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The Scottish Government is committed to minimising the carbon emissions impact of all City Region Growth Deals, including the assessment of their contribution to the achievement of the national net zero target. All City Region Growth Deal projects must follow Green Book guidance by quantifying their whole life carbon emissions impact and incorporating this value into the economic case. This is an ongoing and proactive carbon management process, facilitated by the City Region Growth Deals Sustainable Development Manager.

The Scottish Government funded Saltire Research Awards will this year support 93 research projects through the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) schemes and create around 70 exchanges through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) scheme, across a broad range of disciplines and partners. Details on these are available on the RSE and SFC websites. Funding awards to successful bids will be made shortly.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02844 on 23 September 2021. 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 .

While there is no mandatory requirement for public body senior officers to take specific carbon mitigation training, in recognition of the value of climate literacy the Scottish Government has supported the Royal Scottish Geographic Society to develop a Climate Solutions Qualification, written with University of Stirling’s Management School, University of Edinburgh’s Centre for carbon innovation and the Institute of Directors. This course is designed to increase climate literacy and climate action throughout public and private sector leadership.

The Scottish Government has supported the delivery of 100 places on the course to leaders across the public and private sectors, equipping them with a vital understanding of key issues related to addressing the climate emergency. In total, 400 leaders from business and the public sector have now completed the full online qualification, and 60,000 people have subscribed to a shorter 90-minute version.

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

The number of deaths in custody in prisons over the past five years is detailed in the following table:

The cost of energy remains a significant issue in terms of tackling fuel poverty and can discourage switching to electric zero emissions technologies for heating. As energy pricing and obligations are reserved, we must see action by the UK Government if we are to meet both our emissions and fuel poverty targets.

The Scottish Government is engaging broadly to raise our concerns for the people and businesses of Scotland. A letter has been sent this week from the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport to the BEIS business secretary highlighting the need for affordable energy and Ministers are engaging with industry and consumer groups, including fuel poverty organisations.

Policy on transport fuels is reserved to the UK Government and the roll-out of the E10 petrol grade is an initiative led on by the UK Department for Transport (DfT).

DfT's "Know Your Fuel" campaign has run across Scotland to inform motorists of the change and also offers an online vehicle compatibility checking tool. The Scottish Government's Traffic Scotland information service recently released tweets alerting motorists to the E10 introduction and provided links to DfT's online information resources."

Ministers and officials are engaging regularly with sectors affected, including the wider sports sector, to ensure that a workable and proportionate vaccine certification scheme is developed.

Prior to introducing plans for Covid-19 vaccine passports at certain events, the Scottish Government consulted the Scottish Football Association on the potential operational issues which would need to be considered in delivering a workable and proportionate vaccine certification scheme.

Since the Parliamentary vote, the Scottish Government has been consulting directly with impacted football clubs, and will continue to do so, to further discuss these operational issues with a view to arriving at workable solutions to allow implementation from 1 October.

21 September 2021

Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with representatives of the theatre sector ahead of its announcement regarding its plan to introduce COVID-19 vaccine passports at certain events.

Scottish Government officials are engaging with representatives of the theatre sector through various forums. The Federation of Scottish Theatres (FST) is a member of the Events Industry Advisory Group, where these plans have been discussed, most recently at its 25 August meeting. Representatives from individual theatres have also been involved in roundtable meetings between Ministers and those sectors where these proposals will apply. Further roundtable meetings are planned to help shape the proposals ahead of their implementation. In addition, officials have discussed the proposals with representatives of theatres in Edinburgh through the Edinburgh Cultural Venues Group, most recently on 8 September.

It is expected that these proposals will apply primarily to unseated venues, or venues with audiences of more than 10,000 people, which means that the majority of theatres in Scotland will not be affected.