people up to 17 years of age (before up to 5 years of age), and fluoride varnish application between 2 and 12 years of age (before between 2 and 5 years of age). Childsmile fees are weighted so that NHS dental teams receive three times the payment for children from SIMD areas 1 and 2.

The Childsmile Programme has an emphasis on prevention, rather than treatment, and has resulted in significant improvements in children's oral health through being delivered via nursery schools, primary schools, and dental practices, and includes free, daily, supervised toothbrushing, the application of fluoride varnish, and dietary and oral hygiene advice.

The Scottish Government publishes quarterly National Statistics on crimes recorded by the police. This includes recorded crimes of 'Theft of a motor vehicle' which covers both cars and other motor vehicle types. These have fallen substantially over the longer term, with a 69% reduction from 15,000 in 2006-07 to 4,691 in the year ending June 2022. In terms of the last five years, levels have remained fairly constant, except for a significant fall in the year ending June 2021, that may have been a consequence of pandemic-related restrictions. The number of crimes recorded in each of the last five years for the year ending in June is set out in the following table.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). It is a matter for the Chief Constable and the Chief Fire Officer to determine the most appropriate allocation of resources and operational approach to preparing for, and responding to incidents during, bonfire night.

Since 2018 Operation Moonbeam has been the national multi-agency response to the bonfire night period. The well-established operation is running again this year, with the planning and preparation involving Police Scotland, SFRS, local authorities, COSLA, Scottish Community Safety Network, Scottish Ambulance Service, British Fireworks Association and Trading Standards. The Scottish Government has engaged with senior officers from Police Scotland and SFRS who have advised that robust multi-agency systems are in place again this year.

In terms of legislative change, on 10 October two key measures of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 came into force – a proxy purchase and supply offence criminalising people who purchase fireworks for, or make fireworks available to, under 18s; and a statutory aggravation for attacks against emergency workers involving fireworks and pyrotechnic articles. The statutory aggravation requires courts to take this into account when determining the most appropriate sentence. This provides an important reassurance to emergency workers that the Scottish Government is committed to such behaviour being firmly addressed.

This information is publicly available and can be found on the website of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service -

The average length of time between date of death and FAI completion date in days is 1,067.

This figure is based on COPFS figures rather than the published FAI Statistics (the difference being that COPFS records the FAI as concluded when evidence is concluded, not when the Determination is issued) and accordingly it relates to 42 cases and not the 44 on the FAI statistics. Of those 42, the shortest length was 322 days and the longest 3,440 days. 32 out of the 42 (76%) of the FAIs related to deaths which occurred in 2018, 2019 and 2020. As stated above, once a First Notice has been lodged with the Sheriff Clerk, the Crown has limited control over the timescale for commencing and concluding an FAI.

Whilst it is accepted that the average timescale has increased, this can be explained by COPFS progressing its oldest cases and ensuring that the FAI process is commenced. It should also be recognised that FAIs have been progressed and concluded in 2021-22 and the preceding year notwithstanding the considerable effect on COPFS and court business placed by the COVID pandemic, including courts being closed for a number of months and thereafter a phased reintroduction of court business. Court users quickly and successfully adapted to new ways of working including the use of WebEx to conduct FAIs online to ensure cases were progressed.