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Adult Disability Payment opened for new applications across Scotland on 29 August 2022, following successful pilots that began in March.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission is responsible for forecasting spending on Adult Disability Payment and publishes estimates on the number of people expected to receive Adult Disability Payment in each financial year. In their May 2022 forecast, the Scottish Fiscal Commission estimated that there would be 34,000 recipients of Adult Disability Payment in 2022-23 in Scotland. This would include successful new claims and cases transferred from Personal Independence Payment and Working Age Disability Living Allowance. They attached a high degree of uncertainty to their estimates and they have indicated they will revise the assumptions as more data becomes available.

The Commission does not forecast the number of new claims per month for Adult Disability Payment. However, internal Scottish Government analysis estimates that approximately 44,000 new claims for Adult Disability Payment will be received by the end of February 2023.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the impact rising energy costs is having on the seafood sector in Scotland. With energy being a reserved matter, the powers to offer financial support to the fish processing industry — and indeed all industries across Scotland — lies in Westminster.

We have continually urged the UK Government to use all the levers at its disposal to tackle the cost crisis for businesses and to provide immediate support. We welcome the UK Government’s belated announcement which may limit the impact of the energy price crisis on some businesses, but unfortunately the announcement may have come too late.

Although we will continue to actively engage the UK Government, and press for further support for all industries — including the fish processing sector — cases like this reinforces the need for Scotland to have the powers of a fully independent country to accelerate the decarbonisation of our energy system and diversify our energy mix to deliver secure, sustainable and affordable energy for communities, households, and businesses in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is actively in discussion with seafood processing businesses to establish where we can support investments through the Marine Fund Scotland to support the sustainable development of Scotland’s Blue Economy, including to assist energy saving or reduce energy usage. However given the limited funding made available by the UK Government after Brexit, we must balance any support from this limited pot against bids for investments that deliver other blue economy outcomes.

An action the government is taking, that will support processers, is amending the economic link licence condition contained in Scottish sea fishing licences to help ensure those allocated fishing opportunities for Scotland’s key species provide a significant return to our nation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11069 on 30 September 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Following consultation, the Scottish Government is amending economic link provisions to deliver greater socio-economic benefit to our coastal communities.

Scotland’s fishing quotas are a national asset and deliver sustainable economic benefit beyond those at sea involved in catching.

Each year around £100 million of fish is landed outside Scotland by our fishing vessels. Often for species for which we have ready domestic processing capacity.

We want to ensure that those fortunate enough to be allocated fishing opportunities for Scotland’s key species provide a significant economic return to our nation.

That is why from 1 January 2023, vessels fishing for key Scottish species will have two options for satisfying economic link licence obligations.

1 - land a minimum set percentage into Scotland

or

2 - give back fishing opportunities for us to allocated to others in the Scottish fleet

These proportionate amendments will help ensure that there is a significant socio-economic benefit from Scotland’s fishing opportunities - Including to Scotland’s processing sector and supports industry aspirations voiced by the Scottish Pelagic Processors Association.

For more information please see: Consultation on a proposal to amend the economic link licence condition - Scottish Government - Citizen Space

All eligible individuals will be offered a safe and effective vaccine that has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and in line with Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice. JCVI have consistently said that ‘simplicity is the cornerstone of a successful public health vaccination programme’ and allowing a choice of vaccine is not possible for logistical and planning reasons.

For Winter 2022, the JCVI has advised using Moderna and Pfizer bivalent vaccines that target the original and Omicron strains of Covid-19. For those with specific allergies, or conditions which contraindicate these vaccines, an alternative is available in exceptional circumstances. If an individual has concerns about a medical condition or allergy then they should highlight this to the local vaccinator who would be best placed to advise.

Social Security Scotland does not hold contingency funding. The budget for Benefit Expenditure is set against the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecasts. Any volatility arising from demand-led benefit expenditure is managed at a consolidated level, utilising the Scottish Government’s limited borrowing powers, as set out in the Fiscal Framework, where required.

All aspects of marine planning include engagement with the fishing sector representatives, not least of all, the planning process for offshore wind. The Scottish Government’s sectoral marine planning process, the basis for ScotWind leasing, included fisheries representatives on both plan steering groups and provided responses to the scoping and draft plan consultations. Almost all Plan options were modified based on feedback from the fishing community.

The three projects now offered Option Agreements from Crown Estate Scotland under the ScotWind clearing round are located entirely within the SMP-OWE Plan Option NE1. Adoption of the SMP-OWE and the seabed leasing round followed the delivery of a Sustainability Appraisal, which included a Social and Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA). This SEIA estimated the negative impact of the Plan Option NE1 and the SMP-OWE as a whole, based on a series of development scenarios. Through that process and direct engagement with the fishing sector, the Plan Option was reduced further to avoid overlap with fishing activity. The SMP-OWE planning process considered fisheries data through an assessment of spatial and economic data, alongside consultation and steering group information. Although the planning process attempted to minimise impact on a wide range of receptors, there remains some overlap with receptors and we would expect engagement with the fishing sector as project applications are developed to be critical to determining the ultimate footprint of any development.

Spawning and nursery grounds were a key consideration in the planning exercise for the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind energy. Existing spatial information on the likely locations of spawning and nursery grounds were incorporated into the opportunity and constraint analysis that provided the basis for the initial identification of areas of search for the planning process. Later, when areas of search were narrowed down, the Strategic Environmental Assessment, part of the wider Sustainability Appraisal, assessed the potential for the plan to negatively impact these spawning areas and outlined suitable mitigation measures, where required. The plan highlights where this may be necessary and where further assessment maybe required at a project-level.

Following the ScotWind and clearing announcements, the Scottish Government is undertaking a review and re-assessment of the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy (SMP-OWE). As part of this process, the draft review of the SMP-OWE and associated assessments will be consulted upon in Spring/Summer 2023. The consultation is planned to last 12 weeks. Fisheries representatives will also be asked to form part of the review steering group.